Madaba - Jordan

The Dead Sea, from the highway- dat's a salty a meat-a-ball-a!!

The airport in Amman isn't actually in Amman - it's much closer to Madaba.  Madaba isn't a town you hear a ton about - akin to Rimouski, Cornwall or Kelowna for Canadians.  Coming from the Maldives, it seemed like a perfect place to acclimatize for our family.  We had planned a 16-day leg in Jordan.

The kids getting organized in Madaba... notice Parker's prized new scarf and everyone's focus on COVID-19

We rented an AirBNB close to downtown and made our way there at 11pm on our first night in Jordan - we were tired.  I could tell, even from the late night drive in, that we were going to like Jordan - drivers were respectful, signage was good (in Arabic and English), lighting was adequate and the air wasn't thick with smog.

Passed out in the car on the way to Madaba from the airport

  We took a drive first thing the next morning to get our bearings and fetch some breakfast...

Camels in farm fields

Green Madaba - we were expecting dusty, beige Madaba!

Madaba, itself, was a launchpad more than a destination for my gang.  It was there that we first tried Jordanian Shrak - a pita-like flat bread that is ubiquitous throughout Jordan.  Watching Shrak get baked is fun - usually done in a multi-tiered rotating oven, manned by a couple of guys.

Nathan had been dying for Hummus and Shawarma since we left North America... and Madaba did not disappoint!

Shrak - whole wheat flatbread

+500 chicken breasts in this stack!

In Jordan, chick peas flow like wine and Shawarma is the national hamburger.  To be honest, we liked the Shawarma in Jordan, but it wasn't our favourite - they put garlic sauce and chicken in a pita and then panini press it - no veggies.  We like our veggies... they offer pickled turnip and cucumber on the side... we like it in... and no hummus!?

Just as important as the Shawarma itself were the conversations we had while eating it.  At the joint pictured above, a woman outside the shop stopped us to ask where we were from... when we told her, she was obviously interested, so we invited her and her aunt to come sit with us and share our lunch.

Turns out she is a university chemistry prof and her husband is a doctor of internal medicine (quite the power couple).  She so much wanted me (she singled me out for this) to correct her English as we conversed - presumably because I was the dude... but I'm not sure.

She was amazed at our forthright and open approach to other people, life and to eachother - and we were amazed by her kids' achievements in their respective studies.  This was one proud mama.  We ate and chatted for an hour.  Her hijab and Cheryl's lack of one were inconsequential - this was a welcome change from some other muslim countries where we felt a bit more cultural distance.

Our Madaba neighbourhood

As the days passed, we quickly realized that Jordanians are overwhelmingly warm and hospitable.   We were offered gushing welcomes, dinners and food from complete strangers.  Jordanian tea flowed at every turn - add mint leaf and lemon and a metric TON of sugar to black tea and voila.

This spice shop owner offered us his lunch - literally - he was just hunkering down to eat and our kids spied his food and said "that smells soooooo good", so we all split it.  Shirt-off-my-back people.

Yummy...

These grocery store guys immediately befriended Parker... this was the first, but certainly not the last person in Jordan to tell us that Jordanians see Canada as an oasis - a paradise - a haven of acceptance and harmony

Everywhere we turned, folks would ask "where are you from?"  We would reply "Canada", they would immediately grin ear-to-ear and say "You are welcome".  We heard this from police at checkpoints (there are many), passers by, shopkeepers, gas station attendants... literally everyone "you are welcome".

Home made Jordanian ice cream

This, we realized, was to be taken literally - as in "you are welcome here in Jordan" as opposed to "you're welcome".  It was such a consistent response, that Chelsea was convinced there was some sort of national directive to say those precise words - like a Disneyland employee.

Parker really wanted a traditional Jordanian scarf... but... he (and we) knew nothing about them.  We met a shopkeeper that was so friendly, he served us tea, gave us a history lesson and then walked us through several different ways to tie a headscarf...

The kids learned how to tie the scarf a few different ways thanks to our new pal, Malek.

Indeed, we felt welcome at every turn - more welcome than in any other country we have visited, which is saying something.  In fairness, we also got scammed twice in Jordan - 2 times more than in any other country ;)

What do you do with an out-of-service F104?  Put it in a traffic circle, of course!

After some time zone decompression, we decided to checkout the famous Ma'in hotspring as well as the biblical sites of Mount Nebo, Machaerus and the Dead Sea as well as the Madaba Archeological museum that has an intact Roman-built road and some BC and AD artworks.

On the road to the Dead Sea

The Ma'in hotsprings are a series of all-natural 50-70deg aquifers that surface as rivers and then cascade down sandstone cliffs into less-than-natural basins people have built to cool the water off in stages.

Each basin tier drops, maybe, 5deg C.  Water also pours out from underground caves at 70deg, so a natural steam room is formed in the rock face.... complete with benches.... but don't step in the water - it is literally scalding hot as both Parker and I found out :)

Cheryl approaching the falls

You'll notice that not all ladies in these pictures are in Burkinis or other religious swimwear... Jordanians are a bit more permissive when it comes to Islam's social norms.  Western-style suits would normally be banned or relegated to private beaches in Islamic countries.

The thunderous glory of a 60', 50-60deg waterfall pounding your shoulders to a pulp - who needs a masseuse?!

Waterfalls are fascinating to me - both beautiful, scary and serene all at once.  This particular waterfall added a new dimension - HEAT.  If you've ever stood under a high waterfall, you'd have sensed that it was extremely sensitive to wind - and I don't mean gusts, I'm talking about slight breezes.  Every whisp of air slightly alters the course of the falling water.  This means, at the base, the waterfall is inconsistent - always dancing and jumping and skittering around.

With heat, it's all the more intriguing because when the breeze stops, the water aggregates and the overall temp rises.  Conversely, when the wind blows, the droplets separate and cool on their way down.   This particular waterfall has an impressive flow volume, so when the wind stops you get pounded with a focused stream of hot water - just when you think you can't take any more, a breeze flows through and cools the water and breaks up the pounding stream.  It was truly magical.

The tiered pools - progressively cooler as you descend - can you see me?

Isn't he... steamy?

Apologies for the lack of pictures of Cheryl at the hotsprings - my phone was tucked away - Cheryl took these ones!

We visited Machaerus  - a 1st century hilltop fortress where John the Baptist was executed.  It's ruins are a shambles, but the location is breathtaking and the rubble that remains is still intriguing.

Location, location, location!

On the ancient road to Machaerus

Hillside cave dwellings

Remaining pillars (and a nice young lady)!

Stunning views right down to the Dead Sea

Ruinous hikers?!

Given its relatively advanced state of decay, Machaerus is not a big stop on the tourist path in Jordan, making it a top attraction for us!  The sights are powerful and the history compelling  - we'd recommend a visit for sure.

The biblical Mount Nebo

There's always time to arm wrestle!

Mount Nebo is also nearby Madaba.  I've waited until now to tell you what Madaba is truly famous for - MOSAICS.  Madaba is the mosaic capital of the world.  Greek, Christian and later Muslim mosaic builders perfected their art over centuries here... and like so much in Jordan, the works were magically preserved by the arid climate, the protective power of sand and dumb luck.

What a cross, and what an inspiring location

Moses was apparently buried on Mount Nebo.  There is a stunning church perched atop this mountain.   Within it are ancient mosaics dating back to the first century.  Religious tourists and pilgrims come here as church groups to hold a service or kneel down and pray.

A 100% stunning church built atop Mount Nebo to support and facilitate religious tourism

You may be wondering about Christian artifacts and places of worship in a predominantly Muslim country... well... Jordan seems to respect other faiths.  Relics have been dutifully and painstakingly preserved, regardless of their ideological origins - bravo Jordan!  This brings me to the second of Madaba's 2 claims to fame - it is the most Christian city in Jordan.

Checking out the mosaics

Restored mosaics - wow!  These remain where they were uncovered - others were lifted and shifted to new locations around the church

The intricacies are wonderful and mesmerizing - each tells a story.  There are more mosaics later in this post... so let's shift gears and head to the dead - the Dead Sea, I mean.  The drive from Madaba to the Dead sea is spectacular  - you descend through several climate zones towards the lowest point on Earth - fully 200m below sea level.

My main squeeze - now and forever - 1/2 way down the valley

Another roadside attraction  - RIP Gord Downy

Descending from altitude... sorta green At the top of the valley (sorry, the pics are out of order)

It's getting rather dry down near the sea

And... wait for it... deadness!

This was taken at a highway turnout

The Dead Sea is so salty, the shoreline is littered with salt crystals - no joke.  If you get the water in your mouth, it's so salty your face screws-up like you just ate 20 lemon rinds.  If you have an open cut, get ready for pain.  You get the idea - the Dead Sea is so salty... how salty?  Sundried tomatoes go to the Dead Sea and say "damn, that's salty".  That was an original folks - I'll be here all night - try the fish.

We went back to the Dead Sea later... I'll leave some details for another post.

We also stopped at the Madaba Archeological Museum - here, several Roman, Greek and Islamic ruins have been uncovered and restored.

Greek mosaics..  uncovered under 1m of foundations, and an Islamic mosaic built on top to hide this work

Learning from above...

There are so many mosaics buried in and around Madaba that homeowners are leery... if they find one in there basement, the govt will come and kick them out of their house!

Roman ruins

A 1st century Roman road - now that's solid construction!

Finally, we hit St. George's church downtown...

Yup, that's a mosaic

Dan Brown (the author of the DaVinci Code) would be proud of this one...

The ancient city of Madaba, mapped on this church floor in perpetuity by the Greek Clerics who occupied this space... under a carpet during church services... talk about a historical city!

Thanks for reading - comments always welcome!