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The Dead Sea- Jordan

By Cheryl
One of the experiences we were most looking forward to in Jordan was staying the night at the Feynan Ecolodge.  We booked this accommodation over a year ago and couldn't wait to spend the night in a such a remote location and participate in activities that would give back to the local Bedouin community.


Sunbeams

Unfortunately, due to the change in our travel plans, we would be back in Canada at the time of our scheduled night at Feynan!  We called the ecolodge and hoped, given the minimal tourism in Jordan days before the borders closed, we could re-schedule.  Lucky for us, they did have availability but, unfortunately,  due to all the rain, there was a flash flood and the road to the ecolodge was blocked by a river.  I guess it wasn't meant to be!  Now, however, we had a new problem- we were driving north from Wadi Rum, it was getting dark and we had no place to stay.

Stunning sky



Staying in Aqaba was not an option as it was too far south.  We did, however, drive through this seaside town to grab lunch after our desert excursion.  It had a relaxed vibe and we were disappointed we wouldn't have time to fully explore it as originally planned.  We had hoped to get out in the Red Sea on a boat and see Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt all at the same time!

Our last roadtrip


Aqaba

Hills, beaches and the sea- it appears to have it all


Given that we were heading home to Canada 3 months early, we decided to splurge on one night at a 5-star hotel at the Dead Sea and go out with a bang.  It had the added bonus of being less than an hour away from the airport.

A ghost town

A view of the Dead Sea and Israel


Gorgeous hotel

We arrived late at night and were disappointed to discover the next morning that,  due to the predicted drop in tourism with the closing borders, all of the facilities were off limits. The hotel was literally closing down around us.


This lazy river would have been fun to experience...

It was hard to just look at these infinity pools...

On the up side, the hotel was practically empty and we could wander the grounds without seeing another soul.  Before starting our day, we enjoyed the most delicious buffet ever.

So much choice

Turns out this was our last real meal until we made it back to Canada  almost 48 hours later



 We were lucky to get to the beach before it closed.  We covered ourselves in the famous mud and we soaked in the Dead Sea.  The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth, sitting at 430m below sea level.  It is 8-9x saltier than normal sea water so it is very easy to float!  The water felt "slippery" to us and we giggled about being able to "stand" in the water without sinking and without having to tread water.  The whole experience was really neat.

Mud monsters

Bucket list- floating in the Dead Sea

Salt crystals from the edge of the water

It was a lovely last morning in Jordan- of our entire trip, actually.  At the time, we were blissfully unaware of the amount of stress and anxiety we would experience in the coming hours...

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