We were up early to watch the sunrise. It was a little hazy. Here are some pictures.
Mustafa took us on a desert jeep tour after breakfast. Our first stop was the rock structure across from our camp. He explained that it consisted to two types of rocks, volcanic on the bottom and sedimentary on the top. Rain water gets trapped between the two layers. Bedouins knew this and would look for a few plants that typically grow at the interface. There is often an underground pool of water trapped in a cave. We climbed a little ways up the rock structure and sure enough plants and a cave with water.
Next stop was a corridor, similar to “The Siq”, which had drawings scratched into the rocks. I’m pretty sure they were new to augment the tour, but it was cool climbing into the slit in the rocks.
Then we stopped at a rock bridge. The scenery throughout our drive was beautiful. I love the desert!
Last stop was a sand dune. Some people were climbing up and trying to snowboard down it, but it didn’t work very well. I climbed it to take some panoramic pictures, Rick had a cup of coffee. Unfortunately the blog doesn’t support panoramic pictures so you will have to take my word about how beautiful the scenery was.
We drove out of the desert and headed to Aqaba, a city on the Gulf of Aqaba. We parked the car and walked down to the water. From there we could see Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and of course Jordan. I put my feet in the water so I could say I’ve been in the Gulf of Aqaba.
We had a nice lunch in Aqaba and then drove on to Dead Sea. It was dark by the time we got there so we couldn’t see much. After checking in to our hotel, a Movenpick, we went exploring. The Movenpick Dead Sea is one of the biggest properties we have ever stayed at. It has several pools, 9 restaurants, and a beach.
Just a note: In the last year we have been to the lowest point on earth and the highest point on earth (although we didn’t stand on the highest point). That evening we had a pizza at the Italian restaurant and watch a belly dancing show.