17 Aqaba - Visiting the Dead Sea Via Jordan, not Israel.

"What lesson did you learn today?" was what Ashraf our guide asked a very
tired and very content group of passengers on the way back to the ship. He
was referring to the demise of Lot's Wife..
When you think of the Holy Land you automatically think of areas of Israel,
but it wasn't till today that you realised a good part of Jordan also
features in the stories from the Bible.
We were visiting the Dead Sea, using our tour company of choice, Via Jordan.
This is the third time we have used them and manager Hakam, has been
wonderful every time. Even with all the relentless dumb questions I kept
asking.
There was some confusion on the ship as other groups also visiting the Dead
Sea were instructed by their company that Passports were required. We could
only imagine that they were passing the border into Israel. I knew our trip
was wholly within Jordan, but as more and more people kept questioning me, I
started to doubt myself. The other groups were having meetings with ship
about passport collection, $15 fees involved with processing and having to
return before 6pm, in order for immigration to clear them back on to the
ship.. Eek.. Hakam reassured me that we were ok, so I trusted him.
We missed the stunning sail up the Gulf of Aqaba due to our early arrival.
Dawn broke just as the Commodore started his graceful glide alongside the
pier. The trade-off being that we had more time in port. It is always a
relief to see a bus with your name on it, waiting dockside to whisk us off
on our adventure. Hakam was there to welcome us, and we were most excited
to find Ashraf was our guide today. It was Ashraf that introduced us to the
flavours of Aqaba two cruises ago. He is a very knowledgeable Bedouin who
was born in Petra. Now you can't anymore authentic than that.
The drive to the Dead Sea was between 3 - 4 hours. Boring you say . no not
at all. The continual changing landscape was mesmerizing and at every turn,
there was always something new that Ashraf would tell us of the countryside
passing us by. Also it was great to see how the non-city dwellers really
live.
The highway ran along what is known as "no mans land", the stretch of land
that runs between Israel and Jordan. Like a recap of our previous visits to
Aqaba, the mountains of Petra, the rock formations and sand dunes of the
Wadi Rum, appeared as we travelled along the highway.