Thursday, October 26, 2023 (continued)
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Next our motor coach descended from the Abarim
mountain range toward the Dead Sea, causing a few hearts
to flutter when looking down sheer cliffs |
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Now we could really see the Dead Sea -
actually a lake with no outlet, with a salinity
of about 34% that is not conducive to [aquatic] life |
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Our stop was the Dead Sea Panoramic Complex (2006)
where most people headed to the restaurant for lunch on our own |
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We went to the Dead Sea Museum, with its "footprints"
showing how the Dead Sea is shrinking |
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| Argya squamiceps/Arabian Babbler |
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| Cinnyris osea/Palestine Sunbird |
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Model of the Dead Sea area, with the Jordan River (lower
right corner) as the boundary between Jordan and the
West Bank that includes Jericho (under Palestinian
National Authority since 1994) and part of Jerusalem
(which is occupied Palestinian territory since 1967);
the yellow dot is the Dead Sea Panoramic Complex |
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| Sodium chloride/Salt is harvested from the Dead Sea |
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| Copper |
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| At last, I have a photo of Pahoehoe/ropey lava |
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| Gastropod fossils |
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| Close-up of the gastropod fossils |
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| The "pergola" leading to the restaurant |
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| Shisha/hookah pipes |
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This morning the hotel gave us breakfast boxes,
and we still had plenty left over for our lunch |
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| Our lunchtime view over the Dead Sea |
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| Bougainvillea glabra/Bougainvillea in yellow |
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Panoramic viewpoint where we still are 500 m/1,640'
above the level of the Dead Sea; since the Dead Sea
is 427 m/1,401' below sea level, we are
only 73 m/239' above sea level
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| A table with a lazy Susan and lamp posts? |
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Brilliant pink bougainvillea; the white is the flower,
surrounded by pink/colored bracts |
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| The Aloe vera Walk |
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| Museum courtyard |
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| The Panoramic Complex restaurant with the pergola to the right |
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| Now the motor coach takes us down to the level of the Dead Sea |
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| Our room at the Dead Sea Marriott near Swemeh, Jordan |
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| The hotel room bathroom |
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| Hotel room bathroom |
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| View from our hotel room |
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We had to walk down past three levels of swimming pools,
a couple sets of steep stairs, and down a driveway to the sea |
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| Kent and Tamiko floating in the Dead Sea |
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Tamiko and others slathering on the
Dead Sea mud; why - "it accelerates the skin's
detoxification process, draws out excess oil,
tightens, and exfoliates to remove dead skin" |
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| Most people were enjoying the hotel swimming pools |
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We heard music and found a belly dancing
performance; many Slavic women are
the professional belly dancers now;
I think this is Jasmin (Tatiana Kladova)! |
Next: Madaba Mosaics.
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