Pilgrimage 2.0-10 : Jom Jordan

Sherry bid us farewell at the Allenby / King Hussein Bridge border crossing. As I had the best grasp of English, I got off the bus to answer some standard questions. A hunky Israeli soldier in aviator glasses asked :
- Do you have a weapon?
- Did you notice anyone else carrying a weapon?
- Did anyone ask you to bring anything into Jordan?
Wouldn't mind him performing a body search and disarming my 'weapon'.

The immigration process between Israel and Jordan was much simpler compared to when we came in from Egypt. Our passports were bulk processed by Jordan immigration, and we didn't even need to offload our luggage. When we got back our passports, it wasn't stamped. All it had was a small barcode on the signature page.

In Jordan, we got another Mandarin-speaking guide who went by the name Sami. He worked in China for more than a decade and married a Chinese woman who happens to be a practicing Orthodox Christian. All of us were surprised that his wife didn't convert to Islam. He commented that there's nothing in the Quran about disallowing it and that Malaysian clerics must have made the rule up. Wow.

Our driver looked a bit like a Bollywood 2nd tier star. When Sami started his introduction, he stressed that he's a displaced Palestinian during Arab-Israel War of 1948. And that the Israelis would never allow him to return to his hometown. Phosphate is Jordan's biggest resource and Jordan gets its water from Israel. Before Saddam Hussein was removed, Jordan used to get free oil from Iraq. Today, oil is no longer free, and Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel.

Our first point of interest was Madaba, a city made famous by its Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics. The bus stopped at Madaba Visitors Center, where we walked to the Greek Orthodox Basilica of St. George which houses the famous Madaba Map, a mosaic map of Jerusalem and its surrounding areas during the 6th century. Truth be told, the mosaic is pretty underwhelming although of great archaeological importance. Many restaurants and souvenir shops dot the sidewalks. Chief products are mosaics, weaving, and sand art. What caught my eye was the hijabi Barbies. Haha.













Traveled some more to get to our lunch venue~ Talet Nebo Restaurant. The restaurant was hosting more than a hundred pilgrims from India, so we had to wait for them to clear the buffet line.



Next was a trip up Mount Nebo, the place where Moses was showed the Promised Land. There's a tall bronze sculpture of the Brazen Serpent there, and at the highest point is the Moses Memorial which contains remnants of mosaics from multiple periods. Before exploring the grounds, we attended mass at one of the chapels. At the main church, a group from the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem were celebrating mass. Knights wore white satin capes with the Cross of Jerusalem, while the Dames were in black. Sami was kinda missing in action during the whole visit. Think he's not functioning at full capacity during the fasting month.











It was then another long drive to the Grand East Hotel, located on the edge of the Dead Sea. The hotel is the darkest I have ever seen, so very suitable for photophobic guests. We quickly checked in and got ready for the beach (no I didn't wear my skanky swim trunks, just a pair of H&M swim shorts). To get to the beach, one had to descend many flights of stairs. Some tips :
1. Bring goggles as the sea water has 30% salinity.
2. Wear slippers into the water as the rocks can be sharp.







The hotel hired a lifeguard who times your duration in the water. It's not recommended to spend more than ten minutes at a time. Come out and rinse with clean water, then you can repeat the process. The lifeguard also helps with the mud spa (bring some tips). No effort required to float in the Dead Sea. Relax and keep your face out of the water. Does help the skin I guess, a feeling of smoothness after the soak.



Dinner was decent, but the restaurant was very gloomy!