Just Around the River Bend: Mujib, Dead Sea, and Celebrations

The Bests. At the start of the hike!

Another exciting and wonderful weekend was had by all of us here in Amman.

This past weekend was my birthday celebration ( since I am spending my actual birthday studying, and procrastinating, aka blogging) as well as another great outdoor adventure.

This past Saturday three of my friends and I went with a Tourist-y company called Wild Jordan to hike in the Mujib Biosphere Reserve. This organization strives to preserve nature spots and biospheres throughout Jordan, as well as lead guided tours and camps throughout the country. We loaded up on a bus with a handful of Germans, Australians, and other Americans and set off towards the Dead Sea.

The hike began at the opening of this river, and we hiked upstream and into a cave/cavern/rock mountain. As we waded through the river, there were points we had to climb boulders, grab onto ropes, use footholds, and all sorts of sketchy business. Our local hiking guides were fantastic though, and would help us all across. At one point, I climbed over a small rock, had to grab onto a rope, then from that rope the guide said "jump!" meaning, jump into the rapid, and attempt to grab another rope. Uhh.... what? Sure Mr. Jordanian wilderness man. So it was an exciting hike to say the least. At the end of the hike we reached this gorgeous waterfall inside of the cave/cavern/rock mountain (obviously my knowledge of geographic terminology is lacking). We all just relaxed there for a bit before heading back. It was easily one of the coolest hikes I've ever done.

After that, our guides led us to some small chalets' overlooking the Dead Sea, and we got lunch. Lunch was quite a feast, and I ate much more than is reasonable, but it was just all too good. Then we had a chance to drop into the Dead Sea.

Dead Sea! The white on the rocks is the crystallized salt! (stole this from Nadine!)

I can say that going into the Dead Sea is one of the most unique experiences... ever. I learned that the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth, and so salt deposits have essentially pooled here, making it incredibly salty. So salty, in fact, that no sea life can survive in its waters, and humans float. When I say float, I mean 100%.... like I'm wearing a full body life jacket. It's the weirdest sensation, but so cool. You can put your body perfectly upright, as if you are standing, but the sea floor will be who knows how far below you. After about 20 minutes in the water, the salt soaking in began to be a tad uncomfortable. Any razor burn, small cuts or scrapes began to sting a bit. And when I say a bit... I mean a lot. So we returned to the safety of our air conditioned bus after rinsing off as much salt water as we could. It was an incredibly beautiful and unique day trip, and well worth it.

Also this weekend, I celebrated my 20th birthday! At first I was a little sad to realize I'd be spending my birthday away from home, because I didn't know what to expect. Luckily, I have made some wonderful and amazing friends here already, and they helped me celebrate. First, my friends bought me this gorgeous lantern I had been eyeing in the Souq for the past week (thanks guys!) and we grabbed dinner at an American-Arabic fusion restaurant. Then we met up with a larger group and mobbed over to a hotel that has an 'activity center' in the basement. This meant bowling, pool tables, darts, a bar, air hockey and such. We grabbed a couple pool tables, got some ice cream, and had a lot of fun. We ended my birthday night with some sheesha nearby (naturally) and I even made it home by my curfew (which is starting to be a challenge already). I'm SO very grateful for the great friends I've already made, and thrilled to be able to say that Amman is starting to feel more and more like a home for now.