Travel day, time to head south.
Our next few days were aimed at experiencing other parts of the country: Aqaba, Wadi Rum and Petra, along with the vast rural deserts between.
The first leg had us drive down next to the Dead Sea. Once we got past the resorts at the northern end of the sea, the road wound along the shoreline with nothing but high mountains on one side and the sea and distant shores on the other.
I made us stop to take some photos and attempt to grab some salt from the shoreline, which proved to be a successful, but extremely warm, adventure. Our next stop was Wadi Numeira, one of the many winding canyons carved into the mountains by centuries of limited running water.
We were able to walk along the floor of the towering canyon very easily, taking in the twisting, winding, smooth walls around every curve. Shockingly there was still a decent amount of flowing water, which had been dammed and guided into tubing by locals to irrigate crops.
Sweating profusely, we piled back in the van for our final two hour stretch to the historical port city of Aqaba. Having been involved in ancient pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina, to a significant battle in the Arab revolt, to an industrial port for exports, to a growing tourism sector with resorts, the city has maintained its importance for hundreds of years.
Our hotel was no stranger to the luxury bestowed upon the resorts in the area, offering up hundreds of elegant rooms surrounded by plentiful amenities and direct access to the Red Sea. We quickly settled in before heading to the one thing on everyone’s mind: the pool.
Finally cooled off, we felt more human and found hunger returning from the days adventures. We got ourselves cleaned up and sat down to enjoy dinner before returning to our rooms for our first nights sleep in a new bed in a while.