Kingdom of Jordan

Back from the 'cold' of Jordan :-) to the sun of Saudi Arabia!
We had a fantastic vacation in the 'Switzerland of the Middle East' (that's how a Jordanian we met there called the country).
And yes, there is definitely something to it - because during our trip, we always felt safe.

But now, let's start from the beginning:

The first few days, over Christmas, we spent in Amman, the capital. Here the 'cold' comes into play, 7 degrees and rain - we were not used to that anymore ;-) It also suited the city a bit - because truly, the city is not beautiful ;-) But there was a Roman amphitheater right across the street from our hotel - also cool.

Amman - at night and during the day

On the first evening, of course, we enjoyed a nice, cold beer - a real treat :)

In addition to the obligatory visit to Petra, there are many other great and fascinating historical sites to see in Jordan - one of the highlights of our trip was a day in Jerash (German: Gerasa), an ancient Roman city in the north, towards the Syrian border. Jerash was part of the Decapolis ("Ten-City"), a league of ten Hellenistic cities, and is now recognized as one of the best-preserved Roman provincial cities in the world.

The ancient city of Gerasa

Our 'Christmas dinner' was falafel sandwiches and beer in the hotel room :) 'Something different' - but also good :)

Christmas dinner

In addition, we also visited the Dead Sea, the 'lowest point on Earth' (~405m below sea level). Unfortunately, we did not find the deepest point (see photo), but we were close. It was also interesting that we saw the cave of Lot and his allegedly petrified wife. For those who don't know who we're talking about - look up Sodom and Gomorrah ;-) (the two cities are said to have been located at the Dead Sea as well). One theory is that about 5000 years ago, there may have been a larger city on the shore of the Dead Sea that could have been destroyed by an earthquake and a subsequent landslide. In addition, an ancient name for the Dead Sea is ama schel Sodomm - "Sea of Sodom" and methane deposits beneath the surface of the area cause open fires at many faults during earthquakes, which could be interpreted as the firestorm of God. In addition, earthquakes have often led to fires as a result of the destruction of fireplaces in settlements.

View of the Dead Sea and bottom left: the 'petrified wife of Lot'

Apart from these horror stories, it is actually a really beautiful place - and the swimming was pretty crazy :) You just have to be careful not to get any water in your mouth - normal swimming is therefore not possible. This is due to the extreme salt content (about 34%, compared to an average salt content of 35 ‰ in the oceans, so 1/10 of that!) and the many minerals dissolved in the water. Temperature-wise, we were lucky - it was about 18/19 °C at the Dead Sea and the water was 23 degrees. Not exactly beach weather, but enough to fully enjoy the unique swimming experience.

Swimming in the Dead Sea

For the second part of the trip, we went to Aqaba in the south, back to the Red Sea. We had a nice diving accommodation - unfortunately, it was quite deserted (we were the only guests over New Year's). But we also had the dive sites all to ourselves and did a total of four great dives (including the wreck of the Cedar Pride and one of the two accessible tanks in the Gulf).

Diving at Cedar Pride and the tank

And yes, of course, you can't travel to Jordan without visiting Petra. So we also spent a day and many kilometers wandering through the huge and breathtaking area, admiring the tombs and the landscape. The abandoned rock city of Petra was the capital of the Nabatean Empire in antiquity and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. By the way, Petra is said to have been called Reqem, Reqmu or Rakmu by the Nabateans (German: "the red one