Wadi Mujib Chalets

We stayed the night in one of these very rustic looking chalets. The view is of the Dead Sea and only a short walk down a hill. The next day we went on a guided hike that lasted about six hours. We first started walking up steep hills in desert like conditions. Then we were walking along a river and ended up in huge pools that we had to carefully climb to get to the end. We then walked back the same way, but to get down we all repelled down a waterfall. Brian bought a waterproof camera case so he took really fun pictures of the whole experience.

Six Senses Spa

I think the photos speak for themselves. These photos were taken by Brian.

Now I can add stylist to my resume....

Ammar Khammash is an architect and has designed not only several famous buildings in Jordan, but also the currency (Jordanian Dinars). Brian had an interview with him for a story he is writing and Ammar kindly offered us to stay in his second home/studio for the night. The home is in a town named Pella which is about 2 hrs North of Amman. It was perfectly designed for the location and nothing short of inspiring. Ammar is also a painter and his art work was all over the house. Brian and I did some relaxing, but mostly we worked. This was my first official (well sort of) job as a stylist. Brian would tell me which room to style and the angle of the shot and I had to set the scene. The house had been a little neglected and was covered in cob webs and dust, so my styling job did include quite a bit of cleaning and hiding of junk. Underneath the thick layers of dirt though, was an eclectic collection of antiques, books and art supplies. Most of the pictures I took with my little point and shoot camera........can you guess which ones are done by the professional?

Azraq Nature Reserve

A couple of weekends ago we spent the night in a town named Azraq. Azraq means "blue" in Arabic and has a nature reserve that use to be a sparkling blue oasis. It was shelter to half a million species of birds and full of animals such as the water buffalo. By 1994 the marsh was almost all but drained by Amman and Irbid. Gradually water is being pumped back in and there are around 347,000 birds visiting now and they even transplanted water buffalo back into the marsh. We got about 20 feet away from a family of them.....

Brian was doing a photo shoot at the lodge nearby. It was a hospital back in the day and an architect he is doing a story on restored the place and added a separate structure for guests to stay (the bottom picture is of the new addition). They had several craft workshops where local women made a variety of traditional products and crafts. I added a picture of one of my favorite, which was an intricately painted Ostrich egg. The lodge was about 2 hours from Amman in the middle of the desert. We stopped at a castle on the way back but were not very impressed. It was a nice trip, especially because it was free, but I can safely say I see no need to go back there again.

What 8,000 JD's can buy

Here is a quick peak into my world. Brian and I moved in at the beginning of May. We are on the fourth floor and in a great section of town. We can walk to restaurants, bars, grocery stores and an area that is similar to the Saturday Market back in Portland. It has food, people selling things and live music every Friday night. Our favorite place is our deck off the living room. We sit out there all the time and have a nice view of tree lined streets (a rarity here in Amman). Brian is excited to have his own office and I am excited to have a nice kitchen to start experimenting with some middle eastern dishes. In the bedroom we had to hang a big black sheet up because it is so sunny here we were waking up at 6 a.m. (I am not complaining though, I LOVE all the sun here). In all the bathrooms here they have bidet's (pronounced bid-day). I wish the states would catch on to the idea, they are quite useful. The middle of the apartment complex is full of plants and seats as you can see. This is incredibly uncommon here because it is using up so much space in a very tightly packed city of 2 million. It took a little over a month, several frustrations and one police report, but we are finally settled in and very happy with our new home.

Amman

Here are a few pictures from The Citadel in town. It's on the top of a hill and has a perfect view of the city. The bottom picture is of a Roman Amphitheater in the downtown area.

O........That's what I'm talking about

The Dead Sea is 1,385 ft below sea level and the lowest elevation on Earth. It is one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, with 33.7% salinity. It is 8.6 times more salty than the ocean. It is not the most refreshing body of water to jump into on a hot day, but is very fun to just bounce to the top like a buoy. It is very beautiful and there are many hotels along the water that have swimming pools so you can enjoy the view and swim in water that doesn't hurt if you happened to shave your legs that day.

The latest addition to this area is a new place named "O". They are marketing it as a whole new concept because it isn't a hotel but just a place to spend the day in the lap of luxury. O is designed for the rich people in Jordan, or tourists with money to burn. On Thursday they had a grand opening and Brian was asked to go and take some pictures. I begged him to get me in because I knew I would never be able to afford to go again. I still am unclear how much it costs because they conveniently forgot to add prices to their brochures, but I was told it was 500 JD's for a private bungalow for the day. (500 JD=$700USD)

The grand opening was even more glamorous than I had imagined. The spa was absolutely gorgeous. It was full of pools, bars in and out of water, restaurants, private bungalows, huge chairs that looked like beds and the whole place was sand colored with green accents. There were several private massage areas as well with their own hot tubs and showers. The list of spa treatments filled an entire booklet and they use all organic and local products like minerals from the Dead Sea and fresh fruit. They had tables everywhere with free appetizers, a huge buffet for dinner and an open bar. We were told early on that Janet Jackson was playing........eventually we figured out that by Janet Jackson they meant to say Celine Jackson a washed up musician who sings covers. (another false promise I fell for, when will I learn!)

I didn't bring my camera so these pictures were taken by Brian.