Scrolls and Buoyancy

Sorry folks but this will be very brief.

Yesterday we did a walking tour of Amman. We saw the citadel and a museum which is on the site. There were two-headed statues from something crazy like 6000 BCE and also some of the copper Dead Sea Scrolls. Pretty amazing.

After a quick lunch and some e-mails we drove up to Mount Nebo where Moses looked out over the promised land and then expired. While it was a clear day (e.g. no clouds) it was very hazy so the views weren't great. We were a stone's throw from the Dead Sea, Jericho and Jerusalem. At a nearby church we saw the oldest known map of the Middle East in the form of a mosaic on the floor. This was followed by a great Jordanian meal at a lovely restaurant. (I have to admit to getting a little tired of kebabs, felafels and hummus, but am still hanging in.)

Today we drove to the Dead Sea and had a dip. We were guests at a very high end resort and used their beach and pools. Swimming in the Dead Sea is surreal - you just bob up and down, mostly out of the water. Feels like I would imagine zero gravity to be. After our swim and mud bath, which left our skin feeling like silk, we lounged by the pool in the sunshine and played on the water slides. It was nice to be in a warm environment again. At this resort we were about two kilometers from Jesus's baptism site but didn't go as it's so close to the Palestine border that it's heavily guarded and would have taken too much time. Again we had haze, otherwise we would have been able to see Jerusalem from the beach.

We are now in Wadi Musa and will see Petra tomorrow. Unfortunately, I woke up this morning with a headache the likes of which I couldn't have previously imagined. I think that perhaps after a decade of symptoms of migraine, I am actually experiencing my first migraine headache. It went away briefly while poolside but is back with a vengeance. I will do Petra tomorrow even if I have to crawl through on my hands and knees, but am hoping it will be better by then.

I'm off to a very early night in the hopes of healing by morning. I won't have internet for the next day or two as we head to Wadi Rum tomorrow for a nightof camping in the desert and a camel ride with the Bedouins. Will write again when I get back to civilization.