(Day 4) Movenpick resort & Spa, Dead Sea, Jordan
The 500+ remaining kilometers in Saudi went by without any problems. After Arar the road quickly reverts to a good 2-lane road and closer to the border, to the old worn out 2-lane road. The road slowly climbs unnoticeably to 850 m before descending to 550 m where the border post is. We left at 7:15 and had breakfast close to the border at 11:00.
Jordan
The Saudi border only took 7 min and was a drive through. The Jordan border also went smoothly but still took 43 min because of the need to change money, buy car insurance and import the car. The immigration and customs people were very friendly and help us out in any way possible. They even allowed us to jump the queue. The policeman at the entry gate made it clear to Jamaliah that she no longer needed to wear the black abaya and go separately from the men. A few km down the road she immediately took it off. The roads in Jordan are full of trucks driving up the country from the only harbor in Aqaba. The 2 lane road is therefore worn and you need to often overtake the trucks to make some progress. At the first 2 ruins along the drive to Amman we stopped for sightseeing.
They were a 7th century bath house with fresco’s and a 60 room caravanserai. From there the road gradually climb to 900 m and we ended up in the outskirts of Amman searching for a way to the Dead Sea. Eventually we found the highway which descends the hills down to -350 m. Like many of the travelers before us we decided to treat ourselves to the luxury of the infinity pool in the Movenpick hotel which overlooks the dead sea. After checking in our rooms, the boys and Rudy decided to try the swimming pool and swim or in this case float in the Dead sea.
Rudy Welling's Travels 