DEAD SEA TO AMMAN

We drove back to Amman via a dramatic new road climbing the side of the rift valley, with the Dead Sea and its coastal road far below. The road has only been opened for a few months, and there was very little traffic on it. It wound its way round little wadis at quite a gentle slope, often crossing bridges with a heart-quickening drop to one side. Down below was the blue, blue Sea, across which Israel could be made out through the haze.

At the top of the pass there is a newly opened museum. It is well worth a visit. It is a beautiful building, in the soft, golden local sandstone. The displays of Jordanian history are well worth study. And the views are superb. The entrance gives some idea of the feel of the place:

Then across the plains, through Madaba where there are supposed to be some marvellous mosaics, but we couldn’t find them. As we were short of time, we headed for Mt Nebo, where Moses saw the Promised Land and where he is buried. It is sacred to Jew, Christian and Muslim.

There was a fine old church with some very good mosaics. Were they as good as those in Marsala? We will never know, but they struck us as being perfectly adequate!

Outside the church was an open viewpoint, where on a clear day you could indeed see the Promised Land, but this was not one of those days! A heavy haze allowed a glimpse of the valley of the Dead Sea far below, but after that, the pall of invisibility hid every detail. A great modern statue had been erected to honour Pope John-Paul. Suitably impressed, we fled to hack our way through the traffic, and make certain we were in time to meet the person from the rental agency.