Around The World

We slept pretty well last night, considering that we were in a tent! We got up around 6:30 am, showered, packed, and got to breakfast by about 7:30 am.

By 8:30 am, we had checked out, and were ready for the trip back across the Wadi Rum Desert to the local township.

When we got back to the Wadi Rum township, Daoud and Nabil (our driver) were waiting to meet us. We transferred the luggage into the car and set off on the 300-kilometre drive to our hotel at the Dead Sea. There wasn’t a lot to see on the way. The most interesting thing we saw was probably the unexpected sandstorm we drove through.

We had one brief stop on the way to our hotel, to stretch our legs. We arrived mid-afternoon at the Kempinski Hotel Ishtar on the Dead Sea, and checked in. Before going to our room, we headed to one of the hotel’s restaurant to get a bite to eat. One of the hotel staff offered to drive us to the restaurant in a golf buggy, which turned out to be a better option than walking because the hotel was enormous!

We chose to eat at the hotel’s Mediterranean restaurant that overlooked the Dead Sea. We opted to sit outside, even though it wasn’t a very warm day. The weather looked a little ominous but we figured we’d just move inside if it started to rain. But what we didn’t count on was the wind in advance of the rain, which whipped the water from the infinity pool right into the restaurant’s outdoor seating area! We scampered inside, along with about 30 other people who also got drenched! But while it lasted, sitting outside looking over the Dead Sea to Israel was very pleasant.

Safely inside, we enjoyed a very nice lunch.

After lunch, we walked (quite a distance!) to our room.

We spent the rest of the day just relaxing in our room. Given how late we’d had lunch, we didn’t feel like dinner.
But we got a nice surprise when a birthday cake was delivered to our room in the evening (so someone had let the hotel know that we were on a trip to celebrate our birthdays this year!).

The only thing we’re sure that we want to do tomorrow is to go for a swim in the Dead Sea. Other than that, we’ll probably just take it easy.