5am, just light and almost time to get up. It had been a quiet moonlit night with a few clouds, but mostly clear and quite cool towards dawn. We all started rising about 5.15, with loos and teeth cleaning, before clearing up our devastation of the camp - i.e. putting back the beds, and leaving all unnecessary stuff ready to be taken to the big camp. Moe invited us all outside (except Keith and Jenny) to settle us on camels in readiness for our safari to watch the sunrise. We clambered onto our mounts, then the camel leader encouraged the camels to rise, which nearly tipped us over their heads. Mick's camel was a huge grumbler and quite contrary, sitting down in the middle of the ride, then standing so Mick couldn't get off when we got to the sunrise spot! Before that, we swayed across the desert with the camels grabbing at the scrubby vegetation as we went by. It was so peaceful with only the odd voices breaking the quiet. We climbed up and down the dunes and as the camels were tied together in pairs, the leaders of the pairs were 'allowed' to hold the leading rein and take charge of their two camels. The Bedouin were only a stick's length away. By nearly 6.30 we had reached a high spot and our Bedouin leader got us to dismount and sit on the sandy ground, facing a bit of a mountain. Gradually we saw the red sun appear from behind it - sunrise in this part of Wadi Rum. Photos taken, we remounted and our camels strode off in the direction of the large camp, ready for breakfast.
We left the camels and walked through a narrow pass into a valley where we found a couple of camps, one of which was the one we wanted. Here we found a Bedouin breakfast buffet awaiting us. Some herbs mixed with sesame seeds and seasoning was one of the unusuall things on offer. Moe said we should mix it with olive oil to make a sort of paste. This was very tasty on our flat bread. There were eggs and jams, too. Lucy was very keen to get to the Dead Sea hotel, and persuaded Moe that we should leave asap. So Wendy and I teased her with the story that Moe had arranged for us to visit the Museum in Amman on the way - so Lucy was resigned that it could be a while before we got there. We set off with Mohammed in the driver's seat, stopping to take a picture of the Camel road sign and again at the Midway Castle - a souvenir shop with some tourist souvenirs, but also with Dead Sea products on sale cheaper than at the hotel. A and I had coffee and a stroll about only buying a couple of PCs and some mud impregnated cream for A to try. Back in the bus and on to take a photo of the Sea Level sign nearly at the Dead Sea. By now Lucy realized we weren't going to the Museum.
We arrived at the Marriott by 1pm, but our rooms weren't ready - such frustration, but we could grab stuff out of the bags and change in the loos by the pool. As lunch was up to us, some of us went to the sports bar for a snack. This turned out to be more substantial than we anticipated - A's a chicken sandwich with fries and my waffle chips and cheese would have fed a family of four each! And all the while there was boxing on the TV and loud music! Then Moe found us and said the rooms were ready, so we found our way to reception to collect the keys and changed in our rooms before heading down to sample the delights fo the ultra salty sea. First people cover themselves with mud from a pot by the shore, then it's into the luke warm water. It was a weird experience, you just can't get your feet down, but bob about on the surface and woe betide you if you get the salty water near your eyes. We could see the 'oily' salty liquid swirling about as we moved. We propelled ourselves to the rope and floats marking the edge of our pool, using the rope to anchor ourselves so we could 'rest' without floating away. Really strange!
At last we came out and I rinsed off in the fresh water showers, and A left the salty water to dry, doing his skin lots of good. It was so hot, probably nearer 40 degrees than 35. Eventually we retired upstairs and sorted out the bags.We emptied everything out, then shook the bags out on the balcony to get rid of the sand. Time for showers etc. before going to the terrace to watch the sunset. We couldn't find any of the others, but as they are leaving tomorrow, they were all sorting out their stuff. A mint lemonade and a beer were very refreshing as we watched the sun going down and waited.
When everyone had collected, Moe was there ready to take us to the restaurant for our final dinner together - a buffet of mezze and rice and lamb or quail. Some of us tried the Jordanian wine, the reds being typical of a hot country with a raisiny taste, not at all unpleasant. We sat with Wendy and Lucy and chattered away, then Lucy mentioned that she had once had a boyfriend whose parents lived in Oman and this turned out to be people we knew fairly well - what a coincidence! Some went to peruse the desserts and Keith brought Jenny a wonderful selection of small slices of cakes and mousses - we had to have some, too. Chocolate mousse cake and fruit. There was one called Alhambra cake, with purple and yellow stripes. (too much for me!) Over tea and coffee, we all said what a great time we had had, and Lucy read us her poem about our holiday together - email addresses were swopped and promises of sharing photos were made - a Flikr page for the Jingly Janglies, the mythical group of belly dancers we have formed while staying in Petra - lead dancer Terri with Jen, Sian, Lucy, Maki and Wendy as performers - Jason as manager, Alan as costume buyer, Mick as the FD, Liz make-up. And so to bed, with the promise that A and I would see them off at 8am in the morning.
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