The Southern Part of the Dead Sea

I set out this morning to take a few photos of the Dead Sea. I had wanted for a while to go from the top reaches of the northern beach to the more interesting southern portion. When I was searching for the northernmost access, I came across a large/hotel resort that feels far removed from the beach, but I suspect when the effort to fill the Dead Sea with water from the Red Sea, the hotel will have a nice beach at its doorstep. This is good forward thinking.

I am very pleased that good opportunities are being made for the resort town. The Samara Mall is being built and it will be the first mall at the resort. This is quite a big deal because there isn't a whole lot of activity to keep people down at the Sea for an extended period of time. I imagine there will be restaurants dotting the landscape as well to give patrons choices in their culinary experiences. There is a small village for employees of the hotels, and the mall and restaurants will make their time in town more enjoyable. I can only see that the place will expand and grow. Good work, Jordan.

I love that hang-gliding activities are held at the Dead Sea because I'd like to see it as a place for extreme sports.

The Israeli side of the sea remains untouched - curiously. They are generally better builders and can see the potential for tourism, but the Jordanian side has taken the lead.

I traveled to the south side where you can see fertile lands in what used to be the sea's bottom. I'm amazed that the saline content in the ground allows food to be grown, but it is quite a booming farm town. Lots of minerals, like potash, are mined there as well.

I was looking for Lot's Cave, but I did not find it. Confusing, contradictory signs led me to abandon my search, but I will go there again when I have a visitor. I'm told the Italians did a nice job in putting together a museum.

On the way to the Sea, I stopped at a Harley Davidson shop. I passed by it numerous times and realized that it must be a gimmicky shop, but I was surprised by the great number of monster bikes they showcase. Not only was there a whole line of 2014 motorcycles, clothing of all sort and other products were up for sale. They even had a children's section. I was happy to find the biker industry thriving, even though I've never ridden a bike. It was great fun to visit.

We were given a gift of manna by an Iraqi. I won't be trying it because it is candy that is designed to pull out any dental fillings. I plan on having mine stay where they are. These manna candies are sitting in baking flour so it looks really strange. This is the only place in the world where this type of manna product is available and many Iraqi claim that it is where Moses and his crew wandered and were fed by God. The desert is quite large and it is entirely plausible. We don't know if they were good map-makers back in the day, but they did wander for forty years.

The play and the chorus rehearsals are going well. I'm told we have a vacation next week (on the 7th) because it is like an Islamic New Year. I'm all for any days off I can get.