Jordan River and the Dead Sea

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Wow today was definitely a day that I will never forget for the rest of my life. When we got up this morning we decided to go to the Dead Sea which is supposed to be about 30 minutes outside of Amman (which is one of the boarders of Jordan and Israel. On the way we started seeing signs for the Baptism sight, and when we asked the taxi driver what it was for and then it came to us that it was the baptism sight for Jesus. We couldn’t believe it so we made our way through the security. We got our tickets and waited on the bus that was supposed to take us down to the river. After going through several military checkpoints we finally got to where you could see the churches that were on the river. As we walked down the path you could get your first sight of Israel which is on the other side of the Jordan River, ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_River ) as well as seeing the cities of first Jericho and then Jerusalem just past it in the distance. It is so amazing and the feeling of shock hits you thinking about how much you have read and heard about the area. As we continue on we get our first sight of the river and you start grasping the idea that Jesus was actually baptized in the river more then 2000 years ago. And we continue onto the past where the amazing little church sits that was built in 2003 where there’s a pathway into the water and on the other side of the river is where the viewing area is on the Israel side and then a few churches. With the two cities in the background along with the Mount of Temptation (http://www.olivebranch.com/isreal/mtemp.htm) where Jesus was tempted to turn the rocks into bread. Matt 4:1 (KJS) Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

There was a group of Philipino women that were there and they started getting into the water and started getting baptized it was amazing. As I got into the water and started walking into the center the tour guide said that he wouldn’t recommend going much further that one meter away from the shore because of border line between Isreal and Jordan is halfway between the river which is 6 meters wide so I guess officially was in Israel today (hopefully there were no minute men around j/k) anyways the military guards with machine guns were keeping close watch on the boarder.

Anyways back on track the women were playing the guitar and singing church songs that I recognized and it was really touching. So I decided that I wanted to declare that Jesus was the son of God right then and there for the second time thinking that it would be very symbolic in my faith to do it the same place that Jesus was. So I re-proclaimed there that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died for the forgiveness of my sins. It was all really powerful for me personally. As all rivers do they change paths through time and so by walking a couple of feet in towards Jordan we came to the site (where it has been confirmed by archeologists that it was where Jesus was infact baptized) because of the fact that it was right next to the church where John the Baptist did all of his work. There was actually three churches on the same site. The remains of the steps where Jesus actually walked into the river are still there, and the remains of the first second and third churches are all still there. The reason there were three is because the water kept washing them away so they built the second and then the third. And they wanted to keep it in the same location because it was right where Jesus was baptized.

Again it really made me think because of all of the different things that were right there. So many things that I had read studied and believed for so many years all in my fingertips. And now all put together making so much sense. As you can see this was defietly a day that I will never forget. We ended up making our way back to the cab with a new zest for life and looking forward to experiencing the Dead Sea (that I had been told was pretty salty jk)

Anyways one thing that I forgot to tell you about was all the different goat and sheep herders that were everywhere minding to their flock. Something that I didn’t know still existed but because of the lack of grass/plants it is necessary to keep the animals moving or they would starve. Something that I had seen before seeing the baptism sight and something that again put things all together afterwards. Really amazing.

We made our way to the Kepenski hotel which is the same hotel chain that manages the Emirates Palace. It was recommended by the GM of the Sheraton who I had meet with a couple days before. Although they said that we would have trouble getting in because its only hotel guest aloud and that also they are the only ones who are aloud to purchase foods or drinks. So when we pull up to the entrance they had velvet ropes as a gate and we flashed our press passes to the security who called the assistant GM who then greeted us at the hotel lobby. He then insisted on giving us a tour of the hotel we first walked out the back doors of the lobby that goes out onto a deck that looks out to the many never ending pools that look like they are flowing into the Dead Sea with the amazing mountains shooting up into the ski from Israel. He then took us around on the golf cart showing us the many amenities of the hotel. And of course just like at the Emirates Palace they show “the Media” only the best so we headed straight to the royal suite. Which is actually a Villa that is detached from the hotel. It is five bedroom, three stories, with a huge private indoor and outdoor pool and private beach separated by huge walls. The Villa is 3 stories and just massive with its own massage room, sauna, and steam room among many other amenities. The spa has actually imported Thai women to complete the Asian theme.

He then showed us the beach where they had imported two types of sand one white for the first half of the beach then a brownish orange sand that makes it look very interesting. The shore is covered with rocks that are covered in salt. It is amazing they are all white, they have even put in bamboo so you don’t hurt your feet on the rocks when you get into the water. When dropping us off by one of the pools he tells the restaurant/bar manager to take great care of us and that he would be back to check on us. We had an amazing lunch of fresh seafood, and they pampered us by bringing chilled towels, fresh fruit, Evian water, and any drink we wanted to us. The cool thing about this pool they actually had a DJ at it spinning the latest in house and club music with huge speakers, it was really trendy and very cool. Again the view of the Dead Sea and the mountains in Israel were amazing. We then went down to the beach and partook in taking care of our skin by lathering up in the black mud that comes from the bottom of the Dead Sea. It is supposed to be really cool for your skin.

So let me try to explain swimming in the Dead Sea. It was one of the coolest things that I have ever experienced. You are floating on top of the water, not in the water, not in between the water, but literally on top of the water. The closest thing that I can compare it to is floating in the water when you are scuba diving but put that feeling on top of the water. I can’t begin to describe the saltiness of the water, when some gets in your mouth it is tastes saltier then pouring a bottle of salt in your mouth. And you can just feel the minerals and salt healing your skin, and then you get out and your skin feels like a baby.

I will stop now but I just can’t begin to describe how cool the day was. Definitely one of the coolest travel things that I have ever done both a person and as a Christian. I hope you are all dong well, and hope that you will be able to experience this some day. Lots of love.

Chad