Salty rocks on the Dead Sea shore
Sunset. And the view from Wadi Mujib over the Dead Sea into Occupied Palestine
Chillaxing in ma' hammock
Our Chalets (mine's the one at the front where I'm standing ;) )
It seems we weren’t the only ones to have an issue. We had just finished climbing what was the most challenging waterfall (probably a little over 11metres with water rushing everywhere) – about 45minutes – when three other hikers popped out of nowhere, obviously they caught up to us as we were navigating said challenging waterfall. So we stayed to help them up to. First we directed the young lady and then with three of us working as a human chain hoisted her over onto the rocks. Then we worked with her to get her husband and father to the same point. For the rest of the way we stuck together. They were really nice. The woman was German, her husband was Jordanian and her Dad and Mum were visiting them – although her Mum didn’t come on the hike. 
One of the kinder obstacles...
Finally we reached the end waterfall and promptly sat down in the middle of the water – not the brightest idea as it carried me about 10metres down before I managed to get afoot wedged on a rock. So we sat. And talked. And sang. And then a group of about 20 rounded the corner and we decided it was time to head off. So did our friends. We helped each other back down – her Dad was particularly concerned for us which was quite cute. Back at the beginning, totally drenched, with see-through clothing we sloshed our way back to the visitors centre where the chalet manager picked us up in his ute – not before I gave my email to the German lady so she could send me her photos of the waterfall (she had one of those old school waterproof cameras we used to take on school camps). Insha’allah we’ll get pics soon (first the camera is returning to Germany to be developed, then the photos will be emailed back and then hopefully on to me).
Back to the chalets and one final swim in the Dead Sea before showering and clambering back in the car for the drive back to Amman.Much Love and Ma’a salama.
Castle kitchen with cool shaft of light. We got a little excited and started taking uber-cheesy du'a shots! 
Surrounding fields
No that is not me!
Castle walls...
On the road..to where?
Initially I had intended to drive all the way back to the highway and go to Kerak that way, but on the way there we saw a sign that said Kerak so we turned off and began a little journey through a lot of open space, small and sleepy towns and empty roads. Eventually we got to a town (not sure of the name) and the sign to Kerak pointed to a road that was blocked off. So we drove around the concrete road blocks and continued for about 5 minutes until we realised that about 10 metres ahead of us there was no more road. So we back tracked and took a right before the concrete blocks. This led us back the way we’d came (albeit on a different road), so we stopped and (thank God for our Jordanian traveller) asked a man with more tatts than I’ve ever seen on one bloke in my life which way exactly was Kerak. He told us to take the next left and rejoin the road into the town, and then take the first right then first left. So we did – with the exception of taking the last left. We drove on a little, then did a u-turn and stopped in front of the sign that stood approximately 1x4metres but had only 2 readable LETTERS on it (the rest had faded or fallen off). There was some semblance of an arrow so we decided that we’d follow the man’s instructions after all. So we are driving along another empty road surrounded by desert which looks like it is going nowhere, then we see a couple of Bedu blokes looking after a truck so we stop again and ask for directs. They confirmed that we were on the right track, so we continued... Can you believe that we eventually rejoined the highway I had initially intended to take! ARRRGGGHH the signs in this country! 
Scenery
So back on the highway we followed the signs, decided not to get petrol, watched the freight train go by and continued on. Finally we came upon a sign telling us to go left for Kerak, so I pulled a u-turn (only option, no left actually existed) and then came to a stop at the very next road. There was a sign. It said “Qadsiyyah, Husseinyah”. Being that it didn’t mention Kerak, we drove on for another 20mins until we realised that there wasn’t another left, and the signs on the other side of the highway were pointing to Kerak back the way we’d come. So after another u-turn, 20mins of driving and yet another u-turn we returned to that very sign and turned off the highway. It was an amazing sight, the desert was flat for kilometres (very unusual in Jordan) and the road looked like it disappeared somewhere off on the horizon. So we happened upon a small town (maybe 10 houses) and came to yet another sign. “DETOUR”. Not good. So we take the detour, driving along. We come to a right – there is no sign. We have two options: I know we have to drive across Jordan (west to east) to get to the Dead Sea but there’s no sign to tell me if this is the detour or not, so do I go right or continue to go straight. We took a vote. 3 for straight, one (me) for right. We were down to less than a ¼ tank of petrol and another detour could see us breakdown. So we went right.
In the end a good decision, we finally came to one of the towns mentioned on the original sign on the highway. We stopped at a small shop and asked the guy for directions – turns out we were going the right way. He also said there was a petrol station at the end of the road which was a relief. So after refuelling (and being starred at by far to many men) we drove and drove until we finally reached Kerak.
Interesting place – all the road were one way, which proved a problem when I did the Aussie thing and began driving the wrong way... We stopped at the Crusader Castle in the centre of Kerak. The castle was built in 1142CE by Crusader king Baldwin I of Jerusalem and passed through a succession of Crusader hands until it was laid siege to and taken by Salahdin’s armies in 1183. Interestingly more than ½ the castle has still not been explored because the passageways are to unsafe – but that doesn’t mean you can’t climb all over it!
An hour and a half, two Snickers bars and half a packet of Ulker biscuits later we were back on the road to Wadi Mujib, which is a nature reserve that sits on the Dead Sea.
Beginning of the stairs on the way up to the High Place of Sacrifice
Urn Tomb
The front of the Theatre
Homes and tombs cut into the rock face
High Place of Sacrifice
Little kittens (not-so-friendly)
The Siq
Tree growing out of the rocks
The Siq widening and narrowing
Remains of a goddess
