The Dead Sea, Karak and Madaba

We'd debated whether to hire a car for the whole of our Jordan trip, but instead opted for 3 days in case we didn't like it and we'd also heard that you could get to tourist sites relatively easily on public transport.

We'd got a night booked at the Crown Plaza, Dead Sea, as a little treat using Jason's hotel points he'd collected whilst working away in the UK. To make the most of our day of luxury we dashed down to the Dead Sea in our little Nissan Sunny and managed to check in early. Wow...it was amazing...first, an upgrade to a sea view room, then a chauffeur in a golf buggy to our room (as the place was huge), then free mini bar , then a knock on the door with a present of free baklava, then free mud minerals on the beach, amazing pool and the sun was shining. I was in my element. After all this travelling a little bit of luxury was greatly appreciated. Apart from the sun bathing we really didn't do a lot, but we would definitely recommend the Dead Sea as an experience. It's so weired! There is nothing you can do to sink and Jason tried his best to push me down in the water but I just popped straight back up again. You can't swim because your feet end up floating above the surface so you can never kick to get anywhere. It gave us a lot of entertainment. In order to get the best Dead Sea mineral experience for your skin you are supposed to soak in the water and then apply the mud until it dries and then dip back in the sea to wash it all off. We followed this advice, but not sure we look 10 years younger for doing so...?

Jason did all of the driving and made the most of quiet, winding roads that take you through the desert and mountains (I think he secretly quite liked the Nissan Sunny). It was great to take in the scenery, stop when you wanted to and go to wherever you decided...we spent a night in Karak. It was a very quite town and had a budget hotel for us to stay in (a bit of a downgrade from our previous room). We tried to eat locally and sought out the busiest place in the town...a kebab house. I was disappointed with my meal, which was basically a chicken and cheap cheese sandwich, but Jason's BBQ chicken and veg with pitta was much nicer. Karak has a castle, which was why we chose to go there, because Jason likes castles. The castle was OK, not kept in the best condition for a tourist site, but it did have great views of Jordan's desert landscape and we virtually had it all to ourselves.

The next stop in the car was Madaba, which is about one hour south of Amman. It's famous for its mosaic pavements and an old mosaic map of the Holy Land and religious sites across the Middle East before borders were made. The mosaics themselves are very impressive considering their age, however the Mosaic Park is a rip off considering half of the sites weren't open when we went...nevermind. We did visit a nice church, which had a bell tower you could climb to get a view. Dad, it would seem that I have your gene for fear of heights after all. I started to climb the tower, thinking nothing of it, but then looked up at the huge bells ahead of me and got very dizzy and couldn't take a step further. Jason made it to the top and informed me that I'd missed out on a cracking view...oh dear. I hope this doesn't become an issue for me...

The Nissan Sunny had successfully made it around the Dead Sea, Karak and Madaba and it was time to head back to Amman for another Hasheem restaurant fill...yummy!