11-5 (Monday)
I was awakened at 4:30 a.m. by the call to prayer. It sounded like the loudspeaker was in our room.

Our driver from yesterday, Abraham, picked us up at 7:00 to drive us along the King's Highway to Amman stopping at 6 different places along the way.

The first stop was Shobak Castle. A guide that I hired and I walked down 365 underground steps in total darkness except for my torch. it was hard going because there was loose sand on the rocks which caused me to slip. These steps didn't go straight down but snaked left and right. I thought maybe they had been used as an escape route but no, it was the way people went to fetch their water from a spring! The tunnel ended at the bottom of the castle where I had to climb straight up grabbing hold of one iron bar after another. there were 11 of these I had to climb to exit.

We drove to the Dead Sea for a swim. There were changing rooms and lockers without locks. We stuck our things in a locker and took our money belts etc down to the beach. There were lots of sharp stones where I entered the water. I was barefooted and it hurt. When I got out about chest deep the bottom was sandy. It was really funny to see how you could float sticking your arms and legs out of the water at the same time. If you had a cut on your body it could really hurt. You sure didn't want to get any water in your eyes. I didn't stay in too long because my legs started stinging - when I got out I had a rash on my legs near the top. There was fresh water to rinse off with after you got out.

We drove to Mt Nebo where Moses is said to have first seen the promised land which he himself was forbidden to enter.

We arrived at our hotel, the Gondola, in Amman around 5:00. We paid the driver $50 each plus a tip and he headed back to Petra.