Today (Day 2) was a very interesting day.

After breakfast this morning at 7:30 a.m. we left for Madaba, the most Christian city in Jordan.



Madaba's most famous site is the Mosaic Map in the 19th-century Greek Orthodox St. George's Church. U nearthed in 1854, the mosaic was once a clear map of all the major bibical sites from Lebanon to Egypt. The mosaic was constructed in the 6th century.






It certainly reminded us of a Ukraine Church smelling the incense as we entered it. It also had 'real' candles to light versus electrical ones.



Continuing our explorations we went to Mt. Nebo. Mt. Nebo is on the edge of the East Bank plateau and 9km from Madaba.



Mt. Nebo is where Moses is said to have seen the Promised Land. He then died, said to be 120 years old. He was buried in the area, although the exact location of the burial site is the unknown.

The first church was built on the site in the 4th century AD but most of the Moses Memorial Church


we saw today was built in the 6th century.

From the lookout of the beautiful landscape you could see the Dead Sea, Jericho, the Jordan Valley and very faintly the spires of Jerusalem.

Next we went to the site of John the Baptist's Baptism Site and where Jesus was baptized.




The Jordan River is approximately 20 feet across. On the other side of the river, was a fence and a very large Israeli building with flags blowing in the wind. It was a strange site in such a holy place.

Next we drove to Amman Beach at the Dead Sea, which is the lowest point on earth. This place is truly a spectacular resort-like beach.





Going through the entrance, we came upon a very large oddly-shaped pool and stone tiers leading us down to the beach. The beach area was very small, but contained many showers to shower off the salt after being in the Dead Sea. Before going into the Sea, we had a snack.

We were not concerned about swimming after you eat, as the salt water makes you bob like a cork. It truly an amazing feeling to be lying on your stomach, because the salt water pushes your behind up. When you are lying on your back you can hold your feet and arms up out of the water and not sink.

We are hoping to head south tomorrow along the King's Highway towards Petra.