I had a lovely weekend in Aqaba and as promised I am now about to share my reflections and some pictures I took for your visual pleasure. It is a family tradition to stop by Karak on our way to Aqaba to rest and maybe even spend the night there, as that step technically splits the journey to Aqaba in half and makes it more amusing.

I took a good number of pictures in Karak and Samara and I plan to post them some time soon, the thought crossed my mind to post them in this entry but I did not think it passable to mix matters up. Clicking on any image I post will enlarge it, so if you want to see a detailed part of a picture that’s what you should do.

The way we chose to get to our destination was that of the Dead Sea. It is the lowest point on earth and is renowned for the extremely high concentration of minerals and salts in its waters. It was thought that nothing could live in the waters of the Dead Sea, and indeed no fish or plants can tolerate that type of environment, but I read once that a Jordanian researcher managed to prove the existence of some sort of microorganism in those healing waters. People from around the world head for the Dead Sea to be treated for several types of illnesses and discomforts. A thriving industry evolved around the manufacturing of body care necessities composed of the mud of the sea bed. That is not to mention the industries concerned with extracting the abundance of salt and other minerals, mainly potash which is one of the top Jordanian exports to the global market. Nevertheless, it is tragic what has happened to the Dead Sea. It seems to be dieing for real due to draught and the excessive abortion of its resources.

Following is a picture of a refinery by the sea shore and another of the tragic state of what’s left of the sea just by the refinery.

Every time I pass by the Dead Sea I am saddened by its deteriorating state, it is shrinking on a daily basis. I have heard of a governmental project to open up a canal connecting it to the Red Sea, but I have also heard that such a project is financially unfeasible. The case being so, a miracle is needed to save this wonder.

En route to Aqaba you will traverse the exotic Wadi Araba, the beauty of the combination of mountains and sand there is indescribable. Anticipate some road side camels and signs alerting you to their existence. Jordanian road signs are seldom verbal, therefore a sign of that type looks like this one.

Look real hard and you will see some camels in this image.

This is a picture of the suburban part of Aqaba, for my part I adore an image of white houses by the seaside. But the coloring of houses in Aqaba is distinct as it has many houses coated in warm colors like beige and light brown, unlike many other areas in Jordan that are mostly drenched in whitish paint.I realise the picture is not perfect and it hardly supports my point of Aqaba houses being polychromatic, but unfortunately I was unable to get a better shot.

Tala Bay is a project that’s been making the news recently. This is a picture I took of the housing units, it fails to show the yacht marina though.

Another leading landmark on the Aqaba beach is the Royal Diving Club; here is a picture of the club’s private beach.

Many tourists and locals visit the club intending to go snorkeling or diving, some simply like to sunbathe and enjoy the view. Here is a snorkeling couple, I overheard them go on about the beauty of a lionfish they had just seen.

It is not for unknown reasons that Aqaba’s waters are popular amongst divers, look how clear the waters are, this is right off the shore.

I promised myself to go snorkeling the next time I visit, it is just so tempting to explore the deep sea that lies so clear and so near.

And on some seaside rocks I situated myself and took a picture of this crab and this rock with the curious shells sticking to it. I am ignorant to their scientific name but I found them to be amazing and crab to be delicious.

And this is a picture of the clashing of the waves and some ships in the background.

I am relieved at the fashion in which Aqaba is coming to life every visit of mine. Much has changed in the city and what I find most appealing is the fine engineering of casual mid street parks. These are places made right in the middle of two ways streets that provide shelter from the scorching sun to anyone who seeks the shade. At some points they even installed fountains, chairs are always present.

This is also a new park, not located in the middle of a street.

Another important landmark in the city is the Great Arab Revolution’s flag. It stands tall exactly on the seaside, note the humungous size compared to surroundings.

More pictures will come your way in my upcoming entry. I must retire now because I am exhausted.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 2nd, 2005 at 2:06 am and is filed under Jordan, Picturesque. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.