Madaba and surrounding area is rich with activities and so we decided for another day tour. Our journey started south of Madaba at Umm ar-Rasas. It is an archaeological site in the desert, which became UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. On the way to the site we witnessed multiple road blocks due to animal crossing.
The most important part of the site was definitely the largest and perfectly preserved mosaic in Jordan. The mosaic was actually the floor of the Church of St. Stephen. Fortunately, the mosaic floor was protected with roof so we were able to see it.
Beside the mosaic floor we saw a lot of ruins called the desert castles...
And some local inhabitants...
Our excursion continued to hilltop called Machaerus.
According to the Bible this was location where John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded. So we paid entrance fee and started our ascent.
Once we reached top there were not more than some remains of the Machaerus fortress.
Beside the remains we also enjoyed the Dead Sea view.
It was time to move on and refresh ourselves. So we went to to the Ma'in Hot Springs. This is a place with a series of hot mineral springs and waterfalls. Locals claim that these hot springs have many health beneficial effects.
We entered publicly available area. We changed to swimsuits and started to walk towards actual waterfall. Immediately we experienced unpleasant feeling. There were mostly men and everybody were just staring at us. The men started to film and take photos of us. Finally, we were able to go into the water. But taking photos was really difficult.
The most important part of the site was definitely the largest and perfectly preserved mosaic in Jordan. The mosaic was actually the floor of the Church of St. Stephen. Fortunately, the mosaic floor was protected with roof so we were able to see it.
Beside the mosaic floor we saw a lot of ruins called the desert castles...
And some local inhabitants...
Our excursion continued to hilltop called Machaerus.
According to the Bible this was location where John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded. So we paid entrance fee and started our ascent.
Once we reached top there were not more than some remains of the Machaerus fortress.
Beside the remains we also enjoyed the Dead Sea view.
It was time to move on and refresh ourselves. So we went to to the Ma'in Hot Springs. This is a place with a series of hot mineral springs and waterfalls. Locals claim that these hot springs have many health beneficial effects.
We entered publicly available area. We changed to swimsuits and started to walk towards actual waterfall. Immediately we experienced unpleasant feeling. There were mostly men and everybody were just staring at us. The men started to film and take photos of us. Finally, we were able to go into the water. But taking photos was really difficult.
Every time we brought camera out, there were at least 10 men around the place and they all wanted to be in the picture. Luckily, our driver raised voice several times so we were able to do some quick pictures.
The water was really hot and we were struggling to stay in the water more than several minutes. Beneath the big waterfall there was a cave. The driver told us to go inside and he also said that this is "the natural sauna". Inside the cave was very humid and hot. Water inside were so hot that we could get burns. No wonder why the call it the natual sauna.
After such an unpleasant experience with locals we wanted to go back to Madaba ASAP!
In Madaba we found one really nice restaurant with local food by coincidence. They have special places for eating, where we sat on the cushions on the floor.
They serve six differently prepared rice with chicken. We ordered all six types and half of chicken. And result was not just rice and chicken but also soup, salat, spicy souce and water.
After we ate as much as we can we understood why cushions are so big...
Definitely we found the best restaurant in Madaba. Ironically, this restaurant was not even mentioned in Lonely Planet guide.
Greeting from Madaba,
Boris & Jerneja
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