Thursday April 17 (day 48)

The sun is shining but it is COLD.  We just put the warm jackets deep in the roof rack a couple of days ago because we haven't even thought of putting them on and they've just been in the way.  Now it is blowing wind and cold and we're only at 1,000 meters.  We make ourselves get out of warm bed (and wonder how we'll be able to live in Europe….) and head to the castle.  Karak is on the ancient caravan routes and this area (before the castle was here) was even conquered by Tutmose III and Ramses II of ancient Egypt.  The Karak castle is now most famous for its importance during the religious crusades in the 1100 and 1200s AD.  It is a massive castle with beautiful views over the entire valley and down to the Dead Sea and only costs 1JD to get in.  From there we head to the Dead Sea.  Karak is only 30km from Dead Sea and we descent 1,300 meters in 30km.  The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth (apparently) and it is hot and dry (thankfully – as we thaw out from the morning).  We stop at what we thought was Amman Beach the public access beach.  After we pay and enter the complex we see that Amman Beach is next door.  This place isn't mentioned in the guidebook and must be new.  The Leasure Resort looks a lot like the public access beach but has two swimming pools and large shower and changing rooms.  We pay 10 dinar per adult to enter and 10 dinar per adult to camp.  As we're writing this it is quiet here and very busy at the public beach.  If you are looking for a place to camp it may be with checking the public beach (cheaper).  We went swimming in the Dead Sea!  Well, more like floating because you can't easily swim.  It is such a strange feeling.  Everything is the same as getting into any other body of water until you try to swim or float.  You can't sink, you sit up in the water!  We floated around with Eowyn sitting on our bellies.  Floating on your stomach is even stranger because you easily have your head above water and your feet sticking up in the air with no effort.  As the beach clears out we set up our tents on the sand and the lights of the West Bank start to appear across the water.