Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The best of the Dead Sea drives, through avenues of windswept junipers and firs, vines and olive groves, and along-
side a wadi decorated with flowering oleander. Don't miss the steep descent of the sulphurous hillside to
Hammamat Ma'in (
Click here
)
. Recover at the aptly named Panorama Restaurant (
Click here
). Follow signs for
Hammamat Ma'in from King's Highway, 1km south of Madaba. The road, sometimes referred to as the 'Dead Sea
Parkway', is incorrectly shown on most maps. Use low gear if you're making a detour to Hammamat Ma'in.
Continue to the Dead Sea resorts (7km), Bethany (25km) or Amman (60km).
Karak to Safi
30 minutes, 40km
This is an easy drive along steep-sided wadi, with expansive views of potash production. Take a side trip to Lot's
Cave (
Click here
).
Time this drive for midafternoon, when the sunset turns the sandstone to molten gold. Follow signs from the
King's Highway in Karak to Mazra'a or 'Dead Sea' along Hwy 50. Turn left at the Dead Sea Highway for Safi.
Tafila to Fife
40 minutes, 26km
Descend from cypress woodland, through weather-beaten rock formations and palm oases to tomato fields at Fifa.
Give extra time to this trip - it's a veritable geography lesson in habitats at different altitudes. Take Hwy 60 from
the centre of Tafila, following signs for Wadi Araba; take care on the sharp bends.
Little Petra to Wadi Araba
One hour 15 minutes (half-day with stops), 45km plus 2km return to Little Petra
and 20km return to Feynan Ecolodge
This fantastic drive begins with Nabataean sites such as the Elephant Rock and a side trip to the Siq at Little Petra
(
Click here
). Look out for rock-cut wine presses and dams through Siq Umm Al-Alda, decorated with ancient carob
trees. Pass through the psychedelically green landscape surrounding a reclaimed-water project and visit a pre-pot-
tery Neolithic tell (look for a wire fence on the left of the road) at Shkarat Msaiad. The mountain road thereafter
twists through magnificent rainbow rocks before gliding into Wadi Araba, dotted with Bedouin camps, acacia trees
and sand dunes.
Head through Umm Sayhoun to Little Petra. Turn right to Hesha and Bayder and immediately left, following
signs to Wadi Araba. The road, which doesn't appear on most maps and isn't numbered, is damaged but not impass-
able at the bottom. At the junction in Wadi Araba, turn right to Qurayqira to stay at Feynan Ecolodge (
Click here
) or
left to reach the Dead Sea Highway. From the highway junction, it is 130km to Aqaba.
Dead Sea
05 / POP >5000 / ELEV -400M
It would be a travesty to come to Jordan and miss the Dead Sea. At 400m below sea level,
this extraordinary body of intense blue water, polished smooth like oiled skin on a wind-
less day in winter or ruffled into salty whitecaps during the summer winds, lies at the low-
est point on earth. The extreme salinity of the water has nothing to do with the Dead Sea
