Dead Sea Highway - Jordan - page 260

includes home-grown herbs and vegetables from the hotel's organic cabbage patch in the
wadi. The hotel organises daily excursions to Holiday Inn for those wanting to spend the
day at the Dead Sea but chances are you'll find it hard to leave the sanctuary of the re-
sort's own intimate spa.
Minimal snacks and soft drinks are for sale in the shop near the entrance of Hammamat
Ma'in.
Getting There & Away
The resort is 18.5km from the Dead Sea resorts and 27km from Madaba, and well sign-
posted in either direction. If you're driving, the 2.5km descent into Hammamat Ma'in is
scenic (with bands of green, yellow and red streaking the hillside) but very steep, so use
low gear.
From Madaba a taxi costs around JD15 one way, or JD25 for a return journey including
around an hour's wait. Alternatively, take a tour from the Black Iris in Madaba for JD28
with a three-hour waiting time. There is no public transport.
OASES OF THE DEAD SEA HIGHWAY
There are virtually no eating or sleeping stops along the southern part of the Dead Sea Highway - bar one, the ex-
ceptional Feynan Ecolodge.
Owned by Dana Nature Reserve and privately managed ( Click here ), Feynan Ecolodge ( 2270497;
www.feynan.com ; Wadi Feynan; s/d incl breakfast & park entry fee JD85/95; 1 Sep-30 Jun; ) is the
only sleeping option south of Wadi Mujib. More usually found at the end of a long, hard day's hike through the
Dana Nature Reserve, this lodge is more grail than guesthouse. The 26 adobe rooms are quirky in design, with
patchwork mirrors and 'balconies' that are integral to the room rather than appended to the outside. At night the
lodge is lit solely by locally made candles (4000 are used a month!), adding to the reverential atmosphere some-
where between medieval monastery and desert fortress.
It gets very hot here in summer (air-conditioning is available in extreme temperatures only) and you should bring
a torch and mosquito repellent. The hot water (available between 11am and 7pm) is solar-heated. Dinner comprises
a delicious vegetarian feast of potato, rice, eggplant (aubergine), tomato and bean dishes, garnished with local herbs
and served with wafer-thin Arabic bread. Staff is recruited from local Bedouin tribes; food and supplies are pur-
chased locally and a share of profits from tourism is invested in the care of Dana Reserve.