mt nebo, bethany and the dead sea

i guess you could consider our journey to madaba something of a religious pilgrimage. throughout the last 8 months, we've made our way around the world discovering numerous buddhist and hindu places of pilgrimage. however, we have seen relatively few christian places of importance. a couple of weeks ago we climbed mt. sinai and watched sunrise at the site where god gave moses the ten commandments... since then, we have gotten more excited about the part of the world we are in and what we can see here. that trip to sinai has even inspired us to consider visiting israel to visit jeruslaem, bethlehem and nazareth. a few days ago, though, we got to see some very important christian and jewish sites right here in jordan.
our day started with a visit to the top of mt. nebo and the moses memorial church. here, at mt. nebo, is where god showed moses the promised land and also the area where moses died at the age of 120. in addition to it's religious significance, it also provided us with an amazing view of the jordan river valley, the dead sea and, of course, israel (the promised land...). afterwards we made our way down into the jordan river valley to visit the site of john the baptist's missionary at bethany-beyond-the-jordan. bethany is most importantly known as the site of jesus' baptism, but is also considered the site where the prophet elijah ascended into heaven. it was a special place and we felt very humbled to be there. after our two religious stops, we got do something dramatically less spiritual when we went to amman beach on the shore of the dead sea. we got to float in the salt laden waters, feeling more buoyant than ever - a very awkward experience. afterwards, we covered ourselves in the mineral rich mud of the dead sea and let it work it's magic. after a few more hours lounging poolside and absorbing the unique sunlight of the area (below 400 meters sea level, the area around the dead sea receives less uv rays than anywhere on earth...) we headed back to madaba where we continued the pampering with steaming, jacuzzi, scrubbing and massage at the madaba turkish bath. all in all, the day proved to be one of the most spiritually significant and one of the most enjoyable of our 8 months of travel. david