Jordan, April 7-9 Hammamat Ma'in Jordan: Hot Waterfalls

This trip came together by accident.  We had booked a trip to Egypt but had to cancel it at the last minute. We had until the end of April to use our tickets. So we chose Jordan since it was the cheapest option. Initially our plan had been just to hang out in Jordan, re-do the things we loved, get our scuba diving certificates, and do the things we had been unable to do when we visited there last September. Then we realized that we would be there during Ramadan.  So we decided to visit a friend living in Bonn, Germany. The flights to Germany all had a long layover in Budapest, Hungary, so we decided to fly to Budapest and take a train to Germany.  After we booked our flight to Budapest, our friend suggested she come a week early to Bulgaria and that we meet her there.  So we did.  Jordan, then Hungary, then Bulgaria. Not very efficient when you look at the map, but it worked well for us. We called this our Matroyshka Trip since it was a trip inside a trip inside another trip.

Our flight went well. We flew Royal Jordanian Airlines.  The flight originates in Detroit and picks up passengers in Montreal where Kristen lives. The only snag was that Kristen was held at the check in for 4 hours in Montreal and only allowed to go through security after my plane had landed in Montreal and an agent had examined the credit card I used to pay for Kristen's ticket. Turns out that the card used to book the flight needs to match the ticket, and I had paid for both ticket upgrades with my credit card.  I'm not sure why the ticket agent didn't tell us that, but now that we know, we won't let it happen again. 

We left Montreal around 11 PM  on Thursday and arrived in Amman Friday at 4:30 PM, getting through customs and picking up our rental car by 5:30.  We checked into our hotel at sunset and went immediately to the hotels thermal pool and waterfall and soaked for an hour, ate dinner and then went back to the pool until bedtime. 

At 6 AM we got to the public waterfall (reserved for hotel guests until 9 AM. )  This was the waterfall Herod used with a sauna at the top built by the Romans.  Last fall there had been a few people there. This time we got to it by 6 AM (Could probably have arrived even earlier) and had it to ourselves for at least an hour.  Last fall the air had been hot and the waterfall even hotter. This time the air was cool enough that the heat from the waterfall felt good.

Inside the Sauna Area in the Public Waterfall

The Public Waterfall

The Public Waterfall with Tiers for People to Stand Under the Waterfall 

We sat under the waterfall until we got hungry then went back to the hotel for breakfast and then back to the hotel pool and waterfall until it was time to check out at 2 PM.

The Hotel Pool--They harvest the Water from the Waterfall

Breakfast at the Hotel Balcony

We drove back to Madaba and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at Kawon Once Upon a Time bookstore, organic garden and vegetarian restaurant. 

Mystery Books at the Bookstore

The Bookstore Cafe

Flocks of Sheep and Goats often Crossed the Road

Parking was interesting. These cars are parked on a little triangular island in Madaba.

After an afternoon in Madaba we drove back to the airport to wait for our flight to the next leg of our trip-- Wizz Air to Budapest.