Ma'in Hot Springs, Where I found my Happy Place

We just spent the weekend (which is Friday and Saturday here in Jordan) at Ma'in Hot Springs. A short one hour drive from Amman, it was the perfect little getaway. Dave picked me up from work on Thursday afternoon, and we drove on down, literally, to 264m below sea level, where boiling hot fresh water springs out all over the place (109 places to be exact), creating some amazing waterfalls, rivers and steamy rockpools. Some were way too hot to swim in.  One of the swimming pools was 65 degrees celcius. I dipped a toe and promptly decided to give that one a miss. King Herod the Great (the very same who ordered all sons under the age of two to be killed, hoping to murder baby Jesus) spent a few months in the first century AD hanging out in the Ma'in Hot Springs hoping to heal his decrepit body. The ruins of King Herod's palace is just a few kilometers south. I'm not sure how it went for King Herod, and being a mass murderer, I hope it went badly. But all I know is, Ma'in Hot Springs is where I found my happy place. You know, when people suggest when one is stressed out, or when you're doing some Yoga or meditations "to go to your happy place"...well, now I'll think of exactly this place and moment:

That's under a waterfall that was about 35 degrees celsius. Perfect warm bubbly bliss.

To truly appreciate this happy place, I need to start from the beginning. We started Friday at 6:30am (due to Charlie's insistence it was time to get up) with a bike ride and swim.

Donkey parking. Funny. And donkeys do get parked there. There was a goat grazing area just next to the donkey parking area. The Middle East never ceases to amuse. 

We had a swim in the gorgeous pool that is pictured in the beginning of this entry, and had the pool to ourselves. We then had breakfast, with a sweet view:

After the energetic start to the day, we spent the rest of the day relaxing at the resort (Evason Six Senses), perusing the Middle Eastern architecture books in the library to get inspiration for our future home, eating more, chatting to another couple from Lebanon and Sweden with a 5 month old baby who also live in Amman (we swapped numbers - new friends - yay!), swam some more, went for a walk, had a lazy swing in the play ground, lounged about under an olive tree and generally did nothing much at all in very beautiful surrounds.

  

On Friday night, we had a babysitter look after Charlie (while she slept peacefully after her day of leisure) and Dave and I tackled a steak and bottle of red. 

Needless to say, on Saturday morning we woke up perfectly content, and wandered down this path to check out a new waterfall.  

Where we found this awaiting us:

 
 

And my happy place.