Dead Sea Day Trip

Shazzam and Eagle floating
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We had a three-day weekend for "Ascension of the Prophet" so decided to take a trip down to the Dead Sea.  Apparently everyone else in Amman had the same idea, so all hotels were booked.  We got a daypass for the Movenpick resort.  They have two fantastic pools, lushly landscaped, with poolside service.  It was extremely hot, so we dipped in and out of the pool all day.  There were a lot of string bikinis, some women all covered, and some women sporting the new Islamic swim suits, which are sort of like full-body wet suits with tunics over them and a snood for the hair.

Eagle in Dead Sea
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But the real adventure was the Dead Sea.  It has a salinity of 30% (normal seawater is 3%), dominantly magnesium instead of sodium chloride.  You walk down the steep steps to the lowest point on earth (1200 feet below sea level), then step out over the rocky shoreline.  By the time the water is chest-high, it becomes difficult to stand.  When you lift your feet, they bob up to the surface and you're floating.  Not just your chest, but the whole body pretty much out of water.  If you turn over on your stomach, its hard to keep your face out of water, and impossible to swim.  You definitely want to keep your face out of water because the salt STINGS!  Every little mosquito bite is burning, and if you get the water in your eyes you feel like you're going blind!  At our location, there was an elderly Italian man, drifting far offshore, singing Neopolitan love songs (at least that's what they sounded like).  It was a wonderful, healing place.

"a wonderful healing place"

Princess Jasmine in Dead Sea
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Back onshore, we discovered the mud pots set out by the hotel.  The mud is dredged from the bottom of the Dead Sea and is incredibly fine.  We females slathered it over our bodies, let it dry, then soaked again in the salty sea.  Followed by a strong freshwater shower, our skin was never so soft.  This is what I'm bringing back to all my girlfriends in the U.S.!!

Back to Amman through the desolate mountains, passing goatherds and camel herders.  People from Amman having picnics by the side of the highway.  A wedding, complete with hanging rugs and velvet chairs, also by the side of the road.  Bedouin tents in the background.  Then up up several thousand feet into cool Amman.