Lowest Point on Earth
I spent a lot of time planning out our Jordan itinerary, trying to figure out the best driving routes since we were being our own tour guides, finding the best timing and making sure we were in the right place at the right time. Usually, I'm more laid back, go with the flow, but with so much to see in Jordan in such a short period of time I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything.
We planned to spend our first night in one of the Dead Sea resorts, getting 24 hours there. I figured this would be enough, but I was wrong.
Access to the Dead Sea can be either through public beaches with an entrance fee, or private resorts that border on the Dead Sea itself. We went with the latter and stayed at the Jordan Valley Marriott Resort and Spa; it is definitely a resort, with pools, restaurants and bars for everyone's tastes. We got there just around check-in time and immediately got into our suits and headed down to the "beaches" of the Dead Sea. The area down by the sea was under construction when we were at the hotel, so it was noisier than I would have liked with out many good places to set your things, but they had a few changing rooms and access to the sea, so everyone just got on with it. They provide you with little rubber slippers to wear (which were a bit of a flashback to the jellies of my childhood), which supposedly help reduce your chances of slipping.
 |
When we got down to the water, we noticed a few big clay jars filled with mud that everyone was slathering themselves in. We decided, hey, what the heck, let's join them, so we grabbed clunks of the goopy mud and slathered it on ourselves, head to toe.
 |
After we felt satisfied that every body part was caked, we went into the water. While everyone says you just float, I was still surprised. I REALLY floated. I stood there, let myself fall backwards, and my face didn't even get wet I was so buoyant. It was an odd feeling, laying there, facing the sun, floating along. You can't really even paddle yourself since it's hard to get your body parts to stay under the water. There's no splashing around (since the salt water would burn your eyes, trust me), simply relaxing. As time passed, all the mud washed off me, leaving my skin feeling soft, so I got out, rinsed off, re-applied and did it all over again.
 |
Later on, when I was reaching prune stages of water exposure, we decided to head back up to the resort to relax. We found a bar with perfect views of the sunset, enjoyed a cocktail, then later in the evening a bit of hookah. After a relaxing dinner, we called it a night.
 |
Then, the next day, we woke up and did it all over again. We wanted to get down to the Dead Sea early to give us plenty of time to clean-up before we checked out at noon. It was even more tranquil getting there before the crowds and taking in the serenity of the water without people in it.
Just like that, our time in the Dead Sea was up. Despite all my planning, I found myself thinking about throwing plants to the wind and spending more time at this mysterious place. In hindsight, I'd planned it all backwards. We should have gone out to do all our hiking in Petra and the Wadi Rum before coming to the Dead Sea to relax, but it still gave us a great first taste to what Jordan has to offer.
0 comments: