JORDAN ~ FLOATING IN THE DEAD SEA

Posted by: anke* Categories: MIDDLE EAST TRAVEL

{JORDAN ~ January 28 – February 05, 2017}

DEAD SEA ~ January 28 & 29, 2017

We arrived in Jordan on an early Saturday morning. It took a while to get thru custom but finally we got our visa and were good to enter Jordan.

We picked up our rental car, left the airport and were ready for our 9-days adventure.
It was raining cats and dogs and the further we drove away from Amman, the worse the roads were getting.
Trucks entering the “highway” from right and left, sink holes, street bumps and camels on the back of a pick-up car. The first hour was a total flash of impressions that immediately confirmed:
we made the right decision going to Jordan!

Our first destination was the Jordan Valley Marriott Resort & Spa right at the Dead Sea. Great hotel, friendly staff and a view over the Dead Sea to the other side: Israel.

JORDAN VALLEY MARRIOTT RESORT

Luckily it stopped raining when we arrived so we immediately went down to the Dead Sea.
It’s very funny: as a kid I always thought that the Dead Sea is full with piles of salt and the water is murky and yuck. So when I went to the shore, I was absolutely surprised how clear and turquoise the Dead Sea was. I touched the water and it felt slimy and strange because of all the minerals in the sea.

THE DEAD SEA – CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER

Unfortunately it was too late for a little splash – but also a bit cold – so we just stood there, gazed over to Israel and enjoyed Mother Nature’s beautiful rainbow after the storm.

THE BEAUTY AFTER THE STORM

JORDAN VALLEY MARRIOTT RESORT

Early morning get up! I was soooo excited swimming in the Dead Sea. Didn’t we all see the photos of people reading the newspaper while floating in the sea?! I wanted to do that [no newspaper though]. It was 10 am, crisp outside but wonderful blue sky. In my Lonely Planet Jordan I read that you should enter the Dead Sea backwards because of the buoyancy.

It is a very, very strange feeling floating in the sea. There is really no way that you can drown. Although it was cold outside, the sea was surprisingly warm. Maybe because of the sea being actually a lake…

I floated for a while. Looked at the stones that were covered in a thick crust of salt and made sure that I don’t get a single drop of water in my eyes. It suppose to burn like hell!

Along the shore are pots full with complementary Dead Sea Mud that can be used for some beauty sessions. Of course I tried that too. As we were the only people [except for a maintenance guy] I had all pots for myself. Little did I think about all the fingers, hands and feet people put into the pots to get some mud…anyway…by the time the thought crossed my mind it was too late and I was already covered top to toe in black Dead Sea Mud, ready to look 10 years younger afterwards.

DEAD SEA MUD

After the mud was washed off and I looked 10 years younger, we packed and checked out to start the trip down to Aqaba.

We took highway 65 along the Israeli border, ~280km ahead of us. Sand desert, rock desert and every now and then a nomad with goats or camels. There were lots of police check-points on our 5-hour drive but everything went well and we were not concerned at all. On some parts of the highway we were so closed to the boarder that you can actually see the boarder control towers and the fence.