We had the flexibility to remix our trip after Petra and decided to remain in Jordan and visit the Dead Sea here instead of on the Israeli side. Our original plan was to head back down to the Eilat / Aqaba crossing, then come back up the border in Israel and stay in Ein Gedi, visit the Dead Sea there, and the next morning during sunrise climb the rock formation called Masada which has great historical significant for the Jewish people (more on that later). Since we had fallen in love with Jordan, and the Movenpick resort on the Dead Sea came highly recommended by Mahmoud and our guide books, we changed up our plans and headed to Movenpick to spend a day and half treating our bodies to the natural spa which is the Dead Sea. The drive out of Petra was a test of stomach strength – the road was incredibly wavy and roller coaster like, and coupled with our knowledgeable but stinky cab driver’s body odor, forced me to lay down and miss many of the sites. As soon as the road straightened out and we came up to the Dead Sea it was well worth the pain to witness the lowest point on Earth with your own eyes.
The entire surrounding area of the Dead Sea is white and crusty with salt deposits. Over the course of thousands of years the Dead Sea has been evaporating and losing water levels, leaving behind salted and crystallized rock. We stopped at a beautiful vista and took pictures of the immediate rock touching the Dead Sea and the white crystals developing, and also looked across the Sea to the Israeli side and Masada which was off in the distance. When the Jewish were fighting the Romans in the 1st century, they were pushed back towards the rock formation of Masada. Fearing annihilation, hundreds of Jewish soldiers massacred themselves, save 9 people who hid in a water sistern to relay the story to future generations. Now a tourist attraction, the general area has a few ruins but the main attraction is waking at 4AM and climbing the “Snake Path” to the top of Masada to watch sunrise over Jordan and the Dead Sea. If you’re lucky, you can also watch IDF ceremonies which take place at the rock, where newly minted soldiers recite “Masada shall never fail again”.
We reached our hotel in the early afternoon after the 3 hour ride from Petra. Expensive resorts are the closest thing to heaven in this world. Movenpick is a stunning place – a village of sorts where guests are escorted around the pathways in plush golf carts, a dozen different buildings and homes guests can stay in (several with beach front views, others with private pools), and a cadre of restaurants, spas, theatres, music and belly dancing shows, etc. We indulged ourselves with an outrageous beach front room, changed as fast as we could, and made our way to the “beach”. The Dead Sea doesn’t necessarily have a beach, per se, it’s surrounded by calcified rocks. After settling down on our man made beach near the water and having lunch, we made our way to the water.
It was brilliant! Firstly, the temperature of the water was a perfect, tropical warm. Secondly, it was weird! You had to throw out every unconscious motion your body had learned thus far about moving around in water. Due to the 35% salt water content of the Dead Sea (careful not to taste any, get it in your eyes, or worse off, shave before you get in there), the water is very buoyant, making it impossible to “drown” or even swim belly down – your legs end up kicking above the water! There is no marine life whatsoever, as the salt content is too high for organism to survive. You can immediately feel your skin softening up – in addition to the high salt content, the water contains a myriad of minerals which have proven therapeutic effects for skin, respiration, and other health matters. Not only does the water have effects, but the mud from the bottom of the sea has long been used to beautify skin. Our resort placed large vats next to the water where guests could grab a sludge of mud and cover however much of their body they’d like. Over the course of 1.5 days, we must have done this half a dozen times!
It truly was a beautiful spot to be in – the beach, the pools, the food, the sunset over Masada on our balcony – was well worth it. We were up at 7AM the next day and back in the water by 8AM! You give a Guju a noon check out time, you know he’ll be there until noon…
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