This past Tuesday, September 20th, was national election day in Jordan. We had no classes, no work, and no responsibilities, so we headed to the beach! I have been very excited to visit the Dead Sea ever since I arrived in Jordan, and the experience did not disappoint.
We arranged for a private taxi to pick Ester, Michaela, and me up in our neighborhood, and drive us the ~1 hour to the Jordan beach of the Dead Sea. We packed sunscreen, waterbottles, and a change of clothes, and headed out around 9:30am. We arrived at the Dead Sea Spa Hotel, at which we paid a flat entrance fee of 20 JDs and headed down to the beach.
On our way, we walked past the 5 beautiful pools with slides, mushroom fountains, bridges, etc. of the spa hotel, and rented some towels and a locker. The whole place was very beautiful and we were excited to spend the day relaxing. We walked down a lot of stairs to the beach, since the Dead Sea has receded considerably, even in just the last 15 years.
Once we got there, we set our towels down and headed for the water, which was totally crystal-clear blue, and quite warm. Walking in just to the knees, if you just lifted your foot from the ground, it would pop up immediately to the surface because of the buoyancy. Once I walked in to about hip level, I just turned around and essentially sat back into the water, which caught me like sitting in a hammock. Floating was totally effortless and I could relax my entire body and not sink even an inch. It was incredible and very strange!