Love is afloat at the Dead Sea

I came all the way here; I couldn’t chicken out. No matter what, I had to get in that buoyant water. Winter be damned, I was going to go float on the lowest place on earth, the Dead Sea.

One of the great things about the Conversation Corps program I’m participating in is that you have plenty of free time to see the sites in the area/country. This was my first adventure outside of Amman. However, as we drove out of Amman I was a bit skeptical about my floating adventure. It was foggy, cold (aprox 47 degrees), and gray. I didn’t really feel like getting in any water!

On the way to the Dead Sea, I first stopped for some ‘holy touring’; after all, religion is king in this area. I think I want to try to coin the term ‘Tourligion’ around all of the religious tourism going on in this part of the world!  There are plenty of religious sites to see on the way to the Dead Sea. First a stop in Madaba, a small, dusty town know for its floor. The Church of St. George in the center of town had uncovered famous floor mosaics thousands of years old. The mosaics mapped out the Holy Land in a beautiful fashion. The Madaba Map is the oldest surviving original depiction of the Holy Land. It dates to the 6th century AD. It only required a quick stop, but it was definitely worth it to sit in on the talk at the visitor center explaining it. Without that, it would have just looked like a jumbled mess to me.

Jordan is famous for it’s mosaics

Of course along with the mosaics came the obligatory stop at the handicraft store where you were shown how mosaics were made and then forced to looked around at a shop full of things you could ship home for free. I’ve been through this ritual before; quite frankly I find it annoying, but I know the game and I can play it. The beauty of having no home is there is absolutely no temptation to buy anything.

Me:  “Yes, yes, it’s a beautiful table, but I have no where to put it.”
Salesperson:  “Oh, you can put it outside on your patio or in your kitchen.”
Me:  “But I don’t have a kitchen. In fact, I don’t have a house.”
Salesperson:  “Where do you live?”
Me:  “I don’t live anywhere. I travel.”

I once had a man get very mad at me after an exchange like this…he thought I was lying to him and making fun of him. Ok – sure, there is a little bit of fun in it for me…but it is the honest to God truth. After all, in the name of ‘Tourligion’ I couldn’t lie to the man.

After the sales pitch stop, I continued on to Mt. Nebo. I used the guide book to brush up on my Old Testament Christian history. Mt. Nebo is the mountain on which Moses saw the promised land…and then promptly died. The view was spectacular, yet a bit cloudy so I was unable to see the promised land; and hence, I lived!

View from Mt. Nebo – the Promised Land

After Mt. Nebo we continued down, down, down to the lowest spot on the earth; the Dead Sea. It was spectacular to come down the switchbacks and see the glistening sea. It gave me goose bumps as this was one of those moments where I felt like pinching myself. I had ever thought that I’d actually see the Dead Sea; if felt surreal.

There are plenty of beach resorts along the Dead Sea, however being a budget traveler, I passed up the Movenpick and settled on the cheapest option for tourists – the Amman Beach club. Basically for a fee it provided locker room facilities, a few nice looking swimming pools which no one was interested in, towel rental, and nice beach access to the sea. I decided to wear my modest ‘culture-appropriate’ option of running shorts, jog bra, and a running shirt.  After all, the thought of getting in a bikini seemed painful in so many ways.

Amman Beach

The Dead Sea is 1,240 ft deep, the deepest salt lake in the world with 33.7% salinity.  This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish, hence its name. I personally wondered if I would ‘flourish’ there, but I grabbed my camera and headed to the beach anyway. It was a windy day, but it was quite a bit warmer below sea level than it was in Amman. However, it wasn’t the kind of weather that made you want to jump in the water; I was going to have to force myself. I decided to ease into the experience and take pictures first. The water along the shore was a beautiful turquoise color with a white outline of crusted salt at the shore; therefore creating some stunning colors. Personally, the people on the beach were just as interesting as the water. It was mainly tourists from European countries and a few from the Middle East. I actually felt over dressed as the Europeans walked around in bikinis and speedos.

I was a bit stunned to see lifeguards at the beach…a beach where it’s impossible to sink. Then I realized the young twenty-something boys wearing the red lifeguard shirts were not really there to watch the waters like the Hoff from Bay Watch, instead their job was to rub mud on the scantily clad European visitors…for a price of course. The mud at the Dead Sea is like no other; full of healing minerals. The mineral salts are believed alleviate the symptoms of ailments ranging from skin problems to rheumatic diseases. The idea is that you cover yourself in this black mud, wait for about 20 minutes until it dries and then take a dip in the sea; a spa-like experience for your skin.

Muddy Creatures from the Dead Sea

As I watched the rub downs, I decided to pass on the mud. Being in a country where the predominant religion dictates boys/men aren’t really allowed to touch or look at women who are fully clothed; let alone rub mud in the cleavage of tourists seemed a bit wrong to me. If there had been an option to do it myself, I would have tried it, but I decided to forgo the rub down in the name of ‘Tourligion’.

I could now avoid it no more…I had to get in that water. Watching everyone else float made me feel a bit of a sissy. So I found a chair to deposit my stuff, and made friends with the Australian couple next to me. After all, as a solo traveler you have to secure a photographer in order to have some record of your solo moment.

Jagged Salt Deposits

Unfortunately there wasn’t any way to simply run and jump in; the quick strategy to acclimating to the cold. The water approach was filled with rocks covered in jagged, crusted salt, which made the run and jump in approach impossible. Instead I slowly dipped my toes in and carefully placed each foot on the jagged rocks and steadied myself and strategized my next step. After about 10 feet, I was relieved to find a soft, sandy bottom where the water came up above my knees. I continued walking until I was waist deep and then shut my eyes and fell backwards and let the salty water be my cradle.

It’s a weird feeling to float in a sea of water with waves bobbing you up and down; where you couldn’t stand up if you tried. I made the mistake of wiping off my face with my hand which had been in the water and quickly had a dose of the saltiest water I had ever tasted. Luckily the water was warmer than I thought it would be at this time of year so it was actually pleasant to just lay back and float. The hard part was getting out of the water with a chilly wind!

My Deadly Float

Unfortunately the showers in the lockers room were cold – but at least it was fresh water to try to wash off the layer of salt that was affixed to my body. After a quick lunch at the less than satisfying buffet at the beach, I took off further south towards Feynan and the Dana Bio Reserve; the area where I was staying for the next few days.

One of my biggest surprises of the whole Dead Sea experience was the drive south along the Dead Sea Highway. It rivaled the famous Highway 1 drive in Northern California. Stunning coastal views with mountains on one side and the glistening Dead Sea on the other. I was absolutely amazed at the surprising terrain in this area. The road was full of trucks carrying tomatoes toward Amman, since just south of the Dead Sea is a big agricultural valley for Jordan. Apparently it’s the perfect hot environment for growing tomatoes below sea level.

Turquoise Views

It was along the Dead Sea Highway where experienced my last bit of ‘Tourligion’ as my driver told me the Islamic story behind the Dead Sea, a place where gay people were punished according to the story of the Prophet Lut.  Allah raised the land where the prophet’s people lived, tipped it upside down and threw it back on earth, causing the ground near the impact to cave in. Thus, the lowest land on Earth was formed because of this punishment. All of the gays and non-believers were destroyed and the followers were saved.  I was a bit taken aback by this story and honestly wasn’t sure if I was understanding it correctly.  It’s not too far off from the Christian version where Sodom and Gomorra (the original sin cities) were destroyed and sunk into the Dead Sea – therefore adding words like sodomy to our vocabulary.  I guess it just goes to show that all the religions seem to have something against gay people…sad, but true.

Regardless of what you believe, if you are in Jordan – a little ‘Tourligion’ is necessary if you want to get a deeper understanding of the country and the cultures.  Just make sure you float in the deadliest sea on earth while you are there…no matter what the temperature is!

View all photos from the Dead Sea Tourligion Trip