The Dead Sea
BEACH DAY!!!! Kind of. In like an alien desert, sci-fi kind of way.
Some fun facts about the Dead Sea
- The sea is 3.5% salt, the Dead Sea is 33% salt
- The Dead Sea is located at 1412 feet below sea level as the lowest place on the planet
- The sea is so salty that if you swallow just a bit can poison you and send you to the hospital
- From experience: it tastes like I imagine battery acid tastes...
- It's also not a Sea, its like a lake. Like a big lake but you can see the other side so not even as big as the great lakes...
- It's so salty you're not supposed to spend more than 15-20 minutes in at a time
So basically we had to go to the Dead Sea. I mean we were here weren't we. So we made the trek and took a tram to a bus and the bus to the Dead Sea. We went to the southern part in an area called Ein Bokek where there are a lot of pretty hotels that you can buy day access to their spa's and facilities. We went to one that was conveniently close to the bus station because OMG IT WAS HOT OUTSIDE.
At one point the thing registered at 40 degrees celsius which is 104 fahrenheit which is pretty insane.
We were able to go to the beach though which was awesome and not really a beach. The dead sea is so salty and like any body of water does evaporate constantly so the edges of the beach are white with salt crystals and the rocks are covered in salt buildup which is beautiful but strange. The beach had tons of beach beds and umbrellas but it also had a covered and paved walk way out into the ocean which ended in a covered circle out there which was beautiful. There were practically no people out on the beach so we went out there and set up camp at the edge of it with panoramic views of the dead sea and the desert mountains behind it. Heres a clean view of our lookout and then Grant standing next to our chairs.
The saving grace of it being so hot was that the place was weirdly windy. I think of wind mostly in like tunnels and walled off spaces and less wind along open air places but this place had wind. And it was strong wind at that. It would come in huge, strong gusts that would knock over chairs and carry things away if you didn't put a rock down on it. The wind was warm but still a nice reprieve from the heat. Jerusalem and the Dead Sea are 31 degrees north of the equator too so that's crazy hot. For comparison Bangkok is 13.7 north and Portland is 45.
The two big things at the Dead Sea is obviously swimming in it and then not so obviously doing a mud spa experience. Firstly swimming in the Dead Sea is like nothing I've ever done before. The water is so salty that it really is more dense than normal water and as a result you float pretty much automatically. It is a force that pushes you upwards and as a result you really can't actually drown (if you die from salt poisoning it is a medically technical drowning). However, so long as you keep your head above water it is a fabulously fun experience to float either on your front or your back (front is harder) and is just entertaining. You feel weightless. It's actually pretty astounding too because you actually have to put in a lot of effort to put your feet in the down position as if you were standing up and down but once you do it's as if you're standing in the water. I actually could only do it from my back and couldn't even do it from floating on my back. The water was also the most clear and gorgeous blue color. And you never had to be afraid of something being in it because it is literally the Dead Sea and nothing save for some crazy adapted bacteria near the bottom live in it.
Some downsides though are that it tastes awful, it will mess up your hair, and if it gets in your eye's or any cut/wound its horribly painful. We both got tiny amounts of it in our mouth and I will say it didn't taste like salt. It was much, much worse, it's hard to even describe. It didn't even taste like salt it just tasted chemically and stung. Grant had that cut on his foot and it really did seem to pain him especially at first but he said it got better. We also were careful to hydrate diligently after every time we got out because it can be really dehydrating to float around in 1 parts salt, 2 parts water.
Lastly the mud bath. It's just a thing around here because of the natural properties of the mud in the area however usually you just buy mud from the spa. We did it and it was really fun as we were inspired by a big group of "Gay Tourism Europe" guys coming out and all getting muddy and taking selfies and blaring awesome music. We decided after that that we needed some mud as well. We actually had a funny moment before we realized all the gay guys coming out were from a touring group where their tour guide came out and was yelling "Popsicles!" and throwing them to the guys in the water and then we got excited and she had to tell us that she was with a group and couldn't give us popsicles. It was funny to realize what was actually going on and then sad to realize we couldn't get popsicles.
All in all though the Dead Sea was super fun and I am beyond glad we went. I won't hesitate to admit this was one of those bonus type day trips for me because I didn't really check out the area much before coming out and had no clue we were so close to such a major place. Also Grant didn't burn (and neither did I) due to vigilance about sun screen and mostly being in the shade except a few short excursions to the water. Here's another lesson: Never buy sunscreen at the beach, for gods sake buy it at your home city and bring it to the beach because we paid like $18 USD for a bottle of it which was sorely needed and we were the textbook definition of a captive audience.
We're at the Tel Aviv Airport now and our flight to Rome has been delayed about an hour. I'm not surprised. We booked budget airline Ryanair which is easily the worst airline I've ever been on and I use really only for last resort cheapness. Luckily it's pretty much Europe area only but we certainly have budget airlines in the US too.