The Dead Sea

Salt crystals along the shore

       The Dead Sea is one of the most unique places I have ever been.  As you approach the sea on the highway you are consistently reminded of the declining elevation until you finally arrive to the lowest point on earth at over 400m below sea level!  The landscape around the Dead Sea is mainly comprised of the harsh Jordan Rift Valley - an extremely arid and sparse landscape with silhouettes of jagged crumbling mountains.  The salty sea itself is peacefully flat and calm, offering the wonderful feeling of weightlessness - as you don't really swim, you more or less bob like a buoy.

what a good excuse to play in the mud;)

My favorite part about the Dead Sea was the mud..... healing in humor and mineral therapeutics:)  You have to feel around a bit before you find the perfectly smooth mud, which feels kind of like a slimy clay.  As the Dead Sea salt and mud are packed full of important and somewhat rare minerals, it has been touted around the world for its healing properties.  The 'commercial list' of benefits is quite extensive as they claim the minerals are anti-aging, helps skin rashes, detoxifies your body and even slims you (yeah right)!  But regardless of what has been commercialized, I will admit that the combination of mud and salt on your skin has an amazing feeling of exfoliating and smoothing - if only there were more do-it-yourself outdoor spas!

      I was able to go to the Dead Sea twice during my stay in Israel - the first one had so much build up that I was bound to be a bit disappointed.  Two things were done wrong: 1) We went in the late afternoon when it was still pretty hot outside - and to say the least the Dead Sea water is not 'refreshing' at all - it was like stepping into a salty hot-tub.  2) Our visit was right after a somewhat rugged hike where minor scrambling and bushwhacking offered better views, but left us with minor scratches and scrapes.  This is NOT a good idea for the salty sea - the sharp stinging of the salt hits you right away.  I kept on pretending that my friend stray was there to jokingly say 'beauty hurts' over and over again.  Why on earth do we have the idea in our head that if something stings it is probably working?!  Needless to say, we didn't really stay too long for this first visit.  The second one (the above pics with the mud) was strategically set with going late in the evening with no open wounds.... the winning combination;)

floating in the buoyant water~