Our Last Hurrah

Hubby and I knew that once we moved to Norway, our ability to travel would be severely curtailed by, among other factors, economics and whatever job I get when we arrive. With that in mind, we promised ourselves one last regional trip before we left. We debated going to Spain, Greece, or even back to Zanzibar but eventually agreed that we would kick ourselves if we didn’t take the opportunity to visit Jordan.

So it was that we found ourselves in Jordan during the brief Eid vacation in September. Since Hubby had another business trip scheduled, we had only a handful of days to spend exploring this wonderful country. Sadly, that meant that we couldn’t explore many of the amazing biblical sites that abound in Jordan. We did, however, agree that we would each fulfill one Jordanian dream during our trip: I wanted to visit the Dead Sea and he wanted to go to Petra.

Being the amazing travel planner he is, Hubby booked us into a hotel right on the shores of the Dead Sea. From our room, it was a quick hop down a series of stairs to the vast salty Sea. Ever the water baby, Hubby was biting at the chomp to go for a swim within minutes of our arrival.

Before we could get into the water, we had to purchase an inexpensive pair of water shoes, as the shore was incredibly rocky. The stones situated at the end of the wooden docks that led into the Dead Sea created an uneven and slippery surface, making the initial steps slightly treacherous.

The lukewarm water was almost oily to the touch and felt almost slick against my skin as I waded further in. The infamous buoyancy of the Dead Sea was evident almost immediately. It took my feet from under me and made treading water virtually obsolete. The simple act of flipping onto my back or swimming further out to where Hubby awaited me became an effort worthy of Monty Python.

Of course, what makes the Dead Sea so buoyant is the salt. If you have ever had the chance to swim in the ocean, you know it is virtually impossible to avoid getting salt water in your mouth at least once while swimming. Although highly annoying, this isn’t normally too difficult a situation to rectify. The greasy liquid salt of the Dead Sea, however, had imbedded itself in all my pores and made wiping my mouth virtually impossible without making the situation worse. This meant that every time Hubby splashed me, I ended up having to get out of the water to rinse my mouth out.

When people aren’t playing beached whale by floating on their backs, the prime activity at the Dead Sea is to slather mud over every spare inch of skin. After waiting for the mud to dry, you return to the sea to gently wash it off again. The end result of this ritual is ridiculously smooth skin. The spa at our hotel offered the same service for $100. I’m always up for a good facial or massage, but even I thought it was ridiculous to charge for something that was free only a few steps away.

The heat of the September sun kept us in the water for much of our time at the hotel. Although I appreciated the cool blue waters of the pools, floating in the Dead Sea has always been on my bucket list so I was thrilled that Hubby and I had time for this final trip before we left Egypt. I also knew we couldn’t spend all our time in the Sea because another adventure awaited us 300 miles away.