Jordan: Dead Sea

The Dead Sea, also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and the West Bank and Israel to the west. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River and is 430m below sea level.

🙂 Floating in the Dead Sea – EPIC! Mud!

🙁 Don’t get the water in your eyes! Stinging bits for Paul!

Abdullah transferred us to the Dead Sea – about a 3 hour drive with the obligatory stop off at a Dead Sea Products shop where I bought another fridge magnet and some Dead Sea salt.

The Dead Sea features in biblical accounts dating to the time of Abraham (first of the Hebrew patriarchs) and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (the two cities along the lake, according to the Hebrew Bible, that were destroyed by fire from heaven because of their wickedness). Perhaps the most famous time that the Dead Sea is mentioned in the bible is during the Biblical story that references the Dead Sea is that of Lot’s wife. In the Bible, Lot, the nephew of Abraham, chose to settle in a stretch of land near the kingdom of Sodom, just north of the Dead Sea. Sodom and neighbouring kingdom Gomorrah were notorious for being places of wickedness and vice. Over the years, Lot became a respectable member of Sodom, married a Sodomite, and was appointed mayor of the city; his daughters, too, married men of Sodom.  However, God was angry with the people of Sodom, and, wishing to destroy this place of sin, sent Lot two angels to warn him of his plan. Lot, who inherited the traits of hospitality from his uncle Abraham decides to welcome two travellers into his home. Unbeknownst to him, these travellers are actually angels sent by God to destroy Sodom and the surrounding region. When they hear that Lot was hosting guests, the residents of Sodom surrounded his house, angrily demanding that they are released from his protection. The angels then revealed their true nature to Lot, urging him and his family to flee the city before the incoming apocalypse. However, they caution Lot and his wife not to turn back and watch the city’s destruction. According to the biblical narrative, Lot’s wife decided not to heed the angel’s warning, and when she turned back to survey the city’s destruction, God turned her into a pillar of salt. To this day, a tall pillar standing near the Mount of Sodom is known as “Lot’s Wife”.

Its 34.2% salinity makes it one of the world’s saltiest bodies of water and the depth is 304 meters and it is 410m below sea level.

The start of the Dead Sea!

The end of the Dead Sea!

We checked into the Hilton Dead Sea Resort & Spa which is a large sprawling hotel on the shores of the Dead Sea. It has several pools, one for adults only and you take two lifts down to the beach. We ate a quick lunch at the Italian and then headed down to float!

SO COOL!!

Paul’s bits began to sting so we headed back up to lie by the pool and ordered cocktails – this place is not dry – hoorah!

We relaxed for a couple of hours and then headed back down for sunset and a mud bath.

The sunset was lovely.

We enjoyed a Lebanese meal, live music overlooking the lights of Jericho in Palestine on the opposite shore. We were being collected at 05h30 the next morning. Unfortunately some people next door to us were locked out of their room and kept calling for 30mins at 01h30 which meant it was a very disrupted sleep!

Sunrise was gorgeous. We said a sad farewell to Abdullah who told us that we were his best ever clients – it was quite emotional – he really is a great chap. Definitely will recommend his services to anyone going to Jordan. We headed to the lounge and boarded the five hour flight and got some sleep before we started working! What a FANTASTIC trip. It was a bit rushed. I would have had a full day in Petra and only flown back in the evening from the Dead Sea to have another morning there. But DIVINE – a GREAT destination.

Go to: Jordan

Leave a Reply

Continue Exploring

Jordan
Jordan
Jordan