Nearly ten time saltier than your average sea, the Dead Sea is somewhat a unique formation in the world. In Hebrew, it is called Yam ha Melah - the Sea of Salt - which is actually more describing than naming it dead. Fine, the sea itself doesn't really host life in the water or on the bottom and drinking more than a glass of the salty water means you need to rush to the nearest hospital. But the place is very much alive, hosting hotels and beach resorts both on the Israeli and Jordan shores, not to mention providing minerals and ingredients for the blooming cosmetics business.
The area around the Dead Sea is much warmer that the rest of Israel. If it was +30C when passing by Jerusalem, the thermometer hit my personal record of +42C at the Dead Sea. From afar, and near, it actually looks like any other sea. Blue, watery, pale sandy bottom...
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| Looks normal, right? |
The fun actually starts when you dive in. Well, actually, correction - NEVER DIVE in the Dead Sea. Keeping your head above this sea level is crucial. The saltiness is exquisite and you don't want it anywhere near your nose, mouth or eyes. The sea will kindly remind you of any tiny little cuts (may it be neglected cuticles, uncomfortable shoes you wore the day before) you might have in your body. My hair got dipped in the water when I was floating on my back. After getting out of the sea, some water dripped from my hair to my face and eventually ended up in my eyes. The burning feeling was very unpleasant. I was not able to open my eyes due to the terrible burning sensation (for a moment I could have sworn I'm going to lose my eye sight), so my boyfriend had to lead me like a blind person to the showers to rinse it off. Luckily, the normal water helped rather quickly.
On the positive note, the Dead Sea is very generous and supportive if you happen to be a bad swimmer or suffer from skin problems. Here you can float around without much effort: the saltiness will make sure you stay on the surface. People with psoriasis have been coming to the sea to get help for their condition.
Another beach gimmick that is not very common was the barrels of mud & clay fished out of the Dead Sea, place conveniently near the shore. It was literally about getting dirty - sink your arms elbow deep, grab a chunk of mud and rub it all over yourself. Let it work its magic on your skin until the sun has dried it up, then take a dip and your skill will, most likely, feel nice and smooth.
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| The quickest "tan" I ever got! The mud also covers any unwanted body hair, hides cellulite and makes your teeth look whiter. Perfect beach attire, that is! |
In addition to the Dead Sea, this beach with full facilities had a sulphur pool (very warm water - felt like making human soup). I haven't had time to google what kind of benefits sulphur has, but I'm sure it was a very healthy dip in the pool for the recommended 10-15 minutes. And after these extraordinary aquatic experiences, the regular pool at the beach didn't seem too interesting.
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| The pool with natural water containing heaps of sulphur. |
Not to be pessimistic, but I remember when visiting Venice, Italy, I thought how long would the human kind be able to join that wonderful city - until it finally sinks underwater. The Dead Sea might be a similar, disappearing sight on this planet, as it has been decreasing in size. And there was gruelling evidence showing you this: at this beach, the first showers, bar and lifeguard booth were built approximately 70 meters up from the current seashore. That's how much the water level had withdrawn.
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| Constructions left unused. |
So, we have already a warning example of the Lake Aral in Russia - so I suggest you book your visit to the Dead Sea as soon as possible. If you're not able to visit it in person, you can always indulge yourself with dead sea cosmetics I'm sure can be found at your local beauty store.
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