Dead

Dead Sea, Jordan

I think it's fair to say everyone's heard of the Dead Sea, be it for the fact it's the lowest place on earth, or that it's the saltiest sea. Or just cause it's got a memorable name.

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Its somewhere I've always quietly fancied going, but to get there from Amman was less than straightforward. You would think there'd be a bus to it since it's a big tourist destination and only thirty miles from the capital city, but oh no. It entailed a taxi to a bus station nearby, a local bus thirty miles to a small village in the middle of nowhere, then thanks to helpful lad on the bus, an unlicensed taxi (not something I'd normally do) a few more miles to the Dead Sea in a car full of locals, with a driver somehow managing to nip on, smoke and use the phone at the same time.

Once there, I got my togs on and went for a dip. Initially up to knee height the water feels no different to normal, but the moment your feet leave the ground, whoosh, your body is pulled up towards the surface from under you, kind of like what happens normally when you try and push a ball underwater. It was a very peculiar experience, but really enjoyable. However, if you've got any sorts of cuts or grazes it stings like mad; I discovered grazes that I had no idea I actually had!

Because I could, I spent over an hour just floating motionless on my back reading my book just like in the photo, and probably spent nearly three hours in the water altogether cause it was so novel. Being extremely salty, you need to have a shower as soon as you come out through. It was interesting watching others in the water, especially some of the local Muslim women, who due to the religion and traditions go in fully clothed which is definitely not a sight I've seen before.

Did someone say juxtaposition?

To get back to Amman was as chaotic as getting there. First I had to find a taxi and do a lot of negotiating, he then beeped at potential customers as we drove and stopped to pick them up on the dual carriageway, as you do. As he pulled out he started going into the path of a bus which beeped at him, then that drivers hat blew out his window. My driver then stopped, reversed up the side of the road and got out to retrieve the hat, then chased the bus, beeped at him, and threw the cap back into the road so the bus driver could stop. It was as you might expect a bizarre and hilarious ordeal.

He dropped me a few miles away at a rural village bus stop ready for what I understood to be the last bus of the day, told me to wait with the others from the taxi who were also going back to Amman, and sped off. The destination on the buses was written in Arabic so I'd had no chance without a local. One of them spoke a bit of English so we chatted a bit, until he told me that whilst chatting, he hadn't noticed our bus pass us and we'd missed it! I was thinking that's it, I've missed the last bus of the day and am stranded in rural Jordan. He reckoned though that there would be another one in probably be an hour. Fortunately he was right, and after about forty minutes one did turn up and I eventually found myself back in Amman. Phew. All that just to go for a swim!

Sheep on the road

That night I met up with my pal Malte again, and along with a girl called Betsy who we met in the hostel who's from New York, went out to 'the cafe' for more tea. The three of us had a fascinating chat, on politics, healthcare, travels and jobs amongst other things. It turns out she works for the Clinton foundation in New York, and has met Bill Clinton on a number of occasions, so it was great to learnt a bit about him and his work as well. The people you meet eh!

Dead Sea

Lumps of salt along the shoreline

Amman beach. Confusingly nothing to do with the city of Amman