the dead sea

The Dead Sea (Hebrew: יָם הַמֶּלַח‬  Yam ha-Melah lit. Sea of Salt; Arabic: البحر الميت‎  Al-Bahr al-Mayyit^[5]) is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west. Its surface and shores are 430.5 metres (1,412 ft) below sea level,^[4][6] Earth's lowest elevation on land. The Dead Sea is 304 m (997 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. With a salinity of 342 g/kg, or 34.2%, (in 2011), it is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean and one of the world's saltiest bodies of water.^[7] This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea's main, northern basin is 50 kilometres (31 mi) long and 15 kilometres (9 mi) wide at its widest point.^[1] It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.  - WIKI

the route to the dead sea is a long downhill highway heading west in the direction of syria...continually going lower and lower and getting steeper and steeper...passing nothing but mountains and dunes of rocky barren desert....it really feels like you're going to the center of the earth...on the way you pass by moses' burial site...and then a big sign that says "SEA LEVEL"...you keep driving for another ten minutes and then you see it....an oasis in the distance.  except the sea is dead and date plantations are all around it.  and then next we passed some abandoned half built resort structures...before we got to the tourist resort.

the dead sea is really cool.  it's really cool to not be able to sink.  you can't really understand being fully buoyant in a body of water until you get into it.  but you can't just jump into it and pop up out of the water like a tennis ball lost in the ocean.  you have to gently drop your body into the water backside first....like a trust fall...but the sea's salinity catches you like a net...u can't sink...but u need to keep ur center of gravity to maintain stable...because you don't want the salt getting into your orifices.

the salt is good for you.  it's gonna cure you.  if you have some cuts.  it should help it.  but it'll hurt.  really hurt.  thats why it can't get into your eyes.  dont swallow it.  u'll gag.  i didnt have any open wounds on my body so i thought i'd be ok.  but i scratched my balls in the shower that morning...and the micro-abrasions in the dead sea hurt so much...i had to get out....i had to rinse...twice....they said it'd go away...but i ended up squinting the entire time...it made me feel ill.

the mud is also good for you.  everyone is scooping mud off the bottom and wiping it all over their body.  their hair.  their face.  because i was taking a break from the salt water...i decided to head over to the mud pit and dive my whole body in like a pig....it's real slippery so the guy standing near there put his hand out to help me out.  i gingerly got in...and he helped me get out again.  i was the palest whitest person at the resort...and the guy that helped me up...wanted to help me cover up the missing splotches of mud on my body.  he reached over...and started mudding my back...and before i knew it...he was mudding my chest.   i heard a cackle from amanda while she grabbed the camera.....even the gay couple in our tour group awkwardly stepped away....

so i mud...i float...i rinse...i float...and then we head up to the pool and shower to dry off....before we get stopped by locals...."sure we can take a photo for you..."  until we realize they want to take a picture with us.  never seen an asian person before....2nd trip in a row...