The Dead Sea

We had a great first day of the weekend. We rented a very small car and all loaded up and headed to the dead sea. Eduardo is used to driving in Mexico so he was up for the crazy Jordanian driving. The dead sea is about 30 minutes away. We ended up going to a hotel side beach instead of the public beach since it was only 3JD more. It was a very nice place with chairs and umbrellas and a couple pools and ofcourse the beach. We first headed down to the sea and floated around a bit. It’s a very strange feeling to be able to float. Also sometime if I was positioned straight/or standing my legs would come up from under me and I would kinda roll so I was floating again. For some background information the sea is 1,385 ft below sea level, the lowest elevation on the earth’s surface on dry land. It has 33.7% salinity and is 8.6 times as salty as the ocean. It’s salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot live.

Next it was time for a mud bath. There was a section of the shoreline that was very muddy. All you do it reach down and grab a chunk.

This is a passage from a website about the mud...
Improves blood circulation and natural skin generation.
Fine mud grains, cleanse the skin and remove any dirt particles, impurities and toxins.
Proven to provide effective relief for skin disorders such as psoriasis, eczema, acne and wrinkles.
Moisturizes your skin and helps natural skin hydration
Gently peels away dead skin cells to reveal more youthful, healthier skin layer
Dead Sea mud has many amazing health properties, and in addition to the ones listed above also helps treat and relieve some other ailments. These ailments include arthritis, muscle stiffness and aches, rheumatism, joint inflammation and even itchy, dry skin.
So how can some simple, all natural mud be so effective at helping so many things and cleaning your skin so well at the same time? The answer lies in what you can't see - the high concentration of salts and minerals present in the mud. You see, as the Dead Sea evaporates year after year (it's not connected to any other body of water), the salt and minerals which are already present in high amounts get absorbed into the mud at the bottom of the sea. This mud is then extracted and packaged, with all the impurities removed. The minerals which are present in the mud are all natural minerals which your skin needs every day. By using Dead Sea mud, or a mud mask, you are basically feeding your skin these essential minerals. Minerals such as potassium, magnesium, sodium, bromine and calcium are all needed by your skin to help maintain the right moisture levels and hydration.
Another very powerful effect of using Dead Sea mud is the fact that as it dries, it pulls out any toxins that may be present in your skin cells from your everyday diet. This leaves the skin completely clean, refreshed and pure on top of infusing it with the minerals. At the same time it firms your skin and tightens it, giving you an exceptional anti aging benefit and leaving your skin looking younger. Because of this dual effect of exfoliating, cleansing and providing essential minerals, Dead Sea mud is able to help with so many various ailments or to simply keep you skin looking young and healthy for a long time!
Tip: Mud masks made with Dead Sea mud have also proved to be very helpful when applied to a scalp for hair roots strengthening. These masks help to stop hair loss and enhance new growth. They proved to be 4 times more effective than any other product of the kind during comparative tests with many other popular cosmetic brands.

Anyways, you cover your body with this mud, as seen in photo.

Next wash off and then shower off. We got back to the pool area and laid out on chairs and swam a little and read a little. We stayed until sunset and watch it go down under the mountains. We drove back in our tiny car and ate dinner together. A great day and a nice way to spend a Friday night. Tomorrow we are going over to Tine’s to have church at her place then back to work on Sunday. I may never get used to a Friday-Saturday weekend…