Dead Sea, Jordan

In retrospect we should have stayed one more night in Petra after our gruelling day. However, hindsight being what it is, it wasn't available to us when we made our plans. That being so, we had a long 3 hour drive up to the Dead Sea. I am sure the scenery was spectacular while we were driving in the mountains around many a hairpin turn, but unfortunately it was too dark to appreciate it. We were delighted when we finally made it to our hotel and had a little walk around the grounds before soaking our weary bones in a nice hot bath.

After a wonderful breakfast on Wednesday morning we ambled down to the sea to play in the mud. First we had a little float in the sea, which is amazing even when you are expecting it. You float so high that it is hard to keep your feet underwater unless you are perpendicular. It is very uncomfortable to float on your stomach as you have to arch your neck too much and yet on your back you can relax and read the paper if you choose. Then it is time to get muddy. They supply buckets of smooth, creamy black clay that is slightly gritty (the shore was covered in smooth stones, so it would have been hard to dig up ourselves). We covered ourselves from head to toe and then let it dry for a bit before heading back into the sea to rinse off. It is supposedly very therapeutic and many people were there because of arthritis and rheumatism.

Unfortunately it did nothing for my very sore muscles after all the walking and hiking from the day before. But our skin was wonderfully soft.

We then took some time off and lounged around on the beach, while I managed a few chapters of my book before fitting in another mud pack and soak in the sea.

At least on Thursday we managed to get to the gym. And we did drive around the area, but realized very quickly that our hotel was in the middle of nowhere. So . . . back to the mud. Heavenly!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea