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After Jarash was the Dead Sea, almost 400m below sea level. It sits low amongst barren, craggy mountain slopes. They are light brown, orange and in places basalt in colour. The sea is a turquoise blue in places but is also quite deep so it is a regular dark blue like the ocean further out. It is not so wide that it stretches to the horizon, one can easily see its Israel/Palestine coast to the west. At the north eastern edge of the Dead Sea are a number of five star resorts. It was with some excitement and trepidation that I checked into the Crowne Plaza, wondering what these types of places were all about. I grew up prejudiced against the type of people that visit these places, thinking they are snooty pretentious rich w***ers whom I should disdain. Admittedly I felt a bit out of place and was overwhelmed with the sheer number of people.
I ended up staying in my room reading for a few hours rather than deal with the crowds. I haven't been like that before, I think it might be that I had been alone for most of the past week and so it was kind of scary to have to interact with strangers that I probably held subconscious resentment about since childhood. The room was amazing. The pool was the biggest I have ever seen, just like those brochures for resorts in Indonesia or Thailand that Australian tourists are enticed with. It made me want to go to one of those as I know they are more like $100 a night instead of $400 like the one I stayed at. Nevertheless it was worth it for the experience of being able to swim in the Dead Sea at a private beach with a shower a few steps away to wash off the oil textured water.
You don't so much swim in the Dead Sea as bob about. Like everyone I have heard stories about the Dead Sea since childhood as this strange place with impossibly salty water and half a kilometre below sea level. The lowest I measured with my GPS was about -382m, but this wasn't at the water's edge so it was probably pretty close to -400. There was a higher tide mark than the water's present level so I suppose it must have been low due to a dry winter. I wonder how much the saltiness decreases with more water, or if the water flowing in is already salty. Before heading to the resort the previous day I had stopped by a public swimming spot and walked to the edge but did not go in basically because I had a bit of a reaction to the idea of putting myself in this ultra salty water. The beach was also pretty dirty with rubbish everywhere and a couple of dodgy looking dudes selling showers to people who'd dipped themselves in. I had to do it though and I'm glad there was that extra bit of modernity and civilisation offered by the resort to make me feel like having a go. In the end it was an amazing experience.
It's easiest just to lay on your back and paddle around. This is really easy because about a third of you floats up out of the water. Going in the pool afterward seemed like so much effort to move around. When I was in the Dead Sea I looked across to the western coast and thought it would be easy to swim across because you'd never have to worry about sinking. I wonder if anyone has ever attempted it, it's 9km across at that point. I guess you'd have to worry about what the salt would end up doing to your skin. When I got in I had no trouble - there was no burning sensation or anything although the taste was unbelievably salty with some other chemical flavours as well. You'd probably want to tape your mouth shut and have some fancy snorkel that didn't let water in. The next day when I stayed at Mujib Chalet and swam again I put the back of my head in and this really stung I guess due to my itchy scalp. So you'd have to be careful you didn't have any skin injuries before attempting a crossing. Overall I think it'd be pretty foolhardy.
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