A Memorable Day Trip to the Dead Sea
Last Updated on April 13, 2024 by Adam Watts
While staying in a hostel in Amman, Jordan, I ended up doing a day trip to the Dead Sea with the hostel owner and his family. I say day trip, but Khaled assured me it’d be best if we left about three in the afternoon. “Too hot, too hot,” he told me repeatedly. “During morning it okay but at 12 it too hot even for us. You pale, you fry like egg.” The Jordanian hostel owner grinned at me as I sat in the hostel’s communal area next to the breeze of a fan.
If Khaled hadn’t been so damnably nice and if he wasn’t going to take me on a day trip to the Dead Sea later, I might’ve been annoyed. I’d been in this part of the world for over a month now and I thought my skin was taking on a nice healthy UV-blasted tone. Here’s a picture of me from Petra the day before:
I passed the early afternoon wandering the area around the hostel, which was located in the center of the city. Everything seemed bland now. The market/souk crowds were a nuisance rather than the fascinating hustle and bustle that they had been in Jerusalem and Akko. I just wanted to elbow everyone in the ribs and step on as many toes as I could. And that one guy who smashed right into me in a rush to buy his pastries? I wanted to ram that piece of cake right up his–
Would you look at that? Nearly three already! I stopped dreaming up ways of murdering these probably lovely Jordanians and headed back to the hostel.
Leaving for the Dead Sea
Khaled was on the stairs and babbled to me, “Come! Come! Hurry!” so I raced up the stairs, shoved a towel and some swim shorts in my backpack, and headed back out into the heat. Thankfully Khaled’s car was air-conditioned. It seemed to be the only thing that did work, although the radio did cooperate after a few swift thumps. “Piece of– how do you say in English?”
“Trash?”
“Piece of shit, yes.”
I shrugged. We drove out of the city to a little suburb. He lived with his family in a really cute neighborhood, a very “American dream” kind of area, if America was middle-eastern and Arabic-speaking. Get your head around that one, rednecks. We changed cars to something a little more functional and practical, a silver seven-seater Nissan. I turned around in my seat and was surprised to notice two little girls and a wife sitting behind me.
“Oh, err, hi,” I said.
“Hello English,” the little girls said. The wife just looked at me like I was some kind of museum curiosity, a Roman jug perhaps, or maybe a 5th-century Japanese bowl.
We drove for 20 minutes and then Khaled stopped the car in a two-lane road. He didn’t pull to one side or anything, just stopped in his lane. He got out and went into the tiny store that was basically a big metal shed by the side of the road. He came back out with a bunch of bananas and a handful of ice creams. He gave us all one of each. No, wait, he gave me an ice cream and two bananas. Quite a number of car horns were blaring behind us but Khaled stood in front of the car and waved happily at everyone.
I should mention here that I was paying the petrol money that enabled Khaled to take his family out for this day trip to the Dead Sea. Quite a lot of petrol money, I might add, but if it was paying for ice creams for us all I wasn’t going to begrudge him anything — a child’s smile is one of life’s most beautiful things, particularly if there’s ice cream smeared around it. Aww.
At the Dead Sea Resort
We got to the Dead Sea resort and I was stung for $16. Jordanians get in for $1 apiece and kids were probably free. It’s a good system I suppose but it’s hard not to resent that price difference, especially when you’re on a tight budget. I headed down to the Dead Sea itself and left Khaled and his family at the swimming pool — his wife and kids apparently hated the salinity since it burns if it touches your eye.
I hopped into the changing rooms and changed into my swim shorts and shoved everything else into my backpack. There were no lockers so I brought the backpack with me. Everyone else hopped, skipped and jumped across the burning hot sand out to the water but I’d wisely kept my shoes on to this point. I left my socks, shoes and backpack at the water’s edge and headed into the murky Dead Sea.
Floating in the Dead Sea
Let me tell you, floating in water at the lowest point on earth is neat. It would’ve been better without the “holiday resort” feel to it but access to the Dead Sea is controlled (fenced off in most non-resort locations) and I had no real means of getting here without assistance anyway, so I owed Khaled a lot.
It’s hard to explain what the sensation of floating is like. It’s relaxing, definitely, because you’re not expending any energy to keep yourself like that. It’s like lying down on the comfiest couch in the world, one that changes shape to suit you.
Floating in the Dead Sea is an experience you’ll have to enjoy for yourself to understand, but whatever you do, don’t get the water in your eyes. It happened to me twice, and goddamn does it sting. Imagine cutting yourself then pouring a spoonful of salt into the open wound, then imagine the wound was in your eye. All right, it’s not quite that bad, but I couldn’t open my eye for about 10 minutes after the incident without being in saline agony. It burns, man, it burns.
You can also scoop up the mud at the bottom of the Sea and rub it over yourself. I mean, you could do that with mud anywhere, but the specific mud from the Dead Sea has health benefits. I rubbed the thick, sludgy stuff over myself and ended up looking like Bigfoot’s anorexic cousin.
After staying in the water a good few hours, I headed up to the pool. The sun set behind me as I swam, which might have been the most beautiful sunset of my life.
The Day Trip to the Dead Sea Ends
Around 7pm it was time to go.
The kids fell asleep immediately looking entirely content with everything. They’d enjoyed a great afternoon away from homework and boredom around the house.
As I watched the Jordanian landscape change from rural desert back to urban sprawl, I remembered day trips out from when I was a kid: to a theme park, or to the beach, or caravanning in Wales watching the rain batter the windows as we played Uno or Monopoly. My brother and I always fell asleep in the back of the car on the ride home, tired and content.
I realized that, despite the language and the country and the climate and a thousand other things, this day trip to the Dead Sea was altogether very familiar. As we drove back into the busy, frustrating, alien city, I was reminded that the world isn’t as big as it feels.
For more on Israel and Jordan, check out couchsurfing with a Bedouin, cycling around the Sea of Galilee, and being all Indiana Jones at Petra.
What a fantastic adventure! One I’m sure you will keep close to heart in years to come. Floating in the Dead Sea will be something you can always close your eyes and see again.
That’s the best thing about travel – the ability to go back whenever I want through my mind. Can’t get that with reading about a place from a book!
Nice post
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed with this post!!!! 🙂
Thanks!! So excited!! The pic on the FreshlyPressed page isn’t the greatest though, haha.
ooh. Deja vu!! ha ha
Very cool. You’re pretty good, kept my attention the whole way. You’re on to something here, keep it up! I’ll be watching for more posts.
There are some older posts to check out, some of which are even better than this one!
Air bubbles…right…
😉
Great post — I can’t even imagine how cool such an experience would be. Thank you for sharing!
Well there were some cute girls around. And some overweight hairy men. *shrug*
It is amazing to me how the Dead Sea is evaporating so quickly. I wish this wouldn’t happen. Thanks for sharing your Dead Sea journey!
I’ve forgotten what I was told in terms of how long, but yeah, it’s bad. Check it out before it’s too late!
Cool perspective on the third photo!
Cheers!
Hey, I have shared that experience and this really brought it back, it was a lovely read. And talk about pain getting getting salt in your eyes – I managed to slip and cut my leg on the salt rock – that was SO painful! Great descriptions and photos, look forward to seeing more! L x
I’m cringing right now. I feel your pain, brother!
Great writing and great photos! Can’t wait to read more.
Don’t forget to check my other posts – “Masturbating in Restaurants” seems to be entertaining a few people!
Thanks for the great window into a world I’ll probably never get to 🙂 Loved your last line…
Never say never! You might wake up tomorrow with a pile of money at the bottom of your bed. Have hope my friend!
Great post-what an adventure! How was Petra? It’s on my bucket list. Congrats on being FP.
http://comedytravelwriting.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/indiana-jones-and-the-obligatory-petra-reference/. This whole FP thing is insane, especially as this is such a new blog!
What a great re-telling of an amazing day-trip!!
Congrats on the FP and oh, thanks for taking us all along for the ride 🙂
Absolutely my pleasure. Entertaining others is the main reason I write!
I absolutely love stories like this. I anxiously await the day I can travel to places like this. Thanks for sharing!
Don’t wait for the day, you have to go out and seize it! (or continue to read blogs like mine and travel vicariously)
Sounds like an amazing day-trip! What an incredible place to go to. . .
Excellent story, sounds like it was fun.. In ways haha.
Great post
Great post and well-written about the floating experience in the Dead Sea.
Though the floating sensation was cool, I have to say my most persistent memory of the Dead Sea is that the water just felt oddly slimy…
I also happened to have a scrape on my hand that turned bright red after exposure to the water, and has since healed into a purplish/brownish scar. Interesting side effect to high salt quantities. 🙂
A lot of people hate it and spend about five minutes in the water just to say they’ve done it. Pretty awesome to be able to show someone and your scar and say “I got this at the Dead Sea.” That’s the joy of travel!
Awesome 🙂 I enjoyed very much friend!!
Reblogged this on Proactive Strategies and commented:
test
Lovely little story, enjoyed your post!
Great story. Congrats on being pressed.
Sounds like quite the experience. It always feels a little skewed when you have to pay 16x what locals pay to visit the same place, for no apparent reason other than you are foreign. Great job on being freshly pressed!
Petra was even worse. Locals were again almost free but us foreigners had to pay $85. Read more: http://comedytravelwriting.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/indiana-jones-and-the-obligatory-petra-reference/
Love your narration of the adventure!
Wat a lovely experience.. Loved imagining me floatig on dead sea.. 🙂
I am so envious. I have always wanted to go there.
congratulations! not many people has the chance for an adventure in the dead sea.. it must have been fun and exciting.
Hilarious and well-written. Enjoyed it! Living in Dubai, I can totally envision him stopping the car in the middle of the road and thinking it’s normal/acceptable. Driving is definitely different in this part of the world! Congrats on being FP’d.
It’s hilarious to be a part of, but I don’t think I’d ever fancy driving in a place like that!
Great adventure and i envy you. Anyway, this is a good post and congrats for being fp.
Reblogged this on LISTRIK MENERANGI DAN MENCERDASKAN .
Very cool. Hope to get over there some day. For now i’ll have to stick to the Appalachians and Smokies. http://thechildishman.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/mountains-chickens-stromboli/
The Smokies/Blue Ridge Mountains are amazing. Beautiful part of the world!!
Very cool photography..
Awesome!!
Firstly congrats on the FP 😀
Great post and lovely pictures – it sounds like it was quite an adventure even down to trawling through the market and stepping on toes! Next destination? 😀
Currently working in England, but might squeeze in a mini-break to somewhere like Poland/Switzerland. Japan or India will be my next big trip methinks.
India is next on my list. For a mini break however Barcelona will be next! I look forward to reading 😀
Despite the fact that I am very buoyant and can float in ANY water, this sounds really neat. I want to try it someday. Glad to know that it’s going to take some money and some effort to get there.
I’m not sure why but this really made me laugh. Very buoyant, eh? That’s a great skill to have!
Great post. Brought back memories of 1979/80 when I did it. Got the usual image of a friend reading the London ‘Times’ while floating. The paper got wet and ruined and my ‘friend’ disappeared 30 years ago. . . but the memories live on.
Ahh, travel. Adventures and memories to last a lifetime, to see you through the good times and the tough times. Thanks for sharing!
You just took us on an adventure. The experience was potent enough to cause a slight shift in the way my reality looks — much like going to a distant land and returning home; your house, your dog, the contents of your pantry all seem to have taken on a novel and incandescent appearance. Your writing has done that.
I also find it compelling that even in the most remote or foreign or unfamiliar of places, it only takes a specific matter of time before complacency sets in, the newness wears off, and our human-ness takes over and it suddenly makes no difference whether we are in Uzbekistan or our living room; people irritate and inconvenience us. We somehow find a way of losing sight of the wonder in all things, no matter how wonderful they are. Human nature, I suppose.
Wonderful article.
Human nature indeed. I find it both fascinating and intriguing and is the reason I continue to travel, to find new places that excite me and where I don’t feel complacent (at least not immediately). Wonderful comment. 🙂
Great writing and wonderful story. http://www.lacaravita.com. x
Sounds like an amazing experience…I appreciate your urban cynicism as well!
I liken the sensation to floating in olive oil. Great post!
Can’t say I’ve ever tried floating in olive oil myself, but if you say so. 😉
Awesome adventure and I’ve just added it to my to-do list! Looking forward to more fun adventures from you!
Totally off topic, but still:
What’s up with all these readers plugging their blog on your article? For what it’s worth, I find that insanely rude and immensely indicative of a person’s serious disregard for quality writing. Personally, I would never visit anyone’s site who has commented with a hyperlink and nothing of substance pertaining to the post itself. There are ample ways to raise your stats without looking like a total dueche, and more probably actually being one.
I hope I’m never freshly pressed. 🙂
Yup, they’re spam, and I should delete them.
I’m more likely to click on someone (and go to their blog) if they’ve posted a funny/interesting/useful comment, not just a link. Good manners are attractive!
Dig.
wow this is an item on my bucket list which i hope to one day experience! Thank you, I learned quite a bit from your experience.
Hopefully if anything I raised it a few places on your bucket list!
those pictures are something else. My girlfriend has been, I have not, she said it was kind of hard to float comfortably/read like everyone always talks about.
I didn’t actually try and read or do anything like that, but the water isn’t completely still – the second time I got salt in my eyes was caused by a surprise wave sneaking up on me. And if you just lie there, you end up drifting quite a lot.
Great post! I appreciate your humour. I expect that I will think the same murderous thoughts as I am faced by elbows in my upcoming trip to India.
I went on the Israeli side – so had a different experience getting onto the beach 🙂 (Though there’s no pool on the Israeli side – I would’ve appreciated a dip afterwards for sure!)
I definitely loved the sea too though, my friends and I spent definitely spent a significant amount of time in the water! (Luckily a German girl had warned us not to shave for several days beforehand, so no cuts or nicks to get wickedly burned!)
And congrats on the FP! 🙂
What’s the closest town to the Dead Sea in Israel? I was considering it but didn’t get round to visiting until I got to Jordan.
Um… I believe it’s Eilat (at the Red Sea and the border of Jordan). My friends and I took a bus from Jerusalem, stopped at the Dead Sea for the day, and then continued on the bus later than night to Eilat. But there’s constant buses from Eilat and Jerusalem to the Dead Sea. It was pretty easy to get there.
Wowww… I ve always wanted to know about the dead sea… is the water actually still? I’d love to visit this side of the world…
good post 🙂
Hey guys! Please check this out. This is really amazing!
http://andreanentertainment.wordpress.com/
Haha, nice post, chirpy, congrats on being fp’d, you should join in the weekly travel theme on http://wheresmybackpack.com
Petra – this one is on my bucket list! An awesome read!
U are a fantastic comedy-travel writer! My new inspiration 🙂 I write a lot in a similar style too, but not as famous as you.
Take extra time over each post and make it funny AND serious and hopefully you’ll get Freshly Pressed!
Great post. Makes me want to travel soooo bad again..
So go! Flights are cheap these days, or go for a roadtrip somewhere just for a day. Travel is all around us!
Time & money are the two biggest factors. The best thing I can do is book a trip once or twice a year far in advance, and hope for the best. Chicago in a month, Vegas in January!
Both great cities in VERY different ways! Definitely harder to travel from America because the place is so far from everywhere else. Europe is awesome!
I really enjoyed reading this post! It sounds like an awesome experience! I had the same caravan trips, but I’m Welsh so the rain didn’t keep us inside! haha
‘The world isn’t as big as we think it is.’ – Perfect closing line to a wonderful post.
Well done, very worthy of being Freshly Pressed (now that I know what it means!)
x
Got just shy of 1500 views yesterday, 700 today. Pretty cool! Onto bigger things from here!
Thanks for sharing, I will have to bump this up a few spaces on my bucket list. Some great photos too and congrats on being Freshly Pressed.
Love it, love it, love it. Aren’t adventures grand?
Swallowing the water (accidentally!) isn’t recommended either.
Great post 🙂
I…I…I don’t even want to imagine!
yeah…it was bad.
i want to float too! very nice travel post:D
Ultra new to WordPress, as in I just signed up tonight. Yours was the first blog I read and I loved it! Hooked. Think you just got yourself another fan. Great stuff!
Well thanks. I do feel like I have to apologise for the disappointment you’ll face when you read other blogs, ha!
i enjoyed reading this. i’m only curious with one thing: why did the hotel owner suddenly want to take you to a day trip to the dead sea? was it part of his hospitality to the guests?
It kind of ruins the magic but he actually had a little poster on the wall of the hostel. Just happened that that day I was the only one going!
so lucky you, then. how much did you pay his service? or you just need to pay his car gasoline?
It was about $20 (US) in the end I think. And it was quite a long way so yep, it just covered gasoline/petrol, and those ice creams!
congrats for being freshly pressed btw. quite all right for one time experience, i suppose. so you’re still in the middle east or already back to homeland?
Back in England! But it’s okay, gives me plenty of time to write up all my old adventures (and plan my next one!).
great! i’m waiting forward to read them! and i’m also on my way to write all my euro trips i did a couple weeks ago!
thanks for stopping by and liking my post. i find your travel stories entertaining and hilarious!
Absolutely love your blog, it’s getting me extremely excited for travelling!
what a humbling experience ! enjoyed visiting here!
Wow, this sounds like a fantastic experience, Thank you for liking my post, I feel quite humbled after reading yours. Look forward to hearing more from your travels.
Went to exactly the same place myself just a few weeks ago….and yep that water stings like buggery if you get it in your eyes (and also tastes disgusting if you get it in your mouth)
Well done on the freshly pressed! Will now follow. x
I like your sense or humor……a nice travelogue
Great! Human can float in the water!
Looks fantastic….Great place
Thanks for visiting “beeseeker” – this is a great post – I am just back from Jordan – to find central heating has packed up while I was away – typical eh?
Worst time of year for it – crack out the fleece!
I chortled, you will be pleased to hear! You have a lovely way of writing Mr Wilberforce, and now that I no longer earn a City salary and will be doing my tourism vicariously, I will be a regular visitor to your blog. I have liked you on Facebook too, just to be sure I don’t miss any trips
YAY a new Facebooker! It’s kind of lonely over there at the moment. Most of my trips are in the past too actually, although I did just get back from Norway. There’ll be a post about a Norwegian Halloween party and porridge in the snowy woods coming along soon!
if only you could hear me laugh..great stuff there 😀
Really enjoyed reading this! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I blog too and I am authoring a thing alike to this specific blog post, “Daytripping to the
Dead Sea with a Jordanian and his Family | Comedy Travel Writing”.
Will you mind in the event that I reallyimplement a number of
your personal tips? Thanks for the post ,Vickey
Great post! 🙂