Dead Sea to Egypt - Day 6

As courteous and professional as he was, our driver, Yosef, shattered my dreams when we met. "I am afraid you will not have time to swim in the Dead Sea," he said. Where had I gone wrong in my research, I wondered? My disappointment was palpable. Just a short while later, he apologized and said he had miscalculated - we had plenty of time for a swim on our way to the Amman airport!

We went out of our way to Jordan's Amman airport, driving along the entire length of the Dead Sea.  You can see across the sea to the shores of the West Bank in Israel.

At 1,400 feet below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth. The Dead Sea is named for the lack of life in its waters due to the intensely salty water density. Compared to the Atlantic or the Pacific Oceans, the saltiness levels of the Dead Sea are approximately ten times more. You float in the Dead Sea because of the high density of the lake's salinity (34%). Its mineral rich waters are known to be quite the treat for your skin. The black mud you find in the Dead Sea is world famous for its therapeutic and healing benefits.

We stopped for a view over Wadi Araba - borderering Israel's West Bank and Jordan's East Bank.

The safety laws in Jordan still seem to be developing but we actually stumbled into one today - no swimming allowed in the Dead Sea outside of a resort. There goes my Plan A.

My original plan was to stop for a swim at the Dead Sea's Salt Beach

Yosef arranged a resort for us at only 17 JOD each (cash). Going to a resort made the whole experience a lot nicer. We had lounge chairs, dressing rooms, and showers. Food and towels were available for 10 JOD more (per person).

Yosef got us a special day-use rate at the Dead Sea Spa Resort

The beach at the Dead Sea Spa Resort

The Dead Sea is the lowest place on the planet

We went from an average of 45-50 degrees this whole trip to high 60s at the Dead Sea, located -1400 ft below sea level. The water felt warmer than the air temperature. In January the water temp is ~68°F.

Having just removed our warm layers of clothing, we were laughing that Jeremy was (innocently) putting his cold hands on us.

"Whoa," Jeremy said, the first of us to lean back into the water. Your feet pop up and out of the water beyond your control, and you float without any effort at all. 

This has got to be the closest experience we will have to weightlessness in our lives!

You float in the Dead Sea because the water is dense

There are many healing qualities of the Dead Sea; its mineral rich waters are known to be quite the treat for your skin.  Supposedly it helps eczema but Kate's hands were stinging and red. My eczema hot spots didn't show any improvement. Maybe one visit isn't enough.

The black mud found at the Dead Sea is known for its therapeutic and healing benefits. You get the mud from containers by the shore.  (See the containers behind us.)

Our stop at the Dead Sea was an amazingly unique experience!

Tips for swimming in the Dead Sea: Do not put your head under; don't get the water in your eyes. Avoid shaving for 2 days prior; any open cuts will sting. Don't wear a nice or light-colored bathing suit; the water ruined my old one. Wear protective footwear to guard your feet from the sharp salt crystals when entering the water. (We didn't need water shoes because our resort had a sand entry.) Rinse off when you get out - keeping those minerals on your skin for too long may have an adverse effect.

Had we visited Jordan during the summer months, I would've added Wadi al Mujib as one of our destinations; however, it is closed during the winter.

The canyon-filled Mujib Biosphere Reserve offers the best river and adventure hikes in Jordan

We loved Jordan and had so much fun here! I'm ready to go to Egypt and hopefully take off one of my extra layers of clothing!

Egypt doesn't need much of an introduction. It's ancient, like as old as the pyramids. Around 3100 B.C., Egypt became a civilization unified under a pharaoh, and established a writing system called hieroglyphs. We are here to explore all its ancient, mind-boggling sites. It will be a new experience for most of the Webber tribe - never having been to Africa. They are excited to tick off their 5th continent.

Checking in at the Amman airport in Jordan, Kate's backpack was flagged by a wrapper of chewed gum that's been in her bag since California. The airport guy pulled it out and was determined to unwrap the wadded up mess. He even smelled it. He turned to Chris and asked him if he speaks Arabic?! He dug out a half eaten protein bar, some more gum, gummy worms, and then just gave up with Kate and her suspect sweet tooth - and Chris' failed interpreting skills. It made for a good laugh, later when we were safely through to the other side. At the next security checkpoint (there is one before and after passport control), they took my travel corkscrew.

We flew from Amman, Jordan to Egypt. After a layover in Cairo, we flew to Aswan, our starting point in Egypt. We arrived to our lodging in the dark at 9pm.

Logistics:

Driver: I had to email a lot of people in Jordan to find a reasonable rate ($250) to get from Petra to the Amman airport. The problem was that I included a brief stop at the Dead Sea. Somehow I came across Khaled with Atlas Tours and sensed I was in good hands. We were very happy with the driver, Yosef, that Atlas Tours arranged for us.

Egypt Airport Arrival: Egypt requires a visa. You can get one at the airport or online in advance. I've read that getting it at the airport is an easy process but it is rumored that the lines can get extensive - and we didn't have time for that during our layover. We got our e-visa online. You want to start the process at least 10 days in advance (after 5 business days of waiting I still hadn't heard a peep.). Since Egypt's e-visa process is unforgiving - any mistakes mean you need to start all over again including paying again and wasting time you might not have - you can also find an online service to process the visa for you. For us, arriving at the airport with an e-visa was a super simple process.