Back in June, I spent a week traveling through Jordan and I didn’t have time to post about my trip until just now.
Just outside of the capital is Madaba, a small city with a long history.
At the end of the 19th century, a 6th century mosaic map of the Middle East was uncovered in the floor of a church. While it has suffered damage over the past 1,500 years, it is still easy to admire the craftsmanship that went into to creating one of the oldest known maps depicting Jerusalem.
A nearby museum is home to an ongoing project, creating a mosaic of the King’s Highway using 3.5 million pieces. Visitors are encouraged to contribute by writing their name on a tile and gluing it in place.
A little further up the road is Mount Nebo, best known as the final resting place of Moses. When I visited, the Byzantine church was closed for renovations, buried under a pile of scaffolding, but the views of the arid landscape were timeless.
My ultimate destination on this day was the Dead Sea.
First I went to a museum about the famous body of water. It is shrinking at an alarming rate, reminding me of the ongoing ecological disaster the Soviets created in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan with the disappearing Aral Sea. Yikes.
But for now, the Dead Sea is present and draws in tourists.
It was bizarre to look out at so many people floating effortlessly in the water. Even though I knew it’s nearly 10 times saltier than the oceans, a part of me still wondered if I would actually float.
Good news. I did!
There are several resorts and spas on both the Jordanian and Israeli sides of the Dead Sea boasting the restorative properties of the mud. I cut out the middleman and slathered the soft mud all over myself. I wasn’t sure if this was legit or something locals tell tourists so they can laugh at the silly foreigners covered in mud, but I’ve got to admit, my skin was baby soft afterwards!
There were two mild downsides to my visit however. First, that mud? It’ll leave your swimsuit with a brown tinge. Yeah, I probably should have seen that coming. Second, remember how I said the Dead Sea is ten times saltier than the oceans? Imagine swimming in the ocean with a paper cut. It hurts. Now imagine the water is ten times saltier. OW! Yeah, I probably should have seen that coming, too.