Day 4 - Dead Sea

Today we spent a relaxing day at the Dead Sea. We stayed at the Kempinski Ishtar, which was a nice mi x of heaven and hell. Hell in that it was 113 degrees during the day and in the 90s at night (not to mention the odd techno music at the pool with lyrics “This is Satan! I will give you house, sex, and drugs...but mostly house!” – what does that even mean?). And heaven in that, the location and grounds were breathtakingly beautiful and after a float in the Dead Sea, we spent the afternoon sitting by a pool, while the resort staff brought cool cucumbers and fruit and juice to offset the heat. Paul insists it did not feel that hot outside, and I have to admit, when I was in the water or sipping on a juice I hardly noticed the fact that it was 113 degrees outside.


View from the Hotel

We arrived at the hotel late morning for an early check in and our first stop was a float in the Dead Sea, of course! We slathered Dead Sea mud all over our skin and waded in. The water feels like oil and it’s so salty, it was impossible not to float. The worst swimmer in the world would be perfectly safe in the Dead Sea. In fact, I could hardly keep my legs underneath me – me feet just kept floating up! It was an insane sensation to bob like a cork on top of the water! Eventually Paul and I completely relaxed, and floated on our backs absorbing the “healing minerals” of the Dead Sea.





After our float in the Dead Sea, we walked back up to one of the several gorgeous pools at the resort. Our pool was a circular infinity pool with sloped edges (like a martini glass – I kept sliding down the sides like an olive). The pool overlooked the Dead Sea and the West Bank, Jericho, and Jerusalem on the opposite shore. It was a beautiful view. We had walked outside at 11:30 in the morning and were surprised to see the clock in our room told us it was 6:30 when we finally got back inside sunburn free (we heard that the UV rays are low at the Dead Sea due to the fact that it’s 1200 feet below sea level – must be true – I can usually get a sunburn just thinking about the sun!).



Dinner was insanely awful, but overall the Kempinski was a great hotel and the Dead Sea was well worth a visit!