the Dead Sea

We went swimming in the Dead Sea!  I floated in the Dead Sea!  Tee hee hee...it was actually quite exciting.   I was all giggly and laughing all the time, expressing the little kid in me with no shame.   Whatever, all the uncles and aunties were just as loud as me (if not louder).  

There are some precautions that you need to take before you go swimming at the Dead Sea:

• No open cuts, because...well, they will hurt like hell.   I experienced it the hard way.  Ha!  It was not pleasant.  They advise against shaving immediately prior to swimming in the Dead Sea.   
• No jewelleries, because it might start to change colour due to the salinity of the water.  I forgot to take off my white gold stud, and it turned grey.   The grey came off once I scrubbed it with toothbrush + toothpaste, though.   
• I would advise against wearing any skimpy bikinis.  I had a bikini top, but kept my waist-down pretty much covered with a pair of beach shorts.   
• Walk carefully once you get to the beach....the sand is slimmy and yucky...and even after you get into the water, the ground still feels slimy.  And take extra precaution, my feet got stuck multiple times.   Oh, and leave your flip-flop on the side.   I saw many aunties trying to walk on the slimy sand wearing their flip-flop, and they slipped numerous times.  Plus, sometimes the flip-flop gets caught in the sand, and you end up tripping because of it.   
• If you're going to try to float on your stomach, be extra careful.   It's harder to keep your balance when you're on your stomach.   It's much easier to keep your balance when you try to float on your back.  The easiest way to do this?   Just relax and pretend that you're sitting down, and slowly let yourself fall backward.   The water will keep you afloat.   

This is the Dead Sea from afar.   We were actually at another religious site, from which we can see the Dead Sea

This is the Dead Sea once we got to actual location.   There's a deck on the way to the beach, where people can just sit around and chill with drinks on hand (yes, they even serve alcoholic drinks)

The stairwell leading down to the beach.   The Dead Sea is really beautiful.   Oh, and once you get to the beach, there "sand" is very...not sand-y.   It's slimmy, muddy, and your feet get stuck in it.   But other than that, it was a memorable experience to be swimming in the Dead Sea.  

Once you're down at the beach, there is some areas that are very similar to black-coloured mud....and you'll see people just chilling inside the black mud, or just sitting around the area while smearing their bodies and face with the black mud.   But I can see the fun in that, and apparently these stuff are good for your skin.   Forever young, they said.   Yeah, I didn't touch those stuff.