Dead Sea, JORDAN

I've always wanted to try out the Dead Sea....at last I did it today!! What a bizarre experience! Totally impossible to drown in these waters. While the water looks and feels like your normal ocean water - though smooth and warm - its impossible to sink. Even when standing up in the deep water its hard to get in deeper than your neck. Try doing a breast stoke or butterfly stroke - hardly possible as you legs don't get deep enough. You end up flapping your legs in the air. Better opt for a backwards butterfly. If I had the time, and permission, I easily could have swam across the Dead Sea to Israel. However, with my wet passport containing my Iran visa, I certainly would have landed in an Israeli jail. If you don't wash off your body with fresh water and let the salt water dry on you, you'll end up looking like a white walking salt-man. You know Salt-Man? Come see.

Also visited the area around the Jordan river (these days just a small muddy stream) and the place where Jesus was reportedly baptised. Amazing Jordan.