The Dead Sea and Wadi Mujib

Last weekend in Jordan? What better way to spend it than lounging at the Dead Sea! Rachel and I checked into the Kempinski Saturday afternoon. Thanks to a room key that never did figure out how to work, we got an upgrade to a poolside suite, late checkout and free dinner. Not bad for an afternoon's work.

We got up Sunday morning to hike Wadi Mujib. The guys at the front entrance admonished us that it was a Very Difficult hike and we would not be able to complete it without a guide. Being Independent Women, we scoffed at them and began our hike. The landscape was beautiful - crystal clear water, cliffs soaring above our heads, rocks streaked through with red, green, yellow, brown and grey, hawks lazily circling, fish biting our feet and ankles (okay - that was creepy not beautiful). Walking against the current was a bit challenging but, like I said, we are Independent Women.

We hit the first waterfall with no issues. At the second waterfall, we lost a water bottle (turns out snapping it into your life vest is not as secure a strategy as you would think). At the last, and most challenging waterfall, Rachel yelled for me to grab the second water bottle as it slipped out of her "secure" life vest. I lunged and almost ended up over the edge after the water bottle, ending up trapped momentarily in a very strong current. We got through, stood under the uncomfortably powerful stream of the last waterfall, and then turned back. 

Back at the most challenging waterfall, the predictions of the guys at the front entrance finally caught up to us. As Rachel was traversing the poorly placed ropes, she slipped and I was suddenly looking down at my sister, holding on for dear life with only her mouth and eyes peeking out of the water. She was clearly struggling to hold on, under the strength of the current. As I was trying to get down to her without slipping into the current myself, she yelled that she was letting go and, for a split second, I stopped breathing. Then she popped back up out of the water and I breathed.

After our hearts stopped racing, Rachel informed me that as she was hanging onto the rope, she made the decision to let go when she realized suddenly realized that not only had she lost her gym shorts but her swimsuit bottoms were down around her knees. Modesty, apparently, trumps possible death by drowning. We looked and looked but no sign of the shorts, so we moved on. 

We traversed the other two waterfalls easily and floated out of the wadi on the current, enjoying the breeze and the view. Just as we were coming around the last bend in the wadi, Rachel looked down and with a shout of triumph, raised up the gym shorts. Apparently they also floated out on the current and we rejoiced in our reunion (although were sad for no reunion with those water bottles).  

After the exertions of our morning, we were thrilled to go back to the Kempinski and float and relax and eat our free lunch, with no danger from currents or waterfalls. Goodbye Dead Sea. I will miss your mineral-eyness.