Dead Sea mud is famous throughout the world for its cosmetic properties – go to any big department store or spa resort, and I’d put money on you being offered products that contain it. The good news about being in Israel is that the mud is available everywhere on the ground around the sea, instead of being sold at £50 a pot! There are several places around the Sea with huts and bathing facilities, but one of the best is the Ein Gedi Spa, which is owned by the nearby Ein Gedi Kibbutz. The group I was with (my mother, my boyfriend, and I) was staying at the guest-house owned and run by the same Kibbutz nearby, but it’s equally possible and feasible to come to the Spa on a day-trip from Jerusalem.
The Spa itself consists of a facilities building next to the "beach", or access point to the Dead Sea. The building is the place where you enter the Spa, park in the ample parking, and pay to use the facilities. There is a good (Kosher) restaurant and café there, and we enjoyed a cup of tea on our way in. There are separate, clean, men’s and women’s changing rooms, and lockers to put your valuables in. Having changed into a swimsuit, you walk out of the building to huge vats of collected Dead Sea mud, which you scoop out of the container with your hands and plaster all over yourself, legs, arms, face, body, etc. As the mud’s drying, you walk down the path to the Sea itself, feeling a bit of an idiot in your swimsuit and drying mud coat, and make your way to the edge of the sea.
Bathing in the Dead Sea is an amazing experience. For a start, you can’t actually swim at all, as you float too high in the water to make much headway. As you wade in to the sea, and start to float, the first thing you notice is tiny cracks in your skin you didn’t even know were there, as they start to sting a little. As you float on your back, in a semi-sitting position, you get to look at the fantastic scenery – the other side of the Dead Sea is in Jordan, with hills behind and a peaceful, relaxing vista is before you. Although there is some industry at the extreme south end of the Sea, you can’t see or hear it from the Ein Gedi Spa, and because of the high salt levels there’s little or no shipping to worry about. Most people adopt the half-sitting up position, as it’s extremely comfortable with the sea supporting your weight in this way, so you can just lean back and relax, and maybe have the obligatory photo taken of yourself reading the paper in the Dead Sea! The mud slowly dissolves off your body, and your skin gets soft and slightly crinkly with the salt.