A Salty Vacation

October 21, 2006 - 9:17 PM by Allison

Squarepeg in Israel does a good job capturing the essence of a Dead Sea vacation. It’s all about salt and tranquillity.

In Hebrew, the Dead Sea is called Yam HaMelach [salt sea] … I don’t know if that reflects the Israeli superstitious squeamishness about death or English speakers’ obsession with it, but whatever. Fact is, it’s FULL of salt –you can pick up handfuls of it from wherever you think you’re walking on sand (but aren’t) — and it’s also a fact that nothing lives in this “sea”. It also burns like a sonofabitch if you have any sores or scratches of any kind. Poor ms. squarepeg only lasted about 5 minutes, wailing that it was burning her “down there” …. oooh, ouch. Wasn’t quite sure what to do about that…

We had a lovely long quiet weekend, squarepeg family plus my in-laws, spending three nights at the Sheraton. All we did was hang out at the pool, soak in the sea, or surf the ‘net on my wireless-access laptop. mr. squarepeg and I each had a facial and a massage as well.

The Dead Sea isn’t Eilat, and there’s no night life whatsoever. You don’t go to there for entertainment. There isn’t any, beyond the third-rate after-dinner shows they lay on at the hotels.

Shopping? Hardly. There are two tiny shopping areas, with mostly a whole lot of Dead Sea products like mud and creams.

Rest. Relaxation. Quiet. Strangely, even the action-addicted mr. and ms. squarepeg love it.

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