moonlit evening at the arabian kitty's world

After a long day of bathing, mudding, dipping, now it's the time of the day where you can just enjoy a decent meal and visit some wildlife animals inside this complex against the tranquil twilight. 

There were couple of restaurants to choose from, choices ranges from middle eastern to chinese to italian. And I decided to go for italian after a long day of activities, expecting to have a full filling meal. The restaurant was called Luigi's, it was a family friendly restaurant with outdoor and indoor dining area. But since it was end of Feb, and it was quite chilly at night, I just went for indoor area to get a cosy meal against the window overlooking the dining courtyard area. 

complimentary dips with roasted onion

interesting mugged baked bread

seafood liguini

movenpick icecream to end the night

outdoor dining area

kitty by the window

I would highly recommend Luigi's restaurant if you like italian food. Portion and taste were both great, and make sure you don't missed the Movenpick ice cream if you still have a separate space saved away in your stomach for dessert. 

And if you want to have some shee-sha, you can just sit in the outdoor dining area to enjoy it under the moonlight. 

You will also find lots and lots of cats running around the whole complex, indoor outdoor, everywhere, and ducks too. So after a full meal I went for a long walk, having my own little "night safari" for free hehe.

 

 

 

 

 

If you are a kitty fan, you will absolutely love this place. The whole complex also looked very different and more beautiful at night against all the lightings along the pathways. 

 

  

 

amazing lit up view overlooking the property from my balcony

tripod photo shooting attempt haha

So to end the night, I just spent an hour or so on my balcony, sipping some tea and enjoying the breathtaking night view against the occasional arabic sea breeze. 

Sit back and relax in ZARA SPA

Movenpick Dead Sea resort is renowned for its very own ZARA SPA, and being one of the largest in middle east, I knew I would regret if I missed it, therefore I've made an email reservation with them before I even arrived to Jordan. Note to all of you, they do get full easily, especially if you required a female therapist, it's best to book early even before you arrive.

Before you enter the main entrance to ZARA SPA, they serve you the sweet tea or so called "Bedouin Whiskey"

Just a bit of info about the sweet tea, when you travel in Jordan, you’ll find that wherever you go, expect to be invited to drink lots of these. They are served in tiny glass cup, it is usually polite to accept and take the tea slowly and chat away with the host.

If you feel like swimming, Movenpick has several swimming pool areas too, but the best are within ZARA Spa, which you are entitled to use if you spend 100JD or more. Otherwise, you can just pay 20something JD to get an entry pass to the spa area. 

the tranquil infinity pool overlooking Dead Sea

 

 

 

 

Inside this large Spa complex, there are also various facilities such as dead sea pool, floatation pool, hydro pool,Turkish Hammams ( Calardium, Laconium, rain showers, soap massage rooms, indoor and outdoor rest areas), infinity pool etc. It's a paradise for adults to spend a lazy afternoon. You can also enjoy unlimited tea and fresh fruit within the Spa. I took several dips in the different pool areas and some sun bathing next to the infinity pool before my appointment. 

inside ZARA SPA

Turkish Hammams - dead sea whirlpool

 

 

 

4pm sunlight

Since I didn't want to over spend, the treatment I booked was called "Purifying Traditional Hammam".They firstly give you a traditional Loofah Exfoliation with Olive Oil, and then a rose flower clay mud wrap, finally with lotion application with essential oils. The whole treatment finished in 2 hours time, but you will be indulge in the whole experience. Honestly, I totally enjoyed it, and I wished I did the Thalgo one too. Anyway, I needed to saved some bucks for the rest of the trip, so it was all good for what I had. 

Tips: Before you go, you can always check on their website for what treatment they offered and the price. But do allow yourself enough time to enjoy all the facilities within the complex before your treatment. 

by the time I came out from zara spa, sun has setted already

Deadsea Jordan - where you float and get salty-up

Day 1: (Airport ----> Movenpick Dead Sea Resort Jordan)

So on Day 1, my journey begins -400m below sea level. After getting all excited receiving the key into my room, I immediately searched for my swimmers which was stuffed into my hand luggage (in case I loose the check-in one you know), I got changed, grabbed my camera with a water-proof zipped bag and headed down to the dead sea beach which is part of the resort private access area. With the movenpick map in hand, I knew it would come into handy, since this resort is much like a theme park village, one that you can get lost easily. Especially when each block looking so similar, and with not much directions or signage within the complex. It actually took me more than 15min to walk through the maze before arriving to the beach and pool area.

small potteries that were sold inside a souvenir shop

But the walk wasn't a boring one, I was like a kid checking the different building blocks out, ducking into arches corridor, coming out the next, peeping through souvenir shop windows, taking millions of snapshots as I was making my way down to dead sea area. It was a chilly day, Feb in Jordan can still get quite cold so beware and bring warmer clothes if you travel during that period.

kids friendly swimming pool overlooking Dead Sea

Feb is still low season, and the whole resort feel very private

I've been longing to float in the Dead Sea, and this is one of the activity I look most forward to in Jordan. Seeing the Dead Sea for the first time, it was just unbelievable. Dead Sea was right there, just a few more steps in front of me and not in one of those glossy website promoting the site, I dropped my belongings on the bench provided, and walked my way into the Dead Sea. Beware of the slippery floorboards on the pathway, and it's a good idea to keep your flip flops on. The water was cold, but I counted to three before I lie down on my back, and the Dead Sea water will force against you naturally anyway.

Just  bit of info, because of of the extremely high sea salt content, nothing can survive in the Dead Sea and that's why it's named as it is. Floating was a difficult task, it took me several attempt before being able to do the cheesy floating position that everyone does when they come to Dead Sea. 

And you do not want the water in your eyes or mouth, as it can be awful. I didn't get any into mine, but since I was super curious so I licked my arm to taste it, and it tasted bitter and god it was sooooo salty. Definitely a taste that you don't want to get it on your plate. 

 

After floating, I just followed what the rest of the tourists did, yes mud wrap for free. Hotel was nice enough to fetch the mud from the Dead Sea bed and supply to all floating guests in a clay pot. Because my skin was extremely sensitive and had been suffered from eczema all year round, by the time I got out from the salty water, it was burning already. I practically felt like a leech being generously sprinkled with salt. Ouch! So I just applied the mud lightly, waited for about 15 minute till it dried and washed it out at the open shower on the beach. And no, eczema didn't get erased off like miracle, but the skin did felt alot smoother, it did felt like baby skin again, well for that day at least anyway haha. 

Mind you, I did buy the mud back home for both face and body which I will tell you later in my other chapters.

Pls mind my fatty belly, but it's a mud wrap photo so there's not much to hide from lol

other hotel guests waiting for their mud to get dried up

After playing around with the novelties of floating and getting muddy, I got changed and decided to walk around the complex to find a nice pool to spend the rest of my afternoon before my spa appointment.

another swimming pool - but i think this one is kids free zone

 

beach area overlooking deadsea - with better weather and clearer sky you can actually see Israel on the other side

So the conclusion is, if you want to have this novelty experience, it is well worth staying in one of these Dead Sea Resort and use their private access instead of the public beach. It just makes life so much more easier if you can just leave your belongings in your room, and just hit the dead sea in your swimmer and a one piece. And being able to have a swim and plunge and sun bath by their pools are added bonus.