12/16/2009
Friday afternoon we began our journey to the Sinai Peninsula. For those who are not geographically savvy, the peninsula sits at the top of the Red Sea connecting the two continents of Africa and Asia with the Gulf of Suez on the left and Gulf of Aqaba on the right. It was a unique experience to say that we had been in four continents in the course of only two weeks. Our drive over was simply beautiful taking highways that brought us right along the Red Sea banks. We eventually stopped along the banks to visit a famous hot springs known more commonly as Pharaoh Bath. Legend tells that part of the hot spring, where the water runs into the Red Sea that sand is abundant with Sulfur. The mixture of the Sulfuric sand at minerals from the Hot Spring has healing tendency for dry skin and other skin diseases. Many natives of the land will spend afternoons buried in this sand to have smooth moisturized skin.
While we were there many of us spent the afternoon barefoot wading in the Red Sea. To our surprise we discovered the top half of a Jelly fish lying on the shore of the sea! The actual spring of Pharaoh’s bath was located behind us in the rocky terrain some fifty feet into behind the ever so narrow doorway. As you neared the entrance in into the cave immediately it felt as though you were walking into a sauna. Nearby about twenty yards was another entrance which four of us adventured into trying to find another entrance to the hot springs. After cave dwelling for nearly ten minutes by flash light and sweating through our clothes we gave up trying to find the actual spring only to find out later if we had push on another 10 yards we would have found it.
It was great to spend the afternoon playing by the shore of such a beautiful and pure sea. This was my first visit to any hot spring and I was surprised by the legends of the “healing sand” of which we played in. I cannot testify to the effects but I do not doubt its ability.
Posted at 1:58 PM by Corey Meyer