www.sfgate.com The Bedouin's face was burned a deep brown by a lifetime beneath Jordan's searing desert sun. But this was early morning, and as he carefully roasted fresh coffee beans over a campfire, his profile appeared proud and regal -- like that on the face of an ancient coin. Suddenly, he smiled to himself. Leaning conspiratorially close to a Jordanian girl who was watching him, he whispered something mysterious in Arabic.

The young woman thrust her head back and burst into laugher. Later, I asked her: What learned thoughts had the leathery desert dweller imparted to her? "He whispered that he'd been in the desert for weeks, and asked if I had any spare shampoo -- because he really needed to wash his hair before he visits the city!"

In the always surprising Kingdom of Jordan, camel-riding Bedouins still live lives hardly changed in a thousand years, yet they appreciate silky-soft, tangle-free shampoos. This is a young nation born of an ancient womb. Humans have dwelled in the fabled Jordan Valley for more than 10,000 years, yet today most of Jordan's nearly 6 million people are under 30.

 The  Jordan Tourist Board reports that this year 1.8 million tourists are expected to arrive, an increase of 40 percent over 2004 if it pans out. Though a small country, barely the size of New Jersey, Jordan is home to three of the world's most enthralling travel attractions: the celebrated Dead Sea, the ancient lost city of Petra and the magnificent deserts of Wadi Rum. Each of these on its own has been perennially listed in glossy travel magazines as "once in a lifetime experiences," yet they are only hours apart via an excellent network of roads.

The experience of floating in the waters of the Dead Sea is akin to swimming in a massive vinegar-and-oil salad dressing, with vacationing Brits, Egyptians and Asians all blissfully bobbing about like bizarre human croutons. The Dead Sea's waters are 10 times saltier than any other sea, so even a tiny cut on a toe will become painfully apparent. And don't even dream of splashing. I saw one man who did it and for the rest of the day his eyes resembled those of the Terminator.

When you finally step out of the water, it feels as if you've been soaking in a gigantic tub of baby oil. But a quick beachside shower rinses this off. And my skin was so soft that for several days afterward I couldn't stop caressing my arms appreciatively. I stopped only when I discovered that waitresses had started to call me "The Lonely Guy."

The Egyptian queen, Cleopatra, was so convinced that the Dead Sea's strange black mud and warm salty waters would preserve her beauty that she wanted her boyfriend, the Roman general Marc Anthony, to annex the region for her personal use.

The ancients had no idea what made the air, mud and water of the Dead Sea so magical. But scientists today tell us that the Dead Sea's waters contain more than 20 trace minerals, including magnesium, potassium and bromine, all of which are beneficial to health. What's more, since the Dead Sea is located at the deepest point on Earth -- 1,200 feet below sea level -- the dense air blocks and diffuses the sun's dangerous UVB rays, making sunbathing both healthy and safe. Some of the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come each year have been dubbed "medical tourists," because they specifically seek unique Dead Sea treatments for arthritis or dermatological diseases, their visits often paid for by insurance companies.

But most visitors simply travel here to experience the strange, oxygen- rich air, where a genuine spirituality seems to hang in eerie silence from the ancient desert cliffs.

A magnificent mysticism also lies at the heart of the striking Wadi Rum, the enormous desert valley that first gained fame from the writings of T. E. Lawrence, the celebrated World War I British officer who fought with Bedouin tribesmen in the deserts here. Later, David Lean's Academy Award-winning film "Lawrence of Arabia" was shot on location, revealing Wadi Rum's exquisite beauty, which Lawrence himself famously described as "vast, echoing and God- like."

No photograph can fully capture the silent moonscapes, ancient valleys and vertiginous granite cliffs, some of which tower 3,000 feet over the soft sands of the desert floor.

Depending on their fitness levels, eco-tourists can explore Wadi Rum in various ways. The most romantic is by camel trek, which can last from a couple of hours to several days. For the truly adventurous, the desert can even be explored on foot. But most visitors opt for four-wheel drive excursions lasting several days.

Visitors overnight in campsites expertly run by Bedouins, sleeping in large, goat-hair tents with comfortable cots, carpets and bedding. In the evening, buffet dinners are served under the stars; at sunrise, hot breakfasts are set up around a roaring fire. During the day, open-topped jeeps take wide- eyed guests to some of the most scenic vistas on Earth, with guides answering questions about the geology of Wadi Rum, a land which, to use a line by Victor Hugo, looks the way the world was before God created man.