Jordan Rift Valley

Today I went from over 2700 feet above sea level down to 1300 feet below sea level. Where is the only place in the world that you can do this? Oh yes: Israel!

A list of places we went today: Masada (refuge palace of Herod the great, a famous siege ramp from when Romans once took it, but not really because when it was clear they would win, all the men killed their families and each other and then the last fellow killed himself), the Dead Sea, Ein Gedi (where David went when fleeing Saul, a lovely waterfall but a hot, difficult hike), and Qumran (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found).

Dead Sea overview: the surface of this body of water is 1300 feet below sea level; the bottom is 2600 feet below sea level. Nothing lives in the Dead Sea - even if someone tossed me in there - it would be awful. More details following. The Dead Sea is fed by the Jordan River (which starts at the Sea of Galilee) but has no exit, plus it is very very warm here. Hence, the water evaporates, leaving the salt and other mineral content of this sea very very high.

Dead Sea experience: coming down to the edge of the water, it appeared that everyone was standing in the water because it was only up to their mid-torso. Not so: the bottom drops away rather quickly, but you stay afloat! I waded in, glad for my shoes even though they looked dorky because the rocks were sharp and slippery. Then there's a white line over the rocks, like someone had thrown a white sheet over the next several feet of rocks. I soon discovered that this was actually salt and mineral deposits, from 1/4" to 1" thick - maybe more, but that's when I stopped caring. Because now it was suddenly very difficult to keep my feet in the water. I found the edge where the rocks dropped off (who knows how deep it was? It could have been hundreds of feet deep and I'd never know!!) and slid into the sea. Or at least, I tried to. Rather, I bobbed on the surface just like the rest of my compatriots. And the water felt oily against your skin and if you scooped up a handful of the water, it is indeed about as thick as olive oil.

The Dead Sea is seven times denser than - water? ocean water? - something. This means that it feels a little like you're on the Moon. You can lay back and look like you're sitting on an inflatable chair. If you try to swim, you can't keep your feet under the water (or at least not with shoes on them) so you can't kick. Trying to swim freestyle was rather funny to watch: arms and head sort of normal, a little high, you can see most of the back out of the water completely, and then there comes the rear end. Which sticks way out of the water and you cannot keep it down. And then legs that uselessly are higher than your head! Swimming was a joke here, and it took a very long to move anywhere.

There are mud holes on the shore a hundred meters or so from where you get in the water - dark, black mud. Which, for some reason which I don't know but I definitely participated in, we all rubbed over our skin until we looked like charcoal beings wearing swimming suits. Chimney sweeps! You'll see "Dead Sea Bath Salts" for sale your whole life, so maybe this mud was good for us? Jumping back in the water to rinse said mud off yourself (after ample pictures of the Mormon Israeli Aborigines, a/k/a the MIA), everyone tried to (and eventually gave up) not get the sea in their eyes as they attempt to clean off the mud from your face, which I intelligently placed there. However, I did not give up. This means that after getting the mud off, some dribblets from my forehead went….you guessed it, into mine eyes. This was very painful. (Did I mention that you find all sorts of cuts over you that you never knew you had? They burn!) And then we discovered the difference between boys and girls, both sides desperately wishing they were the other gender to avoid associated unpleasant experiences. Some poor souls had had a BM before entering the water and the toilet paper's scratching proved to be quite distasteful. The event started out fun but ended with Sariah, blind (ever get sea water in your eyes? Okay. Mix that with PEPPER SPRAY and you got it!), crawling onto the shore, pleading with a random boy to let me use a corner of his towel to wipe her eyes. I enjoyed it but I am fairly sure that the Dead Sea can go right up there with the Red Sea in terms of my "seas that I have visited but don't intend to swim in again" list!