As I'd rented a car for the weekend, and Lee wasn't here to make use of it with me, I decided to go do one of the sites not on his short list - the Dead Sea.
About 30 km east of Jerusalem, the drive is fairly quick. The landscape changes rapidly from the scrub growth and trees of Jerusalem to the rolling creme colored hills of the desert. And down down down you go. At the lowest spot on earth, you get some pretty fantastic biological benefits. Not only does the air have a higher saturation of oxygen (which increases your metabolism...for some reason), but as you get closer to the sea, there is also an increase in bromine in the atmosphere - which is a sedative - and magnesium - which helps skin allergies and clears your bronchial passages. So, highly metabolized, totally chill and itch-free is what the Dead Sea does to you before you even step foot into it.
(Already feeling groovy, and not even there yet!)
Along the road are multiple signs showing you how far below sea level you are, and at each signpost, and sometimes just scattered around at random intervals, are camels. Tied up and bedecked in colorful blankets. I noted a few handlers, but it didn't look like every camel had a guy hanging out with it...they were just standing about...looking bored. Actually, I don't know what an entertained camel looks like, so perhaps it wasn't boredom at all. I also saw my first herd of camels, being shepherded by a man on a donkey. In a date grove.
(A dressed up camel; Naked camels)
I accidentally drove past the beach I'd intended to go to, and stumbled upon the location where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Unfortunately, as this was Saturday, the site was closed, but I'll make a special trip back there to check it out before we leave Israel.
Making a quick U-turn, I got back on track, and headed to the Kalia beaches, at the most northern point of the Sea. This particular area is less popular than the beaches near the big dirty resorts at the southern end, and also the very well traversed beaches near the Ein Gedi nature reserve (where I'm determined to go for a hike before the weather gets too hot!). To get to the Kalia beaches, you drive through some bombed out homes and buildings that are remnants from when this part of Israel was Jordan, which is now situated on the other side of the Dead Sea. You go from an old war site to a parking lot beyond a barbed-wire fence, and into a very plush resort setting.
(A dichotomy: Bombed towns to perfect beach in a one minute drive. The land on the other side is Jordan)
Most of the beaches charge some kind of fee to get in, so I paid my 35NIS (just under $10), and walked into their bar/cafe/shop area - all open aired and reminding me a great deal of Hawaii. Or Cabo...or any other beach resort, really, without the huge hotels. To get to the beach and sea itself, there are several meandering paths, on multiple tiers, that lead through an assortment of shaded rest areas, with chairs and showers and basically very comfortable surroundings. The beach itself is peppered with plastic lawn chairs and shaded canopies, that are open to anyone who snags them. I made my way to a less crowded part of the beach, and got a couple of chairs in the shade (it was close to 80 degrees, sunny and warm with a nice breeze). The 'beach' is not really a beach, but crumbled sandstone, it's almost like sand...but bigger...not that great on the feet, to be honest.
I stripped down and walked to the waters edge, a little nervous that it was going to be cold. Which it wasn't. It was perfect - maybe 70 degrees? The instructions say to walk out until you can squat down and lean back for your float. Easier said than done! The floor of the sea is squilchy mud, of varying depths and viscosity, so you sink and slip and slide and stumble and fall frequently trying to get out to deep enough water for you to settle onto. Everyone looks like an idiot walking in. Everyone.
The Dead Sea is 33% solids. Very salty, and loads of assorted minerals. It's impossible to stay grounded in it. You bob. Laying back into the water was heaven - the closest way I can describe it would be like floating on an inner tube in a pool of baby oil. Very nasty tasting baby oil. The effect the water(?) had on my skin was amazing. It is no wonder people pay so much money for the products derived from this place. You're not meant to submerge your head, and no wonder- the water tastes so foul and is so poisonous for you to ingest.....and I wouldn't want to try to wash that residue out of my hair. No way.
After floating so comfortably for about 20 minutes (the guide books recommend not staying in for much longer than that at a stretch- it's very dehydrating to stay in the water), I stood up, scooped some mud off the bottom and smothered myself in it. Everyone was walking around caked in black gook from the bottom of the sea, I figured that I'd give it a try myself. Settling down in the sun, I let the mudpack dry for a while, and then eventually crinkled my way back down to the water to rinse off.
(I wasn't as muddy as some, it's hard to apply yourself!)
I can definitely see how you could spend an entire day, or weekend, here. It was the most relaxed I'd been in a very long time. I'm determined to go back (hopefully with my new friend here!), and spend more time sunbathing. As it was, I was a little weird sitting there by myself, without a book (duh, forgot it....of all the things to forget...), so I dried out in the sun, gave myself a fresh water rinse, and headed back to Jerusalem....perfectly chilled out.
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