Sweatin' in the Desert

Ah, it's good to see that people are reading my blog and that I'm not just writing for personal gratification. A special thanks to nobody for leaving comments. I hope you're enjoying your weekend.

Off we went this morning, bright and early, to the Dead Sea. Allow me to do some simple math for you:

43 C (the temperature) is about 109.4 F

That being said, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth. This has perks. Apparently, once you're about 400m below sea level, most of the UV rays have dissapated, so burns are hard to acheive. So Naomi and I did some floating in the Salt Sea (as it's known here). The water is really unique in a way that pictures can't capture. Because the bottom of the Dead Sea is covered, not with sand, but salt, it's a very milky-blue/green that is quite beautiful. When you move your arms, they leave this very odd turbulence in their path, like oil in water. It also leaves your skin feeling really greasy. Floating in the Dead Sea is quite amusing for exactly one minute. Then every mucous membrane exposed to the water starts to burn like the fire of a thousand suns. All the kids at the beach were huddled around the showers crying and grabbing their groins. I was right there with them. It was a lot of fun.

Next stop, the En Gedi (pronounced Anne Geddess - I was confused too). This kibbutz is built right beside an oasis. We all know what they are, but until you see an absolute wasteland desert with a lush tropical paradise complete with waterfall you don't really understand how great they are. We walked the paths where King David hid from some army and tried to avoid the French tourists. It was very picturesque.

We drove past Mesada on the way to En Gedi, and on the way back we decided to stop. I like ruins, but something about walking around in a shadeless plateu seemed less than appealing in 110 F heat. That was, until I realized just how high up that sucker was. Mesada, for those who haven't wikied it yet, is a fortress built on top of a high plateu by King Herod in something like 30 BC. It was this massive walled complex with two palaces. It was later (maybe 50 years later) used as a last refuge for Jews during the Roman war on Jews. This is the war that brought down the Second Temple and ruined Jerusalem (again). The Jews were purged from the holy land, and some of them fled to this fortress to defend themselves. The Romans sent a legion and after an incredible fight the remaining Jews (some 2000) decided to kill themselves rather than live as slaves. You take this cable car up and you can walk around the ruins, which is very cool. You can also look down below and see spots the Roman's camped during the seige (because they built small forts every time they stopped for the night). We roasted along with a million Chinese tourists.

On the way to where we're staying (which has internet!), we passed a sign saying "Lot's Wife" with an arrow pointing to a hill which I'm guessing was salt. We also passed Mount Sodom, so we got to see where everything was laid waste. It hasn't really got back on it's feet yet.

We are now staying at a family friend's place in this tiny little village in the desert. Maybe 50-100 houses. Very small. Tomorrow, Petra! Oh yeah, and no pictures because we forgot our cord.