The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth, approximately 1400 feet below sea level. Though it is a mineral laden body of water, nothing can live in the water and it can not be ingested. In fact I had a paper cut that was ON FIRE as soon as I stepped in the water! And don't you dare drink it --- it tastes like a margarita gone bad.
I had been dying to go to the Dead Sea since seeing all my friend’s pictures when they traveled back in the day with Birthright Israel. You know the pictures I’m talking about -where everyone is in a swimsuit and covered with mud from head to toe? Well, those were all the inspiration I needed to visit on my family's recent trip to the Holy Land.
Most notable was not the fact that anyone can float in the Dead Sea water without really trying, or that if the water touches a a single open pore you cringe or perhaps even cry.... for days. It was actually the melting pot of visitors from the Hasidic Jews, Americans and Palestines all floating and enjoying the spa - like qualities of the Dead Sea. My personal favorite, however, was the Muslim women in head to toe, black swimsuits smoking the sheesha.
If you haven’t been, you should plan your trip today. The trek across the desert where you pass the last Bedouin settlements is in itself worth it. That is, of course, after the obligatory trip to Jerusalem and the Wailing Wall. It was a spiritual experience to make a wish on a wall that was built thousands of years ago.
Alas, {salty} desert oasis.
That's mud!
Jordan is across the way in the horizon.
She's gotta be HOT!
The sheesha is there on the table to the left. Notice I'm on the only obnoxious tourist attempting a picture of it! This would never go down on an American beach!
On to the Wailing Wall...
Israel has money! They give these away for keeps to all male visitors!
Man - made greenspace...
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