Amazing trip to the dead sea!!!

So today I went to Ein gedi and the Dead sea which are only an hour away from Jerusalem! I look out the window ten minutes into our bus ride and we are already not only out of the city, but surrounded by the Judean desert! To both sides are huge sand dunes looming over us that seemingly came out of nowhere while I had taken my ipod out of my bag. Eventually they became rocky, and formed cliffs and suddenly we are driving through mountains, which at times are sandy colored stone but then get pinkish, bordering on red at points. The tour guide pointed out when we passed sea level as we went from being much much higher than sea level to the lowest point ON EARTH. It's over 1000 feet below sea level at the dead sea, I dont know the exact number though. So the road winds downhill and the mountains seem to get taller and bigger and we go lower. My ears even pop!

Sometimes we see bedouin camps on the side of the road, a little ways off into the desert. These simply consist of small groupings of aluminum shacks that look to be near falling over and abandoned. Sometimes a small group of sheep huddle bewteen them, and there might be one vehicle in the small encampment but we never see a person. If I hadn't known I would have said they were abandoned but no, the tour guide pointed them out. I dont know how people live in tiny pieces of aluminum propped up against each other in some weird parody of a shelter but they do, right in the desert, outside of any civilization.

When we got to Ein Gedi it was already 4 oclock. It hadn't been overly hot in Jerusalem but even just a hour away I stepped off the bus and the heat was like somethig solid. It hits you, a wall of hot air and you kind of make this internal gasp and just stand for a second in shock at how heavy desert heat is. Not heavy like humidity, but just, oppressive. Noticable. Like nothing I can remember ever feeling in the states, nothing so dry but still so HOT. The desert doesn't care what time of day it is, whether it's closer to evening. If the sun is up, it's stifling hot. At home we think as the day winds down, it gets cooler; here, it is hot and in ten minutes the sun sets and its cold. There is no gradual decline, at least not that I can sense.

So, we had a short hike (thankfully) to a spring. Desert springs are something miraculous. It really is amazing to be trudging along with nothing but cliffs on either side, dust and lifeless desert plants that dont look much more alive than the sand and stone that surround them for miles and then suddenly with no warning, comes a small paradise. Suddenly you see a bit of green and a pool of beautiful blue with a waterfall feeding into it. I can see how mirages came about, these things do exist though. Many in our group plunged right in, clothes and all, standing beneath the waterfall and splashing aroud in glee. Others filled hats with water and put them back on their heads. It was like Christmas morning. And our walk had been only twenty minutes. Can you imagine what it is like to live in that desert? Fun fact: The desert takes up a decent portion of the country, on a map I'd say a fourth to a third of the country is desert, yet only three percent of the population live there.

So soon after, we trudged back to the bus and headed to the dead sea. Whe we got there I lost track of the few people I knew on the trip and couldnt find them, so I had to plop my stuff down by a boy who decided to read instead of go in and hope no one stole my stuff and go in alone. Now, it would have been more fun with friends, but still, I was surrounded by the tour group and I hope I can do this experience justice.

First, the tour guide warned us to take off our jewlery, the high concentration of minerals could turn it black, she said silver and gold might probably be okay but aythig else could turn black. I was actually ito my knees when I remembered and hastened to take off my promise ring and return it to my bag, real or not I wasn't taking the chance. My anklet I didnt care about, nor my earrings, but I was extra careful not to wear my ring.

Second, the concentration of salt is 8-9 times that in the mediterranean sea- its 31% salt, so you cant go under at all or splash, if it gets in your eyes you will be in pain- a few girls had this happen because their hair dripped into their eyes and had to be led out squeezing their eyes shut in pain the whole time.

So, next, everyone knows you float easily in the dead sea, or most do. This is an understatement and does NOT do it justice. Let me try to explain.

You bob like a freaking cork.

It bottom drops quickly to much deeper than you can stand in and you never notice. If your feet are below you, you could stretch your hands and arms straight upwards out of the water and just stay there bobbing with no movement. No treading water at all. If you lay on your back almost half of your body is out of the water, not submerged! It's like the water is trying to push you out! If you go upright and bend your knees in towards your chest the water pushes your bum up so your legs are pushed upwards and you find yourself on your back again, like you cant keep yourself underwater!!! If you go on your stomach you can bend your knees so your feet are up in the air! Imagine laying on your bed on your somach reading, with your feet up- it's that position BUT IN THE WATER. It's so crazy to just be rolling around in the water, never swimming- you dont need to! Imagine rolling around and bobbing and twirling in water with no effort as it pushes you upward. Crazy. Floating doesn't cover it at all.

Also, the water is slippery, it doesn't feel like you are in water at all! It feels like some other substance, like it cant be water! The second you lift your arm out the water beads up, like oil would and in seconds there is no water on your arm at all. Also, because of the salt any cuts will sting ad I guess people tell you not to even shave because the skin will be sensitive. I didnt know that and shaved, but it just felt prickly. Not painful but like, I cant explain this part very well. You knew there was something off with this water! It was such a strange sensation!

When I first got out I felt slippery and oily, it was a weird feeling, but soon I dried just waiting in line to shower and rinse off. When you dry your skin starts to feel a bit tight and you realize you feel GRITTY, like you have very very very fie sand on you that you cant see. It's the layer of salt left behind! Luckily there were showers to rinse off!

The only critique I have is that the water is so warm it wasn't as refreshig as I had hoped. Again, not uncomfortably warm, but...warm, and in desert heat you DONT want that. I'm a person who takes hot showers no matter the weather but even I would have appreciated a little chill upon entering. By the time I got back to the bus in the parking lot it was stiflig hot even though it was 7 PM. I paid a ridiculously expensive price for an ice cream and enjoyed before getting on the bus.

The day has left me very tired. I hope I didn't forget too much. Ah I did! Some random notes:

Our security gaurd this time had this big OLD rifle type gun. The tour guide even joked on how old it was! And it was strange because he was old! Built like a foodball player, sure, but he had white hair. What a badass old dude walking around the desert with a huge gun to protect us.

I think the gun might have had to do with the fact that we passed thrugh areas under the Paestinian authority. Less than an hour outside of Jerusalem there were areas we could NOT go, such as a particularly nice spring the tour guide told us about but warned it was too dangerous to take a tour group of us there- we could go alone if we knew what we were doing. We also had to go through check points! I didnt realize the country was so divided and there are like A areas and B areas and C areas etc- A areas are where the Palestinians control the whole settlement, rules for that town,/city and all. Or something like that. It was complicated, but I guess you absolutely need to know where you shouldnt be going if you are an Israeli even in your own home country! I think we are better off since we're tourists- and mostly American, but for an Israeli you could get into trouble even just an hour away from where you live! Crazy.

Like Jericho is under Palestinian control- it's still in Israel but under their control nonetheless. I didnt quite get that it was like that. It still confuses me and upsets me. How can they live when they cant go places in THEIR OWN COUNTRY? The country of Israel is smaller than the state of New Jersey! There isnt enough to be dividing like that =(

Well I really need sleep now...