After visiting Masada, we made a quick stop to visit the area where the caves containing the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Then we ate in a restaurant by the shore of the Dead Sea, and then went for a dip...at least those of us willing to go in went for a dip.
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| Me at a Low Point |
The first glimpse of the Dead Sea I had was on our way to Masada. It made sense for me to include it in this post, even though it happened before the site we saw before coming here for a dip. The sky cast rays of sunshine down upon the water.
I saw a few caves off to the west on our way to Masada and before we knew where the Dead Sea Scroll caves were. This one was rather close. The hills are riddled with caves in this land.
As I looked down at the shoreline, I initially thought the waves must be coming in with great force to cause whitecaps. However, as I gazed upon the shoreline at length, I noticed that the waves weren't doing that. The shore had white streaks. That's when I realized that the strong salt concentration that's many times saltier than the ocean left white, salty bands on the shore. I would discover more about the contrast only when I was close to entering the water later in the day.
Since the nation of Jordan is across the sea, much of the land near the Dead Sea is laced with landmines. So don't just wander where you want. Stick to the public access areas. The danger signs appear throughout the area.
I just told you NOT to wander into the danger zones! This guy has been walking through such an area. Please don't! He looks like a criminal with all of that black garb.
Okay, I guess the animals seem to go where they want to go. But I suspect they figure out where it's safe as well.
More shoreline.
I just loved this shot and was glad I was paying attention as we passed by this area, since I took this photo from a bus in motion. This looks like two people enjoying a picnic in a safe area along the Dead Sea. They sit peacefully under a small tree that asymmetrically extends branches out to shade them from the afternoon sun.
They start by pointing out that it's dangerous to drink the water. That's a great way to start the list, because it makes me take note that this is NOT a typical water safety list. If the water's not safe to drink, then there might be other things we shouldn't do. I noticed there are restrictions on your bodily orientation. You are FORBIDDEN to float on your belly. That would orient you face down, and it's not good to allow your face to touch the water. Your eyes would probably burn, your lips would burn, your nose would burn. No splashing. No allowing your head to go underwater. If you stay upright, it's hard to get your head down that low. But if you lean one way or another, the head can quickly rest upon the water.
A few points at the bottom of the sign also stand out. It's safer to float in the water than to walk. The buoyancy is so strong, that one floats so easily, and thus can float in shallower water than in most bodies of water.
Also, the red text makes it clear that the sea is dying. It shrinks a little each year. The Jordan River feeds into this sea from the north. The Sea of Galilee was abnormally full, and they were considering opening up the dam to let water out of that sea, which is at a higher elevation, but is also far below sea level. The Jordan River itself was flooding. The visit to the area near Jericho near the Baptism Site of Jesus revealed just how high that river's water level had become. This sea is rather large, so even a little flooding of another sea and of a river won't necessarily fill this back up much. But every bit helps. They don't want people leaving with water or the natural mud. I approached the area wearing sandals. Only after leaving did I notice that the mud had stuck in the parts on the bottom of the sandals that are there for grip. So I have some of the natural mud, but not from an intentional act of removing it.
Along the route down to the sea, I saw a few camels. I'm sure they do plenty of business with such a prime spot.
If you're feeling really low, you might drink here. I didn't go in. If I had tried to enter, I suspect I would have leaned back, limbo style. I mean really, how low can you go when they've placed before you the lowest bar in the world? (-420 meters relative to sea level, which at this time is about 10 meters above the Dead Sea)
I've been beating around the bush a bit too much. Here is the public beach. I had a friend take a photo of me in the water, but I'm sticking with the photos I took at this site. The other photo is for me to enjoy, with my feet sticking up out of the water and me floating more than usual.
Here is the marker to indicate that you've reached a low point in your life...I mean on this earth. There's a part of me that wishes they would have lines marking levels on the stick, but I didn't see any. Since the water level gradually falls, people could see the more precise level.
While I was in the water, I noticed that if I stayed upright, my natural buoyancy point was several inches lower on my body in the Dead Sea. It could have easily been 4-8" lower. That might seem like quite a bit to some people. It might not seem like much to others. But when you are trying to float, it makes a huge difference. For one, it's hard to sink when you float that much higher. HOWEVER, it's much harder to stay upright if you tip even a little bit. It's like being an upside down Weeble. If you tilt a little bit, your normal muscle memory to get you rebalanced is confused by the major shift in your center of buoyancy. It feels like your legs and everything else is pushing up so hard to continue the motion of tipping. You either want to remain as upright as possible, or lean back like you are sitting in chair. If you tip to a side, it's a bit awkward. If you start to tilt forward, then you might panic. Remember, you don't want to get your face in the water. When you start to tip and your body pushes you to tip even more and faster, one has to quickly twist to allow your body to lean back before you can right yourself properly.
Obviously from all of that description, there was a time I started to tip forward and it was a bit freaky for a moment. My body pushed up from behind and my face moved quickly toward the water. My lips touched the water, and they had a burning sensation for quite a while afterward. I was fine, though, and no one had to tell me to turn over or anything. I went out as far as I could go. I touched the boundary floats for the beach, and then returned. I didn't want the lifeguard to have to focus on me, so I spent very little time at that spot.
As I got out of the water, this is more what the beach would look like. Well, this is higher up than the shoreline. The lifeguards did announce a few things in multiple languages (remember, that's a thing in an international tourist site). One was someone who went beyond the boundary floats, and they called him back from having gone out too far. Another person was trying to float on their belly or at least facing down a bit. They made MANY announcements for that person. It is PROHIBITED, and they mean it.
Looking back down to the sea, just to the left of the elevation marker that's to the left of the main beach, I saw the land rise up with the familiar color banding. Some of it looks like it's stepped. I think it is. But with color banding, it's hard to tell at times without a very close look.
The weather was very comfortable. After getting out of the water and rinsing off, and getting changed, I saw a thermometer on a wall. It was just 60 degrees. But the hot sun of Israel helped it feel more like a 70-some-degree day.
People point out that the Dead Sea mud is good for the skin. I was even reminded of a time I was in a mall many years ago and a woman with a strong accent asked me if I knew of what sounded like "Thedessy". Only after asking for clarification did it become clear that she said, "the Dead Sea".
I applied some to my face and some other areas, and I'll admit the skin felt very smooth afterward. However, it's hard to say why. It might just be that there was now mud filling in the unsmooth parts. It was warm enough under the sun to sweat a bit. After applying it and rinsing off, I noticed that the way the body sweats after the mud was on the skin is VERY different, or at least the way it would form on the surface and eventually come off differed. It was more like brushing water off a freshly-waxed vehicle. The mud made the skin smooth, and the sweat probably had to fight to get the surface, and then had a slick surface that was probably harder to bond to or something. It was strange. The effect lasted for a few hours. Fortunately, we didn't have more time in the sun. We would head back to Jerusalem for an evening meal and to get to sleep for a very early morning.
As we left, I saw a bunch of shacks of some sort in the area. They looked abandoned, but I'm not sure about them. This was one of many.
For a more complete view of the shoreline, here's a panoramic view. It's a fairly straight line near me, but the perspective of such photos always makes things dip down near the photographer. Click the image to see more. But as I said, the land rises to the left, the elevation marker is next, and then the main part of the public beach.
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