Sunday, March 11, 2018
Floating in the dead sea is the type of thing one puts on a bucket list. Not a “real” bucket list, but rather a very out of reach bucket list. The stuff of dreams. It was on my bucket list of dreams. Those things are the truly once in a life-time opportunities So… This trip. Yes, today we visited the dead sea; most people went in, and were thankful for our friends who stayed on land and took photos, protected passports and money, and watched bags.
The water was colder than many of us anticipated. It’s 400 meters below sea level with desert on both sides, but it’s more like summer lake temperature. Floating is counterintuitive. It is easiest to just crouch and roll back and float! The water is 28% salt, 10x saltier than the ocean. There is no life aside from the floaters. If you get the water in your mouth or eyes, you must wash immediately.
The famous dead sea mud is only in certain places. It’s soft, smooth, and not smelly. I do not recommend walking through a mud pit. I got stuck up to my thigh on one leg and knee on the other. A helpful man from Eastern Europe gave me a hand. I smoothed the mud all over and let it dry. After the float and mud, and washing with soap in the shower, my skin feels super soft, and like it has a film on it.
We went in at the north end of the sea, near Jericho, where we had gone to church in the morning. It’s a small city, an oasis in the desert for 4000 years. Palm trees, fruits, vegetables, and farms are in abundance. Water is inexpensive and plentiful. We went to church at Church of the Good Shepherd, and after that went around town to see the stump of “the sycamore tree Zaccheus went up,” Zaccheus’s bones, and St. Andrew’s bones. We also stopped at a vista overlook for fresh local orange juice, figs, and snacks and shopping. A bedouin had a camel on hand for tourist entertainment, and Virgil elected to take a camel ride.
Our group at the Jordan River site where tradition says Jesus was baptized.
While in the area, we also visited Jesus’s baptismal site at the Jordan River. Many Orthodox pilgrims from Eastern Europe had the same idea, and they had white robes to baptize themselves. The Jordan is not a mighty river… It’s a cute, but muddy, stream. Decades of water diversion by Israel and Jordan, as well as climate change have caused this transformation.
In addition, we stopped by Qumran, the location of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Tourists were in abundance. The site is partially excavated and you can read more about it here: https://info.goisrael.com/en/
On our way back to Bethlehem, we stopped at Wadi (valley) Qelt to see the sunset, wadi, and St. George Monastary. A Roman road is very visible in the wadi. This is the old road between Jerusalem and Jericho, where the good samaritan parable takes place. Let me tell you, there is no room for the priest and levite to walk on the other side of the road!
We are all busy packing tonight; we are heading north tomorrow.
And so, this was our day today.
~ Madeleine Halberg