Today is shabbat and tomorrow is apparently a public holiday. That means public transport is hard to get so I booked a tour. Last week I did a tour with Abraham and when they say everything was included they meant they would stop but if I wanted to go in I had to pay the entry fee. This time I booked an expensive tour that included everything.
Tours are always hit and miss and this one was a miss. I was last called for the bus so there was only my seat left. I was on the back seat with an American bloke. He was about 6'8" tall and built to match. He had dodgy legs but didn't see the need to book a private tour when everyone else would wait for him. he obviously thought he had two seats so wasn't too keen to share when I got on, so I had to cram into the bit of seat left for me.
On the way we stopped at the Sea level marker and passed Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found, but that was on the other side of the bus so I didn't get to see it. Then we seemed to drive for miles along the shore of the Dead Sea.
Masada is a hill top fortress (gee that is something new). The view from the top is great but I think the "ruins" are overrated. If they were at ground level most people wouldn't give them a second look. I left the tour to look around and walked back to the base. (there is a cable car to go up) The 2km to the bottom to decend the 700mtr should take 1/2hr. I took a little more than that...OK double that. When I got to the bottom there was a sign to say "track closed due to weather" I think it was the heat?
I had a bit of a sook at the guide at the top, that is why he let me go down the walking trail, so he organized for me to go to Ein Gedi (the Dead Sea) in another bus that was leaving before mine. That means I will get a good stop there. Now the Dead Sea level is dropping by about 1mtr every year. This is because Israel and Jordan have dammed the rivers that flow into it for the water. It looks like the dams at home when the water levels are low, you can see to levels dropping. Now we had driven along the coast this morning with heaps of places to stop but they chose Ein Gedi. Along with about 50 other busses and various cars. The place is 1km from the lake and you have to walk or wait 1/2hr for the tractor to take you down. Then when you get there they try to cram everyone in a small part of the beach, it is Tourist soup. I walked down then walked about 500mtr up the beach to miss all the fat Russians.
The Sea is funny. There is a salt crust on the ground at the shore and it goes into the lake as well. The crust is about 2in thick and as sharp as broken glass. You HAVE to wear thong into the water. The water feels a bit oiley, it is not, but it feels like it. It is VERY salty. Like and idiot I dived in. Well you really only get your face wet cos the water is soo dense you cant get all the way in. Welllllll. The water tastes like poison a I got some in my eyes and the sting was incredible. I had to race out and dry my face. When you float on your front it is really hard to stand up, you have to roll over on your back to stand up. I don't know haw deep it is cos you cant touch the bottom after it is shoulder height. It was really different floating around and I would love to do it again. After the swim your mouth is dry like when you have been at the beach all day and your lips sting from the salt. When you get in any small cut or scratch stings like hell for a while. Afterwards your skin is a bit dry but not as dry as you would expect.