An early morning bus ride took us to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. We mistakenly got off at En Gedi beach. After the bus had left, we realized that we were not at En Gedi Spa, where we were looking forward to a mud bath, sulfur baths, and floating in the Dead Sea. Apparently we had gotten off the bus one stop too soon. The 10 km walk would have taken too much time since the last bus to Jerusalem that day left at 2:25 PM. "Well," I said, "let's hitchhike." I never would have considered this option while in Europe, or at home for that matter, but I felt very safe in the area and after about 30 minutes we had flagged down a car and were soon at En Gedi Spa.

The few hours we had before we had to leave for Jerusalem proved to be some of the best of the entire trip. Floating in the Dead Sea was a great time, especially because, like my father, I normally sink like a rock and am unable to float. So, floating for the first time was extremely fun. The Dead Sea is 1,378 feet below sea level with an extremely high salt concentration, creating a natural buoyancy. We were the youngest floaters there for the day, as the others were probably there for therapeutic reasons other than fun times. I was paddling and splashing around, loving the fact that I could finally float, while everyone else was lounging and relaxing.

Afterwards we headed to the mud bath. The black mud is full of minerals, absorbs toxins, and rejuvenates the skin. We scooped the mud onto ourselves and covered our entire bodies with it, then sat and waited for it to dry before we washed it off.

Lastly I headed to the sulfur bath, which was the temperature of warm bath water. This was probably the most relaxing thing I've ever done. I floated on my back, crossed my arms behind my head, and nearly fell asleep. It was greeeaaaat.