Dead Sea Extravaganza

Pat wanted to go to the Dead Sea (a perfectly reasonable request) and I was able to book a great tour through the Abraham Hostel organization. The hostel is a few blocks from this apartment and we needed to be there by 0630. We packed our lunches the night before, and carefully packed the things needed for the day.  The little bus stopped at the Abraham Hostel in Jerusalem on the way.  We just had an hour or two at each, which was perfect.

Pat at the Northern Palace

The national park service flag

The first stop was Masada.  We walked down to the Northern Palace and a little on the top, but our time was limited. We were there early and the tour groups were just starting to arrive en masse.

My feet in Ein Gedi water

View of the Dead Sea from Ein Gedi

Next was Ein Gedi. I hadn't been there in 15 years, and did not remember the trek up (or is it because I'm 62 now?).  We only went about halfway up because I wanted to be careful coming down the stone steps (why am I reminded of The Lord of the Rings?).  The base had a nice shaded picnic spot from palm fronds.

We went into the Dead Sea on one of the north beaches, Kalia Beach. The coast is much steeper than down by the hotels, and the entrance into and out of the water was quite rocky and difficult to negotiate. Of course, the water is the water which is great. The air temperature was 40C (104F), and the water temperature seemed very close to the air.

Back home for needed showers and laundry. A quick supper of whatever was in my fridge, and a quiet evening followed.