Days 5 and 6: Red Sea, Dead Sea

Day 5:
It’s official: I’m a tourist in khakis and no clue. Turns out I got the location of my family’s kibutz wrong again. It’s not up North but in the middle of Israel, close to the Mediterranean Sea, about 6 miles inland from Gaza. Yeah. Also I have a tan, a farmer’s tan, but beggars can’t be choosers.

The work week here starts on Sunday (which is their Monday) and ends on Thursday. Friday and Saturday are days off.

I have yet to experience silence.

Anyway back to the trek. We are in Eilat. In daylight, the city looks more and more like a resort town. Breakfast is a giant exotic continental buffet of eggs, cottage cheese pastries, smoked fish, fruit, and more than 10 kinds of yogurt. The Red Sea is warm enough for a dip. Crystal clear with hues of green and turquoise. We spent the half the day at a sea park watching coral reef fish and turtles. Later that evening we had an amazing dinner of fresh-caught something. It was to die for.

Day 6:
Israelis are of many races. And gorgeous. I keep running into women who look like Angie Harmon and guys who look like Christiano Ronaldo. Smart too, don’t get into arguments with them… they’ll win. I’m not used to losing an argument! I must learn their superpowers.

From Eilat we drove 3 hours to the Dead Sea stopping at an ancient copper mine a mere 2,300-2,400 BC. How these people found copper in the middle of the desert and mined for it in this heat. Oy veigh.

2 hours later, the reddish desert opens into a canyon to one giant gray body of water. It’s muggy, smells slightly of sulfur. Not a tree or a spec of life in sight. Just a resort skyscraper hotel center and a huge asphalt and salt refinery a few miles later. We are officially on Mars.

The Dead Sea is a little scifi. The water feels oily, the sea floor is spiky with white and beige salt crystals. Don’t let it get in your eyes or mouth – it can ruin your day/outlook on life. But after bathing in it, your skin will feel like fine royal velvet for days. It helps with joint and muscle ailments too. A feeling of overall renewal... and a body buzz. And – the best part – you can’t sink. It’s like floating on an air mattress. Reeeeeelllllaaaaaxxxxaaation. And for the first time - silence :)