BEWARE THE EVIL MUD MONSTER!

This weekend we laughed in the face of poverty and went to the Dead Sea for the day on a bus tour.

At 9:30 in the morning, the bus tumbled though East Jerusalem and went thought a tunnel under Mount Scopus emerging seconds later in the West Bank. The relative lushness of Jerusalem was immediately left behind for desert mountains, sand, Bedouin shacks, flocks of sheep and goats and the odd stray camel or two. After about 40 minutes of going down, down, down and past several dilapidated checkpoints at old border crossings we arrived four hundred meters below sea level.

The first stop was Massada, Herod’s 2000 year old fortress on top of an impossibly steep big hill beside the Dead Sea. This place is proof alone that the guy was a complete nut job and super paranoid that people were after him. Massada is where some Jewish Zealots moved in after it had been abandoned for a few decades and famously committed mass suicide rather than be captured by the Romans when they wanted it back. They probably had good reason to fear the worst if they had been captured. Months prior, The Temple had been destroyed in Jerusalem. Furthermore, from their perch they could see that the giant dirt ramp that being built up to their fortress by the Romans was being brought rock by rock by Jewish slaves. Amazing stuff.

Then to the dead sea for a swim. Or rather a float, because it is impossible to actually get your feet below water and kick. The water was really slimy to the touch but after partially drying off for half a minute my skin became gritty with salt crystals. The “beach” was not sand, but a four inch thick layer of hard salt. Sodium chloride, being of a sharp cubic nature, means walking on the “beach” really hurt the feet. After my float, I found the giant box of dead sea mud and of course HAD to give myself a full body mud treatment with lots of giggling and a bit of mud flinging. I tried to give the Chicken a hug but he declined my affections. (This all despite the fact that there was another couple having a rather sensual “moment” next to us. GROSS!)