The Dead Sea and Negev Desert

Route 90 is the longest road in Israel, running all the way from the Lebanese border near Metula to the Egyptian border at the Red Sea. The road runs through large sections of the West Bank, although only through Israeli-controlled territory. At the border into the West Bank there was an Israeli border post and a bemusing sign: “DO NOT ALLOW ANYONE IN THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY TO REPAIR YOUR CAR”.

On the drive south through the Judean Desert we could see some of the Israeli-West Bank Separation Barrier - a set of two fences stretching off into the distance. Apart from the barrier there was little sign that we were in the West Bank. The landscape was interesting, but it was sad to see lots of rubbish lying around.

In an earlier post, we talked about how expensive Israel is. It’s also a place where you have to pay for pretty much everything. The Dead Sea has just two accessible beaches, and the first had a big parking fee, so we drove on to what turned out to be a fairly ugly resort town (the hazy, overcast day didn’t help). Despite how grey it was, the temperature was still in the mid 30s!

We headed for a section of the beach and then saw a sign proclaiming it to be hotel property for guests only. Oh well, with no security guard we just went for it. The buoyant feeling of the water (more than eight times saltier than the ocean) is certainly unique, and we floated around enjoying the strange sensation.

But the enjoyment didn’t last long… Sal’s skin didn’t like the salt and her arms soon started burning. The shower on the beach wasn’t working, and we needed fresh water fast! We then discovered that slippery hypersaline water and jandals don’t mix as we set off in an awkward waddle to find fresh water.

The closest working shower was on another hotel-owned beach nearby. We saw our opening as the security guard left to go help a guest with their luggage. Wearing just our togs, we waddled through the posh hotel lobby (trying our best to seem like we belonged!) Despite looking ridiculous (and about 30 years younger than the average guest), we made it to the beach shower and happily rid ourselves of the salt. To rub salt in the wound (heh heh), we then found out that there was a free public beach just down the road, complete with showers. Whoops…

A quick photo before the pain set in…

The next part of our drive took us through two huge makhtesh, or erosion craters - HaMakhtesh HaGadol and HaMakhtesh HaKatan. The makhtesh are so huge that it doesn’t feel like being in a crater at all, instead it feels like you are looking out at distant mountain ranges.

Driving out from the craters took us through a very unusual area. Firstly, we became aware of an ominous presence in the sky - a tethered spy balloon. We were later told that the balloon belongs to the Negev Nuclear Research Centre, a site widely believed to be manufacturing Israeli nuclear weapons.

Yes, this looks like a grainy surveillance photo. The balloon was really high!

Despite the creepy eye-in-the-sky, we enjoyed a beautiful and remote drive through the desert before stopping for the night just south of the Dead Sea.

The next morning we drove north to return the rental car and begin our time in Jerusalem, possibly the most contested city in the world. This post has been fairly light on history and politics, as we only spent a day here and therefore didn’t learn too much about the situation in the West Bank. There was an overwhelming amount to learn and see in Jerusalem, so look out for our next post!

UPDATE: Violence has flared up between Hamas and Israel, just a few days after we left the country. At the time of writing, hundreds of rockets have hit Israel, including many of the areas we visited. The conflict is escalating, with Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and preparations for a possible ground invasion. It’s been quite surreal for us to read the news - all the Israelis we talked to during our visit felt that the security situation was quite relaxed and stable. This reinforces for us the fragility of any peace in the region - we hope that the fighting comes to an end quickly.

Comments from WordPress

• Jude Logan 2012-11-17T22:49:44Z

  Glad to hear that you are out of he area safely! You maybe some of the last tourists for awhile. Xx J

Written by Craig Drayton and Sally Robertson