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Heather's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 8/20/00 -------------------- 8/19/00 8/18/00 8/17/00 8/15/00 8/14/00 8/12/00 8/11/00 8/11/00 8/10/00 8/10/00 8/10/00 8/9/00 8/7/00 8/6/00 8/5/00 -------------------- Heather's Introduction

August 12, 2000

August 12, 2000

Today, Dad, Raquel and I went hiking near the Dead Sea. For those of you who don't know, the Dead Sea is a famous body of water not too far from Jericho, between Jerusalem and the Galilee. It is 300 meters below sea level, and is one of Israel’s wonderful mysteries. The water in the Dead Sea comes from the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. The Dead Sea has no outlet and so, when the evaporation process takes place, it leaves all of the salt and minerals behind, making it an impossible place for plants or animals to live in. However, the minerals and salt left behind, are very therapeutic for your skin. It can even heal sunburns, blistered feet and such. Because there is so much salt in the water you can't really swim in it. You can only float! It is an amazing and wonderful place to visit.

We hiked at a place called Ein Bokek, which has pools of fresh water all along the hike. Because of the heat during the day, the fresh water all around, helps you stay hydrated while hiking. We didn't start our hike until about 2:30 in the afternoon so that it wouldn't be blistering hot down there! But normally you can't stay around the fresh water pools after the sun starts setting because the leopards and lions come down to drink then. So, we made sure we were out of there in plenty of time.

We also visited the Salt Caves, which is an area that has caves and hills formed just from the salt of the Dead Sea. It’s really amazing. The outer layers of the salt has a thin layer of dirt because of the dusty winds that blow, but if you brush off some of that dirt, you will find the salt, and it looks like ice almost. It’s really quite strange. After seeing some of the smaller caves we tried to go into the large cave, but found as we drove up to it that part of it had collapsed onto the opening. More than likely from the earthquake they had three years ago. It was closed off to the public.

After this, we finally headed over to the Sea. We had a light picnic dinner that mom so lovingly packed for us and then Dad and I headed into the water to float for a while. The water is the strangest that I have ever seen. It feels very dense, and soft, but it leaves a coating of salt and minerals all over your body. After it starts to dry, it really dries out your skin. (However, this in itself is like having a free spa treatment. People actually pay money to do this type of thing in the U.S.) Israel does have an industry of products that come from the Dead Sea. Obviously, they filter everything and clean it out well, but they sell Bath Salts, hand and body lotions, mud masks and that sort. The product line is called "Ahava" which is one of their biggest exports!

Since the Dead Sea acts as a natural relaxant in your body, when you are finished swimming the only thing you really want to do is sleep. We headed home around 8 p.m., and were all beat! But all in all, it was a really nice day.

Photo: My sister and I, and a view of the Dead Sea behind us. ~
Photo: My dad and I sit at the bottom of two small waterfalls, on our hike, to cool off. ~~
Photo: A view of the Salt Caves. ~