Pauline
Forums Admin
Wednesday November 6 2019
Sunny and hot (75F) in Jerusalem, low 90s at the Dead Sea
Hot! Strong sun!
We checked out at 10am and drove to the Dead Sea. We reached Kalia Beach on the north end of the Dead Sea in an hour. This is a private beach with shops, a cafe, a bar, casual restaurant, juice stand. You can rent lockers and towels and go into the Dead Sea to float in the very salty and slimy water. Then cover yourself in black mud at the waters edge. There were a good number of people there with more arriving as we left at noon. 59 NIS each. We had to pay it even though we didn’t swim. It was worth it just to watch the scene. But the flies! Small black ones.
Further south on the Dead Sea the beaches are not as easy to get to. The sea is shrinking so the beach at the Ein Gedi Spa is a mile from the buildings at the entrance. They shuttle you to the water. One of the small towns has a tour by boat
Ein Bokek, a resort further south, has good beaches but it is a sort of false Dead Sea, man made lakes with water from the a Dead Sea.
We continued south along highway 90, along the Dead Sea, to Ein Gedi. This is our third visit here. We had planned to hike up Wadi David in the National Park but when we got there we saw around 30 parked tour buses. We’ve walked there when it was crowded with school children and tours and it is a bit like the Cinque Terre in Italy, nose to tail. So we skipped it.
As we left the parking area we saw a large herd of ibex eating bushes by the side of the road. Many young ones and I saw one male with very long horns. We should have stopped but they were right beside the highway.
We went to the hotel and had our lunch in the garden while waiting for our room to be ready. I made our lunch - bread with vegan spread (butter shortage) and the best avocado that I’ve had in a long time.
We got a lovely room, the same as last time with a view of Wadi Arugot, but the air freshener in it was overwhelming. I had asked for fragrance free when booking. We opened the windows and went out for an hour, driving around to see Ibex (didn’t see any) and when we got back it was still unbearable. So we changed rooms. No view but no perfume! They said the maids determine how much air freshener they use.
I went to the spa to use their Dead Sea water pool. This is the best way to go into the sea. Steve did once and hated it!
Dinner at the hotel restaurant. They are kosher and dinner is a meat meal - a buffet with many vegan selections. No dairy in any of the food and they manage fancy cakes and ice cream.
It is magical walking to the restaurant on a path along the edge of the canyon in the still warm air.
Sunny and hot (75F) in Jerusalem, low 90s at the Dead Sea
Hot! Strong sun!
We checked out at 10am and drove to the Dead Sea. We reached Kalia Beach on the north end of the Dead Sea in an hour. This is a private beach with shops, a cafe, a bar, casual restaurant, juice stand. You can rent lockers and towels and go into the Dead Sea to float in the very salty and slimy water. Then cover yourself in black mud at the waters edge. There were a good number of people there with more arriving as we left at noon. 59 NIS each. We had to pay it even though we didn’t swim. It was worth it just to watch the scene. But the flies! Small black ones.
Further south on the Dead Sea the beaches are not as easy to get to. The sea is shrinking so the beach at the Ein Gedi Spa is a mile from the buildings at the entrance. They shuttle you to the water. One of the small towns has a tour by boat
Ein Bokek, a resort further south, has good beaches but it is a sort of false Dead Sea, man made lakes with water from the a Dead Sea.
We continued south along highway 90, along the Dead Sea, to Ein Gedi. This is our third visit here. We had planned to hike up Wadi David in the National Park but when we got there we saw around 30 parked tour buses. We’ve walked there when it was crowded with school children and tours and it is a bit like the Cinque Terre in Italy, nose to tail. So we skipped it.
As we left the parking area we saw a large herd of ibex eating bushes by the side of the road. Many young ones and I saw one male with very long horns. We should have stopped but they were right beside the highway.
We went to the hotel and had our lunch in the garden while waiting for our room to be ready. I made our lunch - bread with vegan spread (butter shortage) and the best avocado that I’ve had in a long time.
We got a lovely room, the same as last time with a view of Wadi Arugot, but the air freshener in it was overwhelming. I had asked for fragrance free when booking. We opened the windows and went out for an hour, driving around to see Ibex (didn’t see any) and when we got back it was still unbearable. So we changed rooms. No view but no perfume! They said the maids determine how much air freshener they use.
I went to the spa to use their Dead Sea water pool. This is the best way to go into the sea. Steve did once and hated it!
Dinner at the hotel restaurant. They are kosher and dinner is a meat meal - a buffet with many vegan selections. No dairy in any of the food and they manage fancy cakes and ice cream.
It is magical walking to the restaurant on a path along the edge of the canyon in the still warm air.
