The bus to another world

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Our Egged bus driver had lots of mirrors--good for the "Weekend Reflections" meme over at James' blog.
The drive from Jerusalem down to Ein Gedi is just over an hour.
As a senior citizen I pay half-fare for public transportation, so my round trip fare was only 36 shekels.
With my discount the Nature Reserve entrance was NIS 13.
So we had a full day hiking in the desert for only 49 shekels (about $13 or 9 Euros).

Just east of Jerusalem the desert begins, and also the West Bank.
Quite soon you come to a T in the road: left to Ramallah (the seat of the Palestinian Authority government) or right to Qumran, Ein Gedi, Masada, Ein Bokek, and Neve Zohar.
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At the checkpost the back of one van was being searched. Our bus driver was getting worried about the schedule he has to keep, so he started beeping, gesturing, and shouting out the window for the guards to pull the car over to the side of the road and let us through.
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What you see next to the left side of the road is already the Dead Sea.
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While searching (unsuccessfully) for a good modern map to illustrate this, I came across a fine website with a map of FIRST CENTURY Israel! All the place names from the Bible, and Ein Gedi figures prominently. Check it out!
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Old salt

On the map, the Dead Sea is just 25 kilometers/15 miles east of Jerusalem. But you have to descend from the heights of Jerusalem way down to the Great Rift Valley. The surface of the lake is 241 meters below sea level.

The photo was taken by daughter Naomi from her hotel room.

In Hebrew Yam HaMelach means the Sea of Salt.

Blogger-friend Meead got me thinking about salt today. He just posted an incredible photo of one of the six "salt-mummies" discovered recently in Iran. The mummy is 1,700 years old and you can see his long white hair and beard. I never heard of such a thing! Go have a look!

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Hmmm, I wonder what surprising treasures are hidden in and around the Salty Sea, waiting to be discovered. . . .

Daughter at the deep Dead Sea

Today's ABC Wednesday has bloggers from all over the world presenting their letter D words.

The DEAD SEA SCROLLS were accidentally DISCOVERED in these caves near Qumran, in the DESERT called The Wilderness of Judea.

I have not been DOWN there for years, so I take the liberty of showing my DEAR DAUGHTER's photographs. She and her family were back in Israel for a visit in January 2007.

In Naomi's picture above you can see the shrinking Dead Sea, its surface now at minus 421 meters below sea level. Beyond it is the Kingdom of Jordan. The cable car carries tourists up to the top of Masada. The square below is one of the camps built by the Romans for the siege of Masada.
The super-salty Dead Sea water was too cool for floating on in January, Naomi's blog says, but this was the view of the beach from their hotel window.
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Riding into the setting sun

Since we have been on the subject of Israel's shrinking lakes for a few posts, thought I'd share this sunset. We drove from Tiberias, altitude -210 meters below sea level where the city meets the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The road southward goes through the Jordan Valley, part of the Great Rift Valley. From the road you see the Kingdom of Jordan and sometimes the river itself. Just after passing Jericho and just before reaching the Dead Sea (whose water is now down to -421 meters below sea level, you turn west toward Jerusalem, whose elevation is +800 meters.
This photo is the view from the desert. The sun set as we made our way up to the Holy City and then home to the Jerusalem Hills.
In Hebrew one never walks or rides TO Jerusalem. It is always aliyah, a going UP to Jerusalem, both a physical and a spiritual ascent.

N.B. "Sea level" of course means the level of the Mediterranean, the only "normal" sea we have.

Many more Sky Watchers share their favorite sky over at Wiggers World. Take a look!

Sea level clarification

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Here is a satellite image of Israel's two lakes.
The normal level of the Sea of Galilee is 209 meters below sea level. I should have said that in yesterday's post about the shrinking lake. It is in the Great Rift Valley, as is the Dead Sea. The surface of the Sea of Salt, as the Dead Sea is called in Hebrew, is 421 meters below sea level.

This fisherman sits on rocks that were under water last year near Tabgha and the Church of the Multiplication of Fishes and Loaves. We need another miracle now to refill the two lakes!