Day 5 From the Red Sea to the Dead Sea

This country is pretty amazing sometimes. We spent the morning snorkeling along a fantastic coral reef in Eilat on the Red Sea. Lots of cool fish and colorful coral.

Then we drove up through the driest, dustiest desert I've ever seen to the Dead Sea, where we spent the night before our morning trek to Masada. It's striking, and reminds me a bit of the Black Rock desert in Nevada, where Burning Man takes place.

The Dead Sea is really cool for about 20 minutes. You really can't sink. As in, it's tough to even reach your hand towards the bottom, because you're repelled back. If you manage to grab a bit of sand in your hands, it quite literally is entirely salt. It's painful on cuts, though, and the water is easily in the 90's (and around 110 in the air), so floating around all afternoon is not an appealing option whilst there's a beckoning swimming pool at the hotel.