While driving up Israeli Highway 90 along the west bank of the river Jordan from the Dead Sea to Galilee last Friday, I passed the turnoff to the actual site on the river Jordan where St John the Baptist baptised Christ. I really couldn’t miss the place where the Holy Spirit descended on Christ in the form of a dove and God said he was pleased with his son, so I turned down the road, and drove towards the Jordan.
Half way to the river, I found this
The Israeli army had erected a barrier preventing anyone from continuing down the road to the river, with barbed wired etc, and a sign saying “Military Area. No Photography” or some such. (The area was closed to visitors from the 1967 war until 2010, but it was supposed to have been open since then). There was nobody there, but as being arrested by the Israeli military in the middle of the West Bank is not my preferred activity on a Friday evening – they are probably particularly annoyed when you ruin their Shabbat – I really didn’t want to take any risks. Thus I drove drove some distance back down the road before turning around to take photographs, and then only used the camera in my phone, which makes it less obvious what I am doing than holding up my digital SLR. I don’t know the reason for the closure: possibly just that the River Jordan is in some sense the border (although in this part of the world, who the fuck knows where the border is?) and they don’t want people too close to it.
In any even, in truth I didn’t want to stay too close to it for too long either. The Israeli built and controlled highways are safe enough. Highway 90 is by far the shortest route from south-east Israel to north-east Israel – which was why I was driving on it – but it was clearly built principally for security purposes. In the event of another war, the Israeli army can undoubtedly be mobilised along it very rapidly. However, being off the highway with a car carrying Israeli plates is probably best avoided.
Hope you got a chance to taste the oranges and/or orange juice from Jericho.
It may have something to do with the soil or the climate but they are some of the most extraordinary things I’ve ever tasted.
The Dead Sea – the one place in the world where (I am told) even a malcordinated person like me could swim.
It is easy to stay afloat, but actual swimming is hard. Most strokes involve using your arms and legs simultaneously to propel you. In the Dead Sea it is very hard to keep both your arms and legs underwater simultaneously.
Indeed. Also, the water (or rather the stuff dissolved in it, such as salt) is much thicker, and so presents much more resistance, making it much harder to propel yourself forward.
Try not to do what a friend of mine once did – he was so happy to find some water after the heat of the desert that he jumped in head first.
No!
Why would you not dive in head first? Regardless of the level of the minerals in solution, isn’t it still just water?
For one thing, water with this much salt and other minerals in it is essentially toxic. You do not want it in year ears or nose, you do not want it in your eyes, and you really do not want to swallow any of it.
Ah. Thanks.
The dead sea:
“…the grey sunken c*nt of the world”.
James Joyce-Ulysses
Laird:
http://deadseaisrael.net/you-cant-drown-in-the-dead-sea-but/
And on a much less serious level, to even enjoy the floating, you need to have perfect skin. Any minor scratch that you may happen to have will make the experience quite unpleasant.