11/17 to 11/19 | Lost in Ein Gedi and Back to Eilat

The word "spontaneity" was thrown around a great deal over the past weekend.  For weeks, my roommates Matt and Ariel had planned to go up north with me to visit Tiberias and the surrounding Galilee area.  This plan was abruptly halted when we learned of the massive winter rains that were scheduled to wallop the northern half of the country.  Not wanting to end up stuck in Jerusalem all weekend, the three of us made a spontaneous decision to head south.  We decided that we would spend one night in Ein Gedi on the Dead Sea, or Yam HaMelech in Hebrew, and then head to Eilat the next day.  These plans involved a lot of traveling in a span of just three days, but we were firmly committed to anything that would salvage our weekend.  Unfortunately, this gave us very little time to make new plans, so we decided to just throw caution to the wind and head out.

There are two major towns along the Dead Sea: Ein Gedi to the north and Ein Bokek to the south.  We made reservations at a hostel in Ein Bokek; however, there were only busses headed to Ein Gedi by the time we got to the Central Bus Station.  Not allowing this to deter us, we headed to Ein Gedi with no real idea of how we could get to Ein Bokek.  We assumed their would be a taxi in the vicinity, but in retrospect this was dumb: why would there be a taxi in the middle of the desert at night?  The bus ride to Ein Gedi was not too long, and we even encountered some rather entertaining crazy girls who lived at Kibbutz Ein Gedi.  They recommended that we stay at the hotel at Kibbutz Ein Gedi; not only was Ein Bokek not in the range of any taxis, it was a six hour walk!

Once we were off of the bus in Ein Gedi, we realized just how far from civilization we were.  Except for the kibbutz, the hostel, and a gas station, there is really nothing in Ein Gedi.  It is vastly different from Ein Bokek, which is an actual town with buildings, restaurants, etc.  We started our slow journey through Ein Gedi in the front of the kibbutz, where a few old kibbutzniks urged us to wait at a nearby bus shelter for a 1:00 AM bus to Ein Bokek.  Totally unconvinced that there would be any bus at 1:00 in the morning, we decided to make our way to the Ein Gedi hostel, even going as far at to cancel our plans at the Ein Bokek hostel.  A call to a taxi company in Jerusalem put the estimated rate of a ride from Ein Gedi to Ein Bokek at anywhere between 250 and 400 shekels.  So, we started wandering around Ein Gedi at night, hoping that the hostel would have an available room.

As we were walking through Ein Gedi, we realized that the Dead Sea was right in front of us.  The moon illuminated this body of water right in front of our eyes!  As we were walking, Matt decided to spontaneously try his hand at hitchhiking.  Lo and behold, it worked!  This old couple was more than happy to drive us from the kibbutz to the hostel on the other side of "town."  Of course, our luck could only go so far and the hostel ended up being completely booked.  This, we would later find out, was due to an annual bicycling contest.  So, we were forced to head back to the exorbitantly priced kibbutz hotel, which was over 30 minutes away on foot.  We had no other options, though, so we sucked it up and began our trek.

Welcome to Ein Gedi!

The walk back to the hostel was difficult, but it was worthwhile.  As I said before, the road is right along the Dead Sea, so we took a little detour and stopped on the beach.  What an experience!  In the distance, some campers were playing the drums.  Across the water, we could see the lights of several Jordanian towns.  Above us, the moon--yahreach in Hebrew--and the stars--cochavim--shined brighter than I had ever seen them before.  Of course, there is very little pollution in this part of the country, so the air is just cleaner in general.

The incredible view overlooking the Dead Sea at night.

After we were done taking in the Dead Sea view, we started walking again to the kibbutz hotel.  Not only was it a long walk, but the kibbutz is perched on a mountain, so the latter half of our journey was made even more difficult as we trekked uphill.  We made it, though, and after careful deliberation the three of us decided to pay the 600 shekel charge between the three of us.  It was much more pricey, but at that point we had absolutely no other option (except if we wanted to sleep on the beach, which was also taken into consideration).  The room we were first given was a total mess.  Not only had nobody cleaned it, but the beds were stacked on top of each other!  After complaining to the man at the front desk--I kid you not, his name was Ala Din--we were given another room nearby and complimentary tickets to the Ein Gedi Spa.  It turned out to be a good deal for us in the end, but we were none too pleased at the time.

The first room we were given.

The next day, we got up and checked out as soon as possible.  We rode the shuttle to the Ein Gedi Spa and spent a good portion of our morning floating in the Dead Sea and relaxing in the hot springs and pools.  The weather was fairly cool and it even drizzled for a few seconds, which was very strange.  In fact, the weather was oddly comfortable down at the "Lowest Place on Earth!"  Usually, a trip to the Dead Sea leaves people sweating profusely.  The Dead Sea was as salty as ever, though, and before we knew it, all three of us were feeling the burn.

The Ein Gedi Spa: the lowest place on earth!

Welcome to the Ein Gedi Spa!

A view of the resort.

There are sinkholes all along the beaches of the Dead Sea.

A small, meandering canal into the Dead Sea.

Layers of sand, salt, and dirt.

The Dead Sea, with a pile of salt in the foreground.

When we were done at the spa, we grabbed a quick lunch and headed to the bus stop with plenty of time to spare as we waited for our bus to Eilat.  Behind us were incredible mountain formations, so Matt and I decided to climb up a bit.  The side of the mountain was littered with rocks, but we made it about halfway up.  The view was incredible!  In front of us was all of Ein Gedi, the Dead Sea, and the dusty brown mountains of Jordan.  Behind us were some caves to explore, too.  After we were done on the mountain, we headed back down to continue waiting for the bus.  And wait we did!  The bus was scheduled to arrive at 3:00 in the afternoon.  Only at 3:45, after a fair deal of worrying--shabbat was on the way!--did the bus come barreling down the road.  Fortunately, we declined a ride in a sherut (a shared cab) driven by a crazy old Jewish man.  Had we taken that in our desperation, we would have paid a lot more to end up only halfway to our destination.

The view of the Ein Gedi Spa from above.

The caves.  Unfortunately, we did not find any "new" Dead Sea Scrolls.

Ariel waited at the bus stop down below.

The mountain that Matt and I climbed.

The ride to Eilat was beautiful as the sun set behind the mountains.  After some three hours of driving, we made it to Eilat, the lights of which look like an Israeli version of Las Vegas.  After checking into our hostel, we went out for some of the best pizza I had ever eaten (sold by quarter meters!).  After dinner, we headed back to the room before checking out the nightlife.  Eilat has a lively promenade next to the beach, so we walked around that a bit, jumping in and out of clubs and bars before calling it a night.

A view of the sky and the clouds from the bus.

A view of Masada from the bus.

A view of Ein Bokek from the bus.

A view of the sky from the rest stop.

Welcome to Eilat!

Eilat: Israel's own Las Vegas.

The next morning, we decided to take a boat cruse.  If this sounds familiar, it is because I took the same cruise with Esther and Rachel about a month ago.  It was just as good the second time and we had a lot of fun sailing down the coast of Jordan to the border crossing with Egypt before heading up the coast of Eilat.  Lunch was great, too!

Eilat in the morning.

The Eilat marina.

Aqaba, Jordan is known for having one of the world's largest flagpoles.  Contrary to popular belief, that is not a Jordanian flag but the flag of the Arab Revolt used by Arab nationalists against the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

 Parasailers occasionally zoomed by our boat. 

An Israeli Navy ship near the Taba border crossing with Egypt.

The Taba border crossing.  Notice the Israeli and Egyptian flags to the right.

Lunch was so good!

A floating farm.  You can imagine the smell.

Nearing the end of our boat ride.

After the cruise, we decided to take a walk to Israel's border with Jordan.  We stopped at the beach there for a while before heading back to the hostel to pick up our bags.  The beaches of Eilat were really rocky last time I was here, but we managed to find a patch of sand this time around.  The weather was not too hot either, which was really nice.  With only a few hours left to spare, we decided to head to the Central Bus Station early so as not to miss the last bus out of town.  All in all, this was a great trip that required a lot of patience, but that totally delivered in the end.  Such is the virtue of being a little spontaneous!

A view of Eilat from a jetty near the Jordanian border.

Two cats sunning on the jetty.

The area near the border is mined.  "Danger Pines!"