There are times when you need to take things with a pinch of salt,and this is what cerainly one of them.
Driving along the dead sea coast, the white -tipped’ waves’ had created a perfect optical illusion of movement on the still water,but on closer inspections they turned out to be curious salt formations.Thirty five minutes later,after turning off the road and heading into the desert,our guide turned off the the engines so we could cross the sand to the foot of the barren hill.Picking up a small sun–bleached ‘rock’ , he encouraged us to taste it.Once dubbed the white gold of the desert,because of its trading value,what we had in our hands was nature’s own salt cellar.
A highlight, or to be technically correct,low point ,of any trip to Isreal has to be a visit to the Dead sea.Don’t be fooled by the name,as the area is actually active and full of life,with lust green oases,luxury hotels and the mineral-rich waters and the therapeutic black mud of the sea itself.One of Isreal’s big attractions,it’s possible to pack a lot into limited amout of time.From Tel Aviv,where we spend the weekend,the Dead sea is just three hours away by road.
The Dead is packed with feel-good minerals,including the twelve that aren’t found in any other sea or ocean and we were told that air contains small amout of bromine gas,which apparently helps to relax the body naturally.
Floating in the sea is the easy part-the high saline content means you can’t sink-but getting up is something else as it can be tricky to get your feet back down on the bottom.
