dead sea rolls

Today we made our way through a series of checkpoints, finally to arrive on the shores of the Dead Sea- 407 metres below sea level: the deepest exposed gash in the Earth's surface. If you placed the Empire State building here, even the very pinnacle of its radio mast would barely graze sea level.

I had been informed that it would be "impossible" to swim in it because of its extreme buoyancy. I was sceptical, but the keennness of my anticipation to find out for myself was enormous. How buoyant actually would it actually be? I felt it would probably be the difference between fresh water and normal sea water, but I was wrong. The difference was 3 or even 4 orders of magnitude greater than in oceanic water. I waded in with my hat and newspaper for my wife to take the long-awaited picture, but even that was difficult: one must be absolutely stable in one's position; otherwise one simply turns turtle and flips right over. It's a bit like floating on a tire inner tube that is too small: you're constantly fighting against capsizing. The only comfortable way is simply to lie back and float, at which point there is an almost surreal sense of wellbeing.

As for swimming, it is possible, but only either by doing a classic doggie-paddle or a sort of on-your-back breast stroke. Attempting proper breast stroke simply results in your legs popping up into the air and your head going under; crawl causes the body to completely flip on each stroke. All in all, an astonishing experience which I recommend to everyone. A marvellous, marvellous apotheosis for me personally, which in itself would have justified the cost of the trip.

And now this indeed has almost come to an end, with us leaving the West Bank tomorrow to spend a single night in the ancient crusader town of Acre, before flying home on Monday.