Judean Desert and Dead Sea Tiyul

This past weekend my program went on a tiyul to the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea. We went hiking, camped out, and were at the lowest point on Earth, The Dead Sea. We went hiking through Nachal Rachaf, and Ein Boqeq. We also went to a hot spring on the Dead Sea as well as the beach. We saw Masada in the distance but did not go to the historic last stand of Jews against the Romans. Instead we went hiking around Masada. It was well worth it because the hike through Nachal Rachaf was beautiful. It is absolutely one of the most beautiful landscape in the world. There is nothing around, just desert landscape. You truly feel as if you are alone. We also learned about the reasons why the Dead Sea is shrinking. It comes from the use of its source water, the Kinneret and the Jordan River. The Kinneret is one of Israel's main sources of fresh water. The shrinking Dead Sea also is being caused by mineral harvesting by both Jordan and Israel.  For the night we camped out at organized camp site. I helped out prepare some of the food for dinner. I  made roasted eggplant with tehina, and grilled kebabs, shipudim(shish kebabs), and starting the fire. The next day we went to the Dead Sea twice.Once at a hot spring right on the beach. It was cool to float in the hot spring and be covered in Dead Sea Mud, which is very healthy for you. We also went to the Beach at Ein Bokek. The hike through the stream at Ein Bokek was extremely awesome. There were many families that were hiking there along with our program. It was incredible calm and soothing to hear the water while walking along the trail. Overall it was an extremely beautiful weekend in the desert. There is something about hiking in the desert that I enjoy. The knowing that you are there alone, away from civilization is amazing. It was a great trip in general and I highly suggest to try Ein Bokek for hiking along with Nachal Rachaf. It is just beautiful and its shows you how nature can form itself into an indescribable beautiful landscape. Enjoy!