Holy Land Trip, Day 5, continued

The Dead Sea The Dead Sea is so full of salt and minerals that nothing lives in it.

Because of the high salt content, you can't sink in it! It's a strange feeling to float without even trying.

Mud, glorious mud. The sea floor is covered in this thick, gooey mud that is marketed around the world as a skin care product. Our skin definitely felt oily after we got out. It also made it really hard to walk without sinking deep or slipping and falling.

Camel Riding and, uh, Kissing

The beautiful camel

He perked up and paid attention as soon as he saw the banana.

Sharing a piece of fruit. Aww.

The point of contact. How romantic. And on Valentine's Day, none the less.

For clarification, our tour guide asked for a brave couple to perform a special challenge with a camel. Jon and I are certainly always up for a challenge, so we agreed without knowing what we were getting ourselves into. Jon had to share a banana with the camel, mouth to mouth. I then had to kiss Jon before he cleaned himself up. Yuck. I don't have a picture of that moment since Jon and I were both busy, but others in our group took videos, which will be shared as soon as I get a copy.

It cost us each $4 to ride the camel for a short time around the lot, but it's one of those experiences that I can now say I've had. It was more enjoyable than the other camel experience of the day.

Qumran

This is Cave #4 in Qumran, where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.