Down, as in the lowest point on earth. Yours truly sporting an OpenSolaris t-shirt in the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. And on that August day, one of the hottest places on the planet as well, with the temperature reaching into the 40s on our friend Mr. Centigrade scale. Translating to Fahrenheit, it's about the melting point of good fashion sense. Black isn't a good color in the desert, but I promised Claire Giordano that I'd promote OpenSolaris to the ends of the earth. One end done, speaking topographically and not pre-Columbus cartographically.
Given the mineral content of the Dead Sea, almost everything floats in it, except for my first attempt at baking, which would sink in mercury. While your favorite ocean gets its salty flavor from a few percent (by volume) of salt and such, the Dead Sea is nearly 30% mineral by volume. Dissolve a magnesium-cased laptop in a tub full of water and you get about the right proportions; it feels like thinned down Italian dressing.
The thatched roof on the right is part of a sitting area built by the resort hotel, so you can bathe in the mineral wonders of the Dead Sea without feeling like a turkey being basted. The thin beige line along the horizon is Jordan, home of former Princeton Tiger Queen Noor, who gets a big locomotive cheer for her work in eradicating land mines.
I'm back from nearly three weeks in Israel, and many more pictures, blogs and observations are queued up.
Posted by Claire Giordano on September 09, 2005 at 09:37 PM EDT #
Posted by Leon Koll on September 10, 2005 at 04:33 PM EDT #
Posted by Leon Koll on October 15, 2005 at 05:33 PM EDT #