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I walked along the rocky beach to the water. The sulfuric tasting water felt like the consistency of oil on my hands and like a burn on an exposed cut. My legs floated above the water. It was very relaxing to float in the lake and take in the surroundings that evening.

At sunset, a beach attendant called to me to get out of the water. He encouraged me to enjoy the mud from the bottom of the sea before I left the shore. I spread mud on my face and all over my body before I was reprimanded for stepping in the plastic bucket of mud.

I showered, toweled off and approached the counter at the outdoor bar where Adam complained about his five-dollar bottle of water. “This is the desert,” he was told. A local walked up to the bar and purchased a similar bottle of water for three shekels or less than one dollar. We visited with the locals while we drank our expensive water. The sunset was our cue to return to our car and drive through the desert to our hotel in Jerusalem.