Bike trip to Ein Gedi

Crazy Danes as we are, we decided to bike from Jerusalem to Ein Gedi (route on Google maps) along the shore of the Dead Sea on a small vacation, to get away from the city and enjoy some of the local nature in all her splendor.

We got up with the Sun and on the way. Highway actually, all the way from Jerusalem to the plane of Jericho. 27 km horisontal, 1000m vertical; from Jerusalem's 800m above Sea Level to the plane's 200m below Sea Level.

Jerusalem's surroundings were green, the morning air chilly. I was a bit surprised to see "shacks" in all their lasting temporariness of corrugated metal, and wondered if these were small refugee villages, and if the people living there really didn't have another option.

The road's declination varied from plain to steep, and we wheeled along at a great speed (thanks for good breaks!), but still had time to stop at sea level - a great tourist attraction (though without any souvenir sellers).

It was breathtaking to come out of the mountains and look at the flat, vast plane of Jericho (it might officially be called something else, but this is my name for it), finally see the Dead Sea sparkle in the sunlight, see the city of Jericho in the distance, and know that the next range of mountains must be Jordan.

The road along the Dead Sea offers a great view over the water, though a bit far away because the water level has decreased over the past years, due to less rainfall, more people using the water in the streams feeding the sea, and a block on one of the greater streams flowing from Jordan into the Dead Sea. Our roommate quoted some estimates saying that in 10 years it will only be Dead but no more Sea, if nothing is done to change this direction.

But it has left pools on the past-sea bottom with a great variety of colours due to all the minerals in the water. We could also marvel at the rocks and mountains on "our" side of the sea - as Danes we always find these big chunks of rock fascinating - and look to the distant and misty mountains of Jordan on the other side. And apparently we brought a bit of Danish weather [clouds], which cooled us nicely in the heat and made spectacular sceneries in the sky. Or was it Divine Presence here in the Holy Land?



It was a good ride, and I'm very proud of myself that I managed all 75km - though the first 30km downhill doesn't really count. The hills afterwards were challenging me, but I took my breaks when I needed and enjoyed the view while catching my breath again - and was happy that I got to know my bike and the gears, so I could climb as efficient as possible. We had forgotten sunblocker, so in the evening I looked like a Danish-coloured inverted panda (marks after my sunglasses), but thanks to moisturiser it doesn't hurt.

We came across some "desert street art" just after making the turn to road 90, but luckily we and our bikes didn't suffer a similar fate.

Next time we're going all the way to Masada (some 20km more), and/or making a longer stop in Qumran to see the Dead sea Scrolls Museum. But with the heat already it has to be latest in March!