Sunrise At The Dead Sea Part 2 - Ein Bokek

A few days ago I told you about my wonderful trip to the Dead Sea to take pictures of the sunrise.

The trip didn't end after we decided that we had enough of the sunrise. @nv21089 agreed to accompany me to Ein Bokek, a small nature reserve with a stream and a waterfall I vaguely remembered visiting the last time I was at the Dead Sea in the early 2000's.

This is the waterfall I was talking about:

So, at about 5:30 am we started driving around looking for any recognizable landmarks. The landscape has changed quite a bit in the 17 or so years that have passed since I was last here. Eventually I was able to locate the small shoulder of the road that led to the trek down to the Bokek river.

Here are a few shots I took down that trail. Bear in mind this is in the middle of the Judaean Desert right next to the Dead Sea. Seeing running water, greenery, birds and other animals is almost shocking in this environment. It makes the presence of life so much more vibrant.

Here's a short video taken with my phone where you can hear the multitude of birds that were flying around us.

The trek leads down the (mostly dry) river bed. It is quite evident that in the rainy season the place sees frequent flash floods.

The sun, that was just peeking over the horizon at this point, colored the cliffs on either side of the river bed a very vibrant orange.

This is where we finally started to encounter the waters of the Bokek river itself.

It seemed almost shy - on multiple occasions it looked like the water just disappeared underground.

The closer we got to the waterfall the more running water we encountered.

Finally we reached the waterfall.

Here's a short video taken with my phone of the vicinity of the waterfall.

We could have kept going (there is a bigger pool and waterfall further up the creek) but by this time the sun was truly up and beating down on us. When we saw a group of tourists hiking up the trail we decided it would be better to get back to the car and head to our final stop - the shore of the Dead Sea to take pictures of crystallized salt.

On our way back I took another picture of the steep cliffs:

And one more of the riverbank vegetation. I like how you can see a large variety in color in this one, from browns to greens.

In the final segment I'll share my pictures of the Dead Sea shore, but that will wait for another day.

Let me know what you think of my pictures and feel free to share your own hidden nature gems.

Good night and see you soon.