The drive from Jericho to the dead sea resort of Ein-Bokek takes usually 1 hour. It took me 8 hours, in that stormy day of 2020.
1) Dead Sea and the storm
After the dark doomsday clouds release their load on land, water fills the dry riverbeds and floods the salty sea with mud and vegetation, creating its own painting.
2) Massada Mountain, drying at Sunset
Later in the day, the sky opens-up over Massada and lets it bask in the sunlight. The soft light emphasizes the evaporating rainwater on the slopes.
Massada is an ancient Herodian fortress. After a year of siege, as the Roman battering rams breached the fortress' walls, the 960 Jewish defenders committed mass suicide rather than fall prisoners.
3) The aftermath of the storm
The morning after - there is still a lot of vapor in the air, with salt concentrations and crystals drawing new paintings as they float in gentle waves reflecting in the sun.
