It's 4:30 in the morning and I'm sitting on the curb in front of my house, dressed in hiking boots, hiking pants and a long-sleeve thermal shirt. In my bag is a t-shirt, hat and sunscreen. I'm still not quite sure how I got talked into accompanying my friend Yehoshua on this trip to the Dead Sea. I'm still trying to figure it out when he pulls up beside me and I get into his car. He offers me coffee, which happens to be in a thermos in the trunk. So no coffee.

Descending the road to Jericho, we leave the lights of Jerusalem behind