Israel is famous for its holy sites, but it has natural wonders, too.
The Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth, has been drawing tourists for millennia. (The Romans were among many to build spas here.) The body of water, 1,312 feet below sea level, is saturated with minerals. It's so salty that swimmers can float unaided.
Nearly every visitor to Israel eventually finds his or her way to the rocky shore on the border of Israel and Jordan. Many slather mud on themselves, which is said to rejuvenate the skin. Others bathe in the water, almost oily with minerals.
But the sea, which is fed by the Jordan River, is endangered. Too many people in this parched region are siphoning off water as the river flows to the Dead Sea. And some fear that the fabled water may eventually disappear.