It’s 4:30AM on Wednesday and I’ve had my usual 6 hours of sleep, so I thought I’d get the post up about yesterday’s incredibly long, but wonderful, day. The internet connection here is so bad I’m unable to upload pictures or videos, so I’ve been doing that from the bus while on our drives. It literally only takes minutes instead of hours. And, on that note, I owe you a couple of pictures from Monday’s sites. The first is the entrance to the Tomb in the Garden, one of two possible sites of Jesus’ tomb.
The tomb was much smaller than I expected.
OK that finishes Monday. Yesterday started at 7am with a 90-minute drive to Masada, an ancient fortification on the southern end of Israel where, between 73-74AD, a group of over 900 Jewish people committed mass suicide rather than be taken as slaves by the Romans. To get there we drove through the Judean desert and followed the Dead Sea for much of the way.
Here’s a video I took from the bus. While we intellectually know that Israel is a modern country with modern cities, this is the Israel that was in our heads.
At one point we could see Jericho in the distance. Jericho is the oldest city in the world and, while it would have been fun to visit, it’s in Palestine and not on our itinerary. This is the area where we spotted a shepherd and his goats high on a hill and a man with his camel. The camel was just off the road, but we were moving too fast to snap a pic.
We followed the Dead Sea for about an hour, and it was quite beautiful with the sun shining on it.
The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth at about 1200 feet below sea level. We actually felt our ears popping a bit as we went down. More on the lake later.
Once at Masada, we took a large cable car to the top of the tabletop shaped mountain.
We arrived around 8:30am but it was already in the 90s, so it was quite hot, even on top of the mountain. The pathway was sort of wheelchair accessible, but it took 3 of us to get Peter up the steep, uneven path.
Masada was actually a small city, with a palace built by King Herod the Great between 37-31BC. After about 20 minutes, we got to a spot with stairs so we parked the chair and Peter walked a little bit. After just a few minutes, though, it was clear that it wasn’t safe for him to walk so he perched on a rock while I went with the group to explore.
In the story of the mass suicide, 10 men were chosen to kill the rest of the residents and then drew lots to see who would remain alive to kill the other 9 and, finally, kill himself. Archeologists were very excited to find the actual lots that were used. We didn’t see them but here’s a picture that shows what they looked like.
The tour was going to take another 35-40 minutes and I didn’t want to leave Peter for that long (and besides after a while, all the remains start to look the same), so I left the group and headed back to Peter and Adoria. On the way, I stopped to take a video of the valley from one of the highest points in the city.
We managed to get back to the wheelchair and the entrance of the complex where we were able to sit in the shade and wait for the rest of the group. There was a nice cool breeze, so it was a wonderful place to wait. We were joined by a few other people from our group as they bailed out of the tour.
Then it was back down the mountain and into the bus for the short drive to the resort area of the Dead Sea. The lake is on the border of Israel (west side) and Jordan (east side) and is a big holiday destination for both Israelis and tourists from other countries. This section of the lake was filled with resort hotels and beaches, both private and public. We stopped at the mall for lunch (pasta and pizza…so sorry foodies, I’ve gotten out of the habit of taking food pictures; I promise to do better), then went to one of the public beaches for a swim in the lake.
The Dead Sea has 10 times the salt content of the oceans, so it is literally impossible not to float. We had been dragging our swimsuits around with us for the last 3 1/2 months, so it was great to finally put them to use.
Peter only stayed in the water for a short time as he had trouble keeping his feet under him. The water had a tendency to push you over as you were floating, and it was easy to lose your balance. Once I went flopped face first and the lower part of my face, up to my mouth, got into the water. My face burned for the next couple of hours. But it doesn’t hurt the skin of your body. We were warned, though, not to get any water in our eyes.
The mineral content of the water and mud of the lake are very good for the skin. Even after just a couple of minutes is the water my skin was much smoother. Tzachi had brought a couple bags of mud for us to use so most of us covered ourselves in goo.
Once covered, you let the mud dry, then head back into the water to wash it all off, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. My skin really did feel good when I was finally clean.
We played in the water for about an hour, then it was time to dry off and head back to the bus. Our short time on the beach was a ton of fun although the hotel may not be as happy, as we took our room towels and they’re now full of sand. Oh well.
It was just after 5pm when we got back to the hotel where we had a very short hour to get ready for our evening outing. It was dinner and a show that was an add-on to the tour. Dinner was at a restaurant in the city and while the food was good, it was nothing special. The restaurant, though, was beautiful.
Then it was back to the bus for a short drive to the Tower of David for the Light and Sound Show Spectacular. Through lights reflected on the wall of the fortress and sound, we saw the story of Israel from King David to modern times. It was incredible and, while expensive ($117 each), we thoroughly enjoyed the show.
Here are a couple of still photos but they don’t do the show justice. I took some videos but no way they upload on this internet, so I hope to be able to get them uploaded from the bus and I’ll post them with today’s update.
It was after 9pm before we made it back to the hotel, so it was a long, 14-hour, day but we had a great time. Today, on the last full day of the tour, we are visiting Old Jerusalem. So, I’ve got to get ready. I don’t even have time to proofread this, so apologies for typos or sentences that just don’t make sense. Talk later.