Adventures in Israel, part 6

Day 6

Oh my goodness, I’ve just been floating in the Dead Sea & let me tell you it is the coolest thing EVER!  If I hadn’t loved Israel up to this point I would love it now!  Floating in it is really unbelievable—you can’t NOT float! 

We started our day by driving about 10 minutes north to Masada—a wilderness fortress built by Herod the Great—did this guy do anything but build things?  It seems like all he did was build fortresses & cities to make himself greater.  Masada was really cool—it’s a fortress build into the side of the rock.  We had the option of riding a cable car up to the top or climbing.  We were warned the climb could take up to 40 minutes.  Most of us opted to ride—pretty sweet to get to see the aerial view!  The climbers arrived about halfway through our tour of the fortress out of breath & sweaty.  I was glad I hadn’t climbed up!  From the top you can see so much!  The Dead Sea, Roman siege camps surrounding Masada, water routes from floods—and pretty much everything else.  Amazing how much has survived because of the dry climate of the desert!   We walked all through Masada—I am convinced Rome survived & conquered as long as they did because they knew how to live while at war—bath houses (complete with steam rooms/saunas) walls & floors decorated with mosaic, water cisterns & store rooms to hold up to 3 years worth of supplies.  If under siege they would be as want for nothing!    One of the things I’ve enjoyed most on this trip is seeing how people in ancient times lived—it helps me understand when reading the Bible or historic books if you can picture them in your mind.  I enjoyed that about Masada but…they came to a very sad end.  I wouldn’t want to live in that time, nor would I want to live in the desert…it was getting very warm when we left, about 10:30am.   Whew the sun was hot!

On the cable car, going up!

Masada

We drove from Masada just a little bit north to the Oasis of En Gedi—the caves where David hid & secretly cut off a piece of Saul’s robe when he was going potty in a cave.  We were told there are 3 waterfalls.  The first is accessed by an easy path.  The second was a little more difficult to do & the third was even more difficult.  Mom & I kind of only planned to go to the second but there were so many school groups there that is was easier to keep climbing to the third waterfall than it was to turn around & go back.  The path made a loop so only if you went to all three did you not have to turn around & re-trace your steps.  Seriously there were hundreds of kids there!  Most were boys—cute little Jewish boys with the long hair around their temples—some almost down to their elbows!  Seriously!  When we got to the first waterfall the pool was full of little boys swimming—and their teachers trying (with very little luck) to get them out!  Fortunately we got ahead of most of the kids at that point.  We got a bit of a head start to the second waterfall but they were climbing that path like little mountain goats (the ibex—mountain goat—is the symbol of the Israeli national parks—these kids—get it—kids?—could jump from rock to rock just like them!).  We were being pursued like Saul pursued David!  We made it to the second waterfall without too much trouble & with all the kids behind us, decided we had to keep going!  Fortunately there were handrails built into the rocks at some points & enough rocks around that you could hold on to—sometimes we were crossing little streams of water, but we did it!   We made it to the third waterfall!  Even mom!  She was major Aztec warrior woman!  It was pretty cool!  Some of our group (cough, cough--Brian Fisher--cough, cough) got in trouble from a little Jewish man for jumping in the pool of the third waterfall.   Hey, they earned it—it was quite a hike & very warm! 

A serious trek!  Didn't stop Mary Nelson!

We made it!

The hike back to the base was easier—downhill at least!—but still some work!  We could look up & see more school children climbing up.  Lots of teenage boys also imitating the ibex & running around, swimming in the pools, jumping from rock to rock (some of them in their underwear!).  This was our first time to see so many other groups at the same place we were.  But I guess it’s like us going to the Alamo—part of their history. 

We left En Gedi & came back to our hotel area for lunch.  We got sandwiches from Aroma Coffee—like Israeli Starbucks.  Mom & I both had eggplant sandwhiches—so good!!  We then walked back to the hotel (I wish I had a pedometer on this trip to see how far we’ve walked!) to change to go to the Dead Sea.  We walked down (it’s just across the street from our hotel) with the Coyle family & another couple.  We got there before most of the group & I’m glad!  The water was cold when we got there & so we had to force ourselves to get in—none of us in our little group had been there before—but after a few seconds I decided I just had to make myself do it & boy am I glad I did!  There’s truly no way to describe it—you just float!  So cool!  We floated on our backs, on our stomachs (Superman style), rolled from front to back, bobbed up & down, did water aerobics & everything else we could think to do while defying the laws of normal water!  The rest of our group got there after a while & it was fun to bob around, laughing at how cool this was together!  We stayed in for almost an hour & then got too cold.  Mom & I came back to get clean & dry.  Our skin is so soft after all that salt water!  Like a natural exfoliant!  Neither of us opted to do massages or facials at the hotel spa.  I think I would have fallen asleep & missed it!  We decided just to play in the Dead Sea & then relax till dinner.  After the day we’ve had we need it!  But oh it’s been fun!

And...she's in!

Just floatin' in the Dead Sea!

Superman!

Tomorrow we go up to Jerusalem!  I can’t believe we’ve been here almost a week!  And only 4 nights left!  OK, going to post this & then go to dinner.  And then hit the hay!  Mazel!