We started our day touring the tunnels underneath the Western Wall. These are tunnels that archeologists have uncovered through the years. The walls and tunnels help them understand the way of life during the various time periods throughout history. It was very interesting to learn about. After the tour we grabbed a quick lunch and then said goodbye to Jerusalem and began our trip South through the desert. After an easy two hour trip we arrived at the Dead Sea. We relaxed and went to bed early since we were planning to get up super early the next day.
We got up and to the Masada National Park by 5:15am to enter the park at 5:30am when it opened. Masada is an ancient fortification built on a mountain. Herrod built himself a number of palaces on Masada during 37 and 31 BCE. Masada is famous for its decline. It was overtaken by troops from the Roman Empire over a two year period as it was so difficult to overtake this large mountaintop fortification. Instead of being killed by the Romans the 960 Jewish people committed mass suicide. Masada is now a famous place to visit and a number of Israel military soldiers visit the place as a rite of passage. We were determined to hike all 1300 feet before sunrise in order to watch the sun come up from the top. The path up the mountain is called a "snake path" referring to the back and forth shape that the path takes. There are no lights along the path so it was quite interesting hiking in the dark along a rocky trail at 6 in the morning. After an arduous hour hike we made it to the top just in time to watch the sun come up! It was totally worth it. The view was breathtaking and our pictures do not do it justice. We explored the remains of Herrod's grounds and then made our way back down the winding snake path in the hot sun.
We headed back to the hotel to experience the Dead Sea. We went for a float. And, even Tom, who claims he doesn't float, floated easily. The feeling of floating completely effortlessly was really cool. But, a side effect of all of the salt is it leaves this oily like film all over your body which wasn't so great. We spent the afternoon enjoying the sun and the sea views!
We got up and to the Masada National Park by 5:15am to enter the park at 5:30am when it opened. Masada is an ancient fortification built on a mountain. Herrod built himself a number of palaces on Masada during 37 and 31 BCE. Masada is famous for its decline. It was overtaken by troops from the Roman Empire over a two year period as it was so difficult to overtake this large mountaintop fortification. Instead of being killed by the Romans the 960 Jewish people committed mass suicide. Masada is now a famous place to visit and a number of Israel military soldiers visit the place as a rite of passage. We were determined to hike all 1300 feet before sunrise in order to watch the sun come up from the top. The path up the mountain is called a "snake path" referring to the back and forth shape that the path takes. There are no lights along the path so it was quite interesting hiking in the dark along a rocky trail at 6 in the morning. After an arduous hour hike we made it to the top just in time to watch the sun come up! It was totally worth it. The view was breathtaking and our pictures do not do it justice. We explored the remains of Herrod's grounds and then made our way back down the winding snake path in the hot sun.
We headed back to the hotel to experience the Dead Sea. We went for a float. And, even Tom, who claims he doesn't float, floated easily. The feeling of floating completely effortlessly was really cool. But, a side effect of all of the salt is it leaves this oily like film all over your body which wasn't so great. We spent the afternoon enjoying the sun and the sea views!
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| Eat dessert first...especially on vacation! |
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| Our favorite Israeli meal for lunch - fuel for the desert |
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| The beautiful desert |
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| We made it - overlooking the Dead Sea! |
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| Camel Sighting |
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| We made it to the top of Masada and beat the sun! |
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| A long way down |
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| Checking out Masada |
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| Tired, but we did it! |
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| The windy "snake path" down |
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| A little R&R - floating in the Dead Sea |
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| Tom gives the Dead Sea two thumbs up |
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