Monday 8/13 -- Masada, Ein Gedi, the Dead Sea

I am continuing this narrative after the disruption of jet lag and a persistent gastrointestinal microbial invasion. Monday our guide, Yehuda Rubin, picked us "the Sinai Seven" up at our Jerusalem hotel for a day which turned out to be one of the most physically grueling, but rewarding days of the trip. We headed through the Judean desert towards Masada. But first we stopped at the side of the road where a Bedouin man had a camel and sold handicrafts.
When we arrived at Masada it was just a short time till the deadline for walking up; the lady at the gate sized us up and strongly suggested the cable car. Masada is a high plateau where an abandoned Herodian fortress was the site of the last siege and defeat of the Jews by the Romans about the year 73 CE. Herod had set up this garrison, supplied it with ample food and water supplies; it was empty for years until the Jews retreated there after the destruction of the second temple in the year 70. After a long siege and surrounded by thousands of Roman troops, the 967 men, women and children chose death over the atrocities awaiting them at the hands of the Romans. We hiked all over the site, and climbed down a huge water cistern where in 1943 a Zionist youth group wrote, on the walls, their saga of hiking through the Judean desert. This day was the hottest I've ever been. When we got back into the comfort of the air-conditioned van, Yehuda told us it was 43 or 44 degrees Celsius - at least 114.

From there we doubled back to Ein Gedi National Park. On this site Herod had his precious balsam crop, and it is the place where David spared Saul's life. We hiked and climbed to David's waterfall, an amazing site in the desert. Just when I thought I couldn't walk another step in that heat Yehudi found us a little swimming hole to cool off. We saw little ibex goats and the trees which produce the "manna" described in Exodus. At the edge of Ein Gedi there is an old 4th century CE Byzantine synagogue with fascinating patterns of mosaic floors - signs of the zodiac & names of the patriarchs.

The Dead Sea was our next stop, and I hoped that even the salty water would be cool and refreshing so was really disappointed: it is very warm. But you really do float to such an extent it's nearly impossible to swim. The beach also had a sulphur pool (also very hot) and a cool water pool. I tried everything except the mud, which didn't appeal to me. On the way back to Jerusalem we made a scenic stop overlooking the Dead Sea all the way to Jordan. What a way to end such an adventurous day!