Masada is a mountain top mesa in the middle of the Judean mountains and the site of a very important dramatic event in Jewish history. 2000 years ago, Jewish rebels fled to Masada for their last stronghold against the Romans. When the Romans successfully surrounded and then climbed Masada, they found all the rebels were dead by their own hand rather than be forced into slavery. Soon after the Romans conquered Masada, an earthquake destroyed much of the site so that's why it's mostly just in ruins.
Masada is a symbol of Jewish strength and determination against difficult odds.
On the cable car up to the steep plateau, we met 2 Worcesterites! We saw ancient ruims or a Roman palace and the army camps around the mountain. We went into a deep water storage cistern which was creepy! As we left many more tourists arrived.
The Dead Sea
We went to a spa on the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. We quickly put on swimsuits and went to the sea. There was no sand, just hard rocky salt which hurt my feet alot. In the sea, I floated with all the heavy salt. My cuts burned on my body like my mama's chilli burns my daddy's tongue! After floating, we covered ourselves in mineral mud because it's supposed to be good for your skin. After showering, my skin was so smooth as a newborn baby's!
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| The Dead Sea is shrinking rapidly! It's from natural erosion, especially with the salt, and also over-mining by both Israel and Jordan. Come visit before it's too late! |
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| Here's a zoom-in on the map of Israel's Dead Sea, so you can see where Masada and Ein Gedi are located. |
So we started hiking in Ein Gedi. After 5 minutes I thought this could get boring but then we saw a huge clear waterfall and my thinking changed... Ein Gedi is a nature reserve, an oasis in the middle of the desert. It's where in the Bible, David hid here away from his father King Saul who wanted him dead. So anyway, I climbed down and waded through the clear, drinkable water (and drank some!) and out my head in the pool. I drank directly from the pool: cool, clear and fresh! We hiked some more, to bigger water falls with deeper pools where we actually swam! On our way out, we came upon a big tribe of Ibex (biblical animals like deer or antelopes only found here!) -- we waited for them to leave but after 10 minutes they kept eating so we carefully sneaked by trying not to disturb them. My mother was scared because their horns were huge!
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