Days 8 and 9
Day 8 continued
Hiking in Ein Uvdat- Following our great camel excursion in the Negev, we made our way to Ein Uvdat for some good ol’ fashioned hiking. Five minutes into the climb, our group encountered a 7 foot, 500 pound flesh eating mountain lion scaling the cliff side so naturally, our group was forced to wrestle the beast to the ground. We then ate it for lunch and performed tribal rain dances until the time came for Ben Gurion’s grave site. This experience greatly enriched my hunting skills and appreciation for team work.
But really, all jokes aside, hiking the cliff range at this site was equally aesthetically powerful as it was physically. Nothing beats the feeling of reaching the top, but when it’s coupled with a view of that caliber, it’s hard to find words to describe it. I have just noticed a reoccurring feeling throughout this trip that none of the pictures or descriptions we’ll be able to provide once home will do the actual sites justice. As a group of 40 something people, we started the hike with an attempt at complete silence for 5 minutes - just to soak in the range of sounds and visuals we were surrounded by We learned a bit about the politics of water control in the country and continued the hike towards the top. We climbed a handful of winding stairs and even a few ladders to reach the top at which the view -these cliffs that were formed over layers of time- just made the entire experience, despite being short and challenging,, undoubtedly worth it.
Day 9
Masada - I’m the last person to ever want to wake up before 10 AM. Knowing that I was going to have to wake up at 430 in the morning to go to Masada was definitely not something I was looking forward to until it happened. We all grabbed some quick coffee and cake and headed to Masada. We got there just as it started to get light out. The hike up wasn’t even brutal - it was just like stairs. When we got to the top, we saw some views that pictures could never do justice. I’ve personally never seen anything like it before. It’s even hard to describe in words, but it was absolutely beautiful. Despite the clouds, the sunrise was so pretty. It does not compare to any other sunrise I’ve ever seen. On top of scenery, we saw some of the buildings that have been there for centuries. I learned about Masada when I too a Judaic studies class this past fall and to actually be there and see what I learned was just an awesome experience. It also interesting to see how innovative the people of that time were and how they installed a fully functioning irrigation system. All in all, waking up at 430 am has never been so worth it.
The Dead Sea
Today we drove from a youth hostile were se slept to the Dead Sea. After a long bus ride we arrived on a beach with darker sand than on the east coast of the U.S. It was an amazing experience overall as we unloaded the bus and got a first look at the Dead Sea. The part we arrived at was a small pool of water connected to the sea which is 1200 feet below sea level. This section of the sea had sand and not mud so we purchased mud from another part of the dead sea sold in a small shop by the shore.
After changing, we put our things onto the beach and slowly waded into the water. At first, the water was cold and seemed no different than that of any other ocean. As I went further I noticed that there was no sea life and the bottom also had small balls of salt. The most common thing to do in the dead sea is to wade out to waist level and lean back into the water. Unlike in any other sea in the world, you end up floating on your back with your head, hands, and feet above the water. You can float while staying completely still and doing no work to stay up! We then walked on the bottom of the sea until our feet could not touch, to our surprise we were able to keep walking into the sea, floating upright with our heads above the water.
We then climbed out and applied the mud to our bodies which we had purchased at the store. Everyone was soon covered in mud and waiting for it to dry on the beach. We took a lot of pictures of this and then got back into the water to rinse it off. We got changed, shopped, and got back onto the bus to continue back to Jerusalem. So far in Israel the dead sea was my favorite part of the trip. I have swam on Cape Cod my whole life and have never experienced such buoyancy!
