Day 8
This morning at the early hour of 5 AM, we awoke in the Bedouin tent. It was an interesting experience to say the least, a little cold but a good bonding experience. We enjoyed tea and biscuits provided by the Bedouins right before heading to the bus for our morning hike at Mount Masada. The group was definitely very tired and excited at the same time to accomplish this feat. As we approached the mountain in the morning darkness, we realized climbing was not going to be as easy as we thought. Walking up the Roman Ramp took about twenty minutes to get to the top. Even though this was a relatively short time, it was a tough hike ending with a spectacular view of the sunrise over the Dead Sea.
After the sunrise, we took a tour of the top of the historical mountain viewing the ancient Roman architecture, including Roman baths and spas that were quite impressive. We toured an ancient cistern with graffiti from 1943, which related current events of the 40s to the story of Masada. There were many different structures on this beautiful mountain. One structure that was most memorable was the ancient synagogue where we saw many young men conducting their morning prayers. Two hours later, we took the snake path on the opposite side of the mountain back down to the bus. This path, while having better scenery, seemed like it took longer and was a bit more strenuous. At the bottom, we were greeted with breakfast packed by the Bedouins. We were not used to their interesting breakfast styles. There were sandwiches filled with pickles, cheese and lettuce, as well as a cucumber and a granola bar. We enjoyed this meal while soaking up some last scenery of Masada. Finally, it was time to get on the bus and go for another hike.
Our bus arrived at Ein Gedi, a nature park, with trails that took us through the desert and to beautiful waterfalls. It was shocking for us to see these phenomena coexist, but gorgeous nonetheless. We saw ibexes and hyrexs, beaver-like creatures, inhabitants of the desert. This was a great hike to see more of the desert, and we were glad we did it, even though we were tired from Masada.
At last, it was time to experience the Dead Sea! We drove the bus to a private beach, which caters to tourists looking to have their first experience in this incredible body of water. Once at the resort, we were able to purchase bags of mud filled with minerals from the sea itself, which we smothered our bodies with before entering the water. The water was cold at first, but numbness set in pretty quickly, and we were able to experience this weightless sensation. After floating for a while, we came back in to warm up and enjoyed a wonderful on the beach with traditional Israeli food such as falafels and sharwma.
We packed up the bus and left the desert for Jerusalem. It was a two hour journey, and for most people that meant nap time. We checked into our final hotel of the trip, and will be spending our last two nights here. After dinner provided by the hotel, we were visited by a American-Israeli comedian Benji Lovitt, who has been living in Israel for the past five years. He made a relaxing environment by telling many jokes that compared Israel to the United States. It was a nice way to finish out an exhaustive day. We have had such a wonderful time thus far, and can’t wait to finish out our trip in Jerusalem!
