Masada, Mud & A Float
Trip Start
Aug 31, 2008
1
9
14
Trip End
Sep 18, 2008
Jerusalem,
Israel
Friday, September 12, 2008
Another amazing and wonderful day yesterday as we travelled east and south and down from Jerusalem to Masada and the Dead Sea. Masada is an incrediable archaeological site (and sight) dating from the time of Herod the Great who built a palace their for himself which was eventually overrun in 66 C.E. during the Jewish rebellion against Rome. Surrounded by the Roman 10th legion - you can see the remains of their 8 camps at the base of the mountain - the Jewsih rebels and their families commited suicide rather than surrender to the Romans.
Set high atop a lone flat peak in the middle of the surrounding desert it's a wonder that anything was built there over 2000 years ago. That we can still walk the halls, rooms, storage rooms and see the world's oldest synagogue is really something. A very evocative connection to western and Jewish history...and bloody hot too!
After Masada descend the mountain and take the highway to the lowest point on earth (1800 meters belwo sea level) the oasis at Ein Gedi...A small grove of plam trees and green in the midst of the bleakest desert imaginable and next to the Dead Sea which due to salt content supports no life at all. The Dead Sea is the terminus of the Jordan River and the water is landlocked and essentially becomes a toxic mix of natural elemnts and salt as the water evaporates...Enjoying the science lesson kids?...but wait, damn Al Gore does it again...The spa we stopped at was built only 20 years ago at the sea's edge...today, to get to the sea's edge is a 3km drive to the water...No global climate change (Sarah Palin)?
As they say, when in Israel do as the Romans did (ha ha) and cover yourself in Dead Sea mud and then go for a float (impossible to swim) in the ocean....and we did...Pictures will follow later this evening of Chris and I covered in Dead Sea 'spa' mud...avert your eyes ladies, it's not pretty....Was a great exeperience though...the mud was amazingly refreshing for the skin and then the float in the sea was the weirdest thing...
Firstly the 'beach' and sea bed is composed entirley of salt, some of it in large (ouch!) crytals and some of it like table salt...A beach of table salt..really! Being in the water was pretty cool experience 9even thought the water is as warm as a hot tub!)...You walk in, turn around and sit down, and you float...It is impossible to immerse yourself in the water, and believe me the sea got a test with some big russian ladies not far off from where we were...even they floated! The water is very oily and very salty and the minute you get out it starts to evaporate and if you wait to long a light salt crust will form on you...ick...all in all a fun time...
After a long day it was back to Jeruslaem and a great pasta dinner (albeit with the 1st really bad service we've had) at the Mamilla Mall, a new, huge, outdoor, high end shopping and entertainment street that leads up to Jaffa Gate at the Old City.
Today we have spent the day amongst the locals at the market, Ben Yehuda street and around our hotel as they prepare for Shabbat tonight and tomorrow. As the day winds down to sunset the city gets more and more quiet. Right now virtually all the traffic is off the roads - not a car or bus in sight, only cabs running - and the shops and restaurnats are beginning to close. By 6:00 p.m. here pretty much everything, except for a few spots in the tourist zone close for just over 24 hours. Far different from Tel Aviv.
We are planning to head down to the Western Wall for the sunset service and after that it's off to Rabbi Harry's and Rayanne's place in the neighbourhood of Talpyiot for a real and local Shabbat dinner in Jerusalem. Signing off from Jerusalem...Shabbat Shalom y'all!...Stephen and Chris
