Masada and the Dead Sea

The evening after Bethlehem we headed for Arad. It's a town in the mountains west of the Dead Sea, south-east of Jerusalem (with the West Bank in the way), about 2 hours' drive. Arad is supposedly known for having the cleanest air anywhere, but it is also known for not having much to do. We grabbed dinner at a place called Muza (recommend it highly) which had great food and an awesome selection of Belgians. We stayed at the 1 hotel in town, along with many large tour groups - groups we feared (correctly) would be joining us tomorrow on our adventure.

We check in to our hotel here and ask the reception lady how far away Masada is and what time the sunrise is (everyone who has been said we HAVE to hike up to see the sunrise). It was only a half hour drive, but she said sunrise was at 4:30! So we asked for a wake-up call at 6 ...

We got up yesterday, had breakfast, checked out and hit the road. It was indeed only a half hour, but it was the most fun half hour of driving ever. You wind down the hills (LOTS of switchbacks) with amazing vistas and altitude markers (+500m, Sea Level, -100m, -200m! etc) until the Dead Sea appears. It is, incredibly, just like it looks on Google Earth - mountains coming down to the sea, the salt ponds where they harvest ... salt, and Jordan across the way. More on that later. We turned left (north) and headed up to Masada.





Masada is a mountaintop fortress built by King Herod the Great around 20 BC. You can understand his selection of the site as a good defensive location (cliffs drop straight down outside the double row of casement walls protecting it), but you cannot fathom how the heck they built it. Over two thousand years ago they built this shockingly complex city on top of a mountain. There are palaces, cisterns, aqueducts, more palaces, watch towers and houses; most of the ruins are still intact enough to know what you're looking at - 2000 years later! I recommend looking it up (Wikipedia still exists back in the real world, right?)

So, they climbed up this hill to build a fortress. How did we get up there to see it? We climbed too! A 40 minute hike up 300m on a very steep grade usually is not an everyday thing. Add in that it is almost a hundred degrees out and it was something else. We went through many liters of water, all of which sweated out immediately, and I'm sure more than a few calories. Aside: since Paris (cheese), we have been doing enough hiking around that, even though it's vacation and we're eating well, we are keeping the weight off.





They call the route up that we took Snake Path. It was ... difficult. But worth it. There is also an easier way, the Ramp Path (without going in to all the history, the Romans built a ramp and a seige tower to conquer the Israelite Zealots here in their last stand following the war in 70 AD). And about 12 years ago they built a cable car that can take you up the really easy way (if you go, hike up - it is worth it! But wear sturdy shoes; the path is mostly loose rocks and large, uneven stairs). We took the cable car down, although it probably isn't too bad of a hike on the return.

Consistent with our MO, we timed this adventure with middle-of-the-day heat. Fortunately we had a date with the Ein Gedi Spa on the Dead Sea. Definitely treat yourself to this too if you get to Masada. Although parts of the place had a stench of sulphur (people PAY to sit in that stinky water!), the facilities are great with locker rooms, a freshwater pool and a beach on the Dead Sea. This may be my favorite park of vacation so far (Note: I have not been able to ride a camel yet as of this posting). Just like everyone says, you walk out (with water shoes / sandals), lean back and, voila, you just float! It isn't like "it's easy to float" - literally, you just float. No effort, no nothing. Put your hands behind your head and lay there. Every bit of you floats - no sinking feet or butt or anything. It is hard to describe the feeling, but you know when you try to push a beach ball or noodle underwater? Your whole body feels that buoyant. Diana rested her head on my belly and neither of us sank or anything. You just ... float. You can float on your stomach too, but don't try swimming much. If you get any water in your eye, it really hurts as much as anyone says. Believe me. If you are intrepid though, I suggest licking a drop of water off your finger; it is so salty that it almost hurts. It is waaaay saltier tasting than licking solid table salt (because you don't have to wait for it to dissolve). The water is 32% salt (7 times saltier than ocean water). One day, if I ever have a yard, I am going to make a swimming pool that has the same concentration of salts as the Dead Sea, so we all can float. You are all invited!





We went in the Dead Sea 3 times, the swimming pool a couple times and smeared Dead Sea mud all over ourselves (but stayed away from the sulphur baths and showers). Oh, FYI - the Sea is refreshing in that it is water and fun and all, but the water is not cold - for 1-2 feet of water at the surface, it was hot, like hotter than hot tub hot. We also "played" on the beach - instead of sand and rocks, there are salt crytals and salt rocks. Don't tell the salt miners here, but I took a couple small salt rocks to bring home! We spent the afternoon playing there, then got back in the car (we should have hired a driver) to head for Eilat.





There was a checkpoint just before Eilat that surprised me (no troubles getting through: she wrote down all my information from my driver's license - not passport - and let me go in about 5 minutes). Eilat is the southern most city in Israel, on the Red Sea. Funny story: in the 17th century, some dude was copying a Bible over from Latin to English and dropped an E from the printing press. The Red Sea was, for thousands of years, the Reed Sea. Although, since the setting sun lights the water up in some sweet red colors and the surrounding hills glow red too, the name isn't that bad. Eilat is a pretty new city, even newer than Tel Aviv. Diana described the city as a little Atlantic City-esque. I haven't been (to AC, duh), but I am inclined to agree. About the city that is; the water is where it's at here. There are huge yachts, water-facing restaurants, all kinds of water sports and some awesome coral reefs to explore. We didn't get snorkeling in the reefs, but we did explore them a little today at this place that had a big glass bubble underwater near the reef that you can go down to and see the corals and fishes. There are also some places that make great food here - we recommend the Last Refuge if you like fish and seafood at all. The fresh fish, and service, was outstanding. The one drawback to dinner was that we love to sit outside and, eventhough the sun had just set, it was still 104 degrees in the shade. There was a stiff breeze, but it was the same feeling as when you open the oven - I don't think it was helping. When our food came out (piping hot) I said we shouldn't bother waiting for it to cool - it probably was just going to get hotter.

I can't believe it, but 'already' we drive back to Tel Aviv tomorrow for our flight to Egypt. That unfortunately means that our adventure is more than half over ...

If you're following along at home, leave a comment on a post (how are the Celtics doing?) We miss everyone, and we wish you could be here to enjoy these travels with us. It would be nice to hear from you.