Masada, Dead Sea, and Qumran Day 8

Today is the day that we ventured off into the Judean and Negev Deserts alongside the Dead Sea toward Masada.

Prior to venturing off, we had breakfast, which was a bit of a circus given the numbers of groups that are all here at the same time. At least this morning we didn't have an interloper join our group. Last night as we were eating supper, a woman decided to sit at our assigned table who wasn't from our group. We decided to name her Marie, as Marie (who was part of our group) wasn't feeling that well and thus stayed in her room for the evening.

Well, this morning, we ventured off to Masada. it was a beautiful day. We got to the park and took the cable car up the side of the mesa. Amazingly it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. After all, I break a sweat getting on a step ladder. We had two nice Scottish people join our group for the day, Lavinia and Andrew, who know Johnny our tour guide, and were staying in Jerusalem to visit their daughter who lives here with her husband.

Anyhow, once at the top, the views of the valley were breathtaking, as well as views of the Dead Sea. The sea has evaporated quickly, as we were able to see where a resort was built that happened to be on it, that now was about a half mile away.

It's utterly amazing how anyone could possibly live in this kind of climate, let alone at the top of a plateau. But the Zionists certainly did give the Romans a good go, even though the end didn't turn out so hot.

Imagining what is was like to live up there I cannot imagine. but it certainly was a great day to see all of the valley. After watching a video about the Masada, a treasure to Israelis in demonstration of strength and defense, we continued on our way to a private beach on the Dead Sea. We first had lunch, and then changed into our bathing costumes to experience the Dead Sea.

There is nothing else like it.

You can literally float on your back, and it's as if you're sitting in a floatie. You can float on your stomach, with your legs in the air as if you're on a water cushion. The trick was to figure out how to aright yourself on your feet. It was extremely difficult. The rules were no splashing, no drinking the water, no meandering off. Well, the water tasted VERY salty almost bitter. One member of the group got some in her eye, and was in a lot of pain. Trying to walk into the sea over the salt crystals was a challenge. It felt like you were walking on coral. And...if you had ANY abrasion on your skin, you'd feel it right away.

While in the water, my skin felt like I had put baby oil all over it, but as soon as it started drying, it felt very sticky and crusty. It was very strange. Again, there is no other experience I have had that will ever come close to it, but I'm glad I did it.

After taking a dip in the Dead Sea, we did some shopping in the cosmetics area where I was able to buy several different products made with Dead Sea salt and minerals.

Then it was off to Qumran.

Qumran is the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, or, the oldest translation of all the books of the Old Testament of the Bible (except the book of Esther). Given the group that wrote them down as being Orthodox Jews, I'm not surprised that one of the few books of the Bible titled with a woman's name wasn't there.

Apparently a shepherd had lost a goat, and saw a cave into which he threw a rock, which in turn shattered a jar, which in turn held the scrolls. They never did say what happened to the goat, although after seeing the cave the scrolls were found in (which is high on a cliff, and has a pretty steep drop off), I'm fairly certain the goat was a goner.

The Asim's must have been very clean people, with the 5-6 mikvahs they had in their little community (and it was all men). With all the baths, I'm surprised given the location in the middle of the desert (even with large cisterns) that they were able to have that much water. After all, the Dead Sea isn't good for anything, except for salt.

After leaving Qumran, we sventured into Jericho, where we looked at Hebron Glass. It's beautiful glass, in greens, blues, and pinks. After buying a few items in the store (and getting them shipped home), it was time to breathe and say, ok...you've spent enough. But, I am happy with my purchases, and hopefully they'll make it to my home.

Yet again, another good day!