Masada

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Geo: 31.0461, 34.8516

This is an amazing historical site. If anyone does not know the main story of Masada read The Dovekeepers or google it. The history of the site goes back to King Herod. This guy knew how to spend money. He built a winter castle on the mountain complete with saunas and bath houses. The main reason it is so well known though is it was the final home of about 700 Jews fleeing the Romans. I was amazed to see how much of the site has been excavated
You can easily picture how everything was managed - living quarters, food storage, water cisterns - amazing. Then, the ramp the Romans built to reach the Jews living there...very sad ending to the story.
After Masada we went to a bedouin camp. This is a fun, if touristy, experience. The camp is huge and has sleeping quarters for anywhere from 4 to 25 to share. We had two very comfortable "camps" complete with heaters which we really needed. The weather, which has been spectacular, has taken a cold, rainy turn. We were very cozy. Dinner was in a large communal tent and was traditional bedouin fare. Large platters with meats, vegetables and rice. Side dishes of hummous, tahini and a variety of salads.
It rained off and on all night. In the very early morning we heard fighter jets which practice over the desert. The joke was, if they weren't Israeli, we would never know it.

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