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Published: June 11th 2006
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Masada
View of Masada from the top Our group woke up at 3:45 am in order to beat the other groups to Masada which was 15 minutes from the Bedouin village. We woke in the cold desert grabbed our things, had some hot shai tea, and a few biscuits to start our early day. We drove through the dark and winding roads to reach the foot of Masada. We stopped for a few minutes to gaze upon it from the bottom with the early morning twilight. We climbed Masada via the Roman Ramp which had been built by the Roman to conquer the fortress. The climb was steep and had many steeps to traverse. There must have been a thousand people climbing Masada to reach the top to view the sunrise over the dead sea and the Jordan Mountains. The sun rose not too long after reaching the top. The sunrise was spectacular and afterward we toured the ancient site of Masada. Masada was originally built by King Herrod as a desert fortress high up in the mountains. Herrod had all the luxuries of the Roman empire on top of his desert fortress with baths, saunas, and was built to bring the wind into the building to cool
The Roman Ramp
The climb up Masada to make it for the sunrise. the palace. Later Masada became a fotress and settlement for a groups Jewish people. The Roman Army went to conquer Masada over a period of eight months. They built a ramp to the top but the night before the Jewish group was captured they decided to take there own lives. Masada is now a symbol for modern day Israel and they have a saying "That Masada will not fall again!" After spending our time on top we had to descend to bottom which we took the snake path down. The snake path winds all the way down via 700 stairs and path. Our calfs, thighs, and hamstrings were burning by the time we reached the bottom but luckly there was a strategically placed fresh squezed orange juice stand on the bottom. After the hike our bus had breakfast on the bottom of Masada. I finally realized I was in Israel when I was eating a Kosher diary breakfast meal, I was surrounded by date palms, Masada and the desert mountains stood in front of me, and the dead sea was behind me.
After breakfast we headed over to the Ein Gedi oasis in the middle of the desert. From
the desert entrance you can't see any green life in the area but after enter the gorge area we were treated a small river and lush trees. The area was home to the Ibex and the hybrex. After climbing and trekking to the desert we finally came upon a beautiful waterfall and a small lake in the Oasis. The group dived into the fabulous water and swan in the middle of the desert. After a refreshing swim we hiked a climbed farther in came upon Israel's largest waterfall and all of this was in the middle of the desert. After hiking and climbing our way out we journeyed to the Dead Sea.
Finally we arrived at the Dead Sea. The water was beautiful with mountains surrounding the entire area. I slowly waded into the water as every little cut started to burn in the intense salt water. After wading into deep water all you had to do was pick up your feet and you floating like a cork in the water. There was such a buoyant feeling, you could not swim, and it was difficult to put down your feet. After floating around the water for a good while,
Fun at the Dead Sea
I was covered head to toe in the Dead Sea mud I drifted over to the shore where everybody was putting mud on there body from head to toe. You just pick up a chunk from under the water and you start slathering it all over your body. Everybody was covered head to toe and we looked around and laughed at each other. After rinsing the mud off your skin does feel smoother. In some spas you would pay big money to get Dead Sea mud put on you but at the Dead Sea you do it for free! Our group changed cloths and left the Dead Sea tired and worn out from the day.
We travel south again to the town and Kibbutz Tzeelim. We showered off the stink and dirt of the day and enjoyed a relaxing night and shabbat service. After dinner we found out we were only 11 miles from the Gaza strip. During the night we heard Israeli artillery firing into the Gaza strip. It was an unusual experience to hear the sounds of war so close. We where safe in the Kibbutz with an Israeli military base nearby and were out of range of any weapon the Palestinians have. Israel is a small country
and this is what the people of Israel deal with every day. Although the sounds of war were nearby, I still feel safe in this country.
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Chase N. Tales
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Pass the Pepper
With all that salt... you need to have just a dash of pepper to make the day right... The mud bath well that puts things in the right perspective... Have fun...