Entrance to Masada
Cable car up Masada
Inside cable car like sardines
The walking trail up Masada
Ophir points to black line which show original stone versus new
Ophir on Masada
rest area on Masada
model of how they collected water
One of the cisters
heating system on Masada
Model of what Masada loooked like
Looking down to Herod's castle
Rich says drink your water it is hot here
Cable car starting area on top
The snake trail up Masada
The Dead Sea
Floating in the Dead Sea
Eating lunch at Masada Spa
Mamilla Mall in Jerusalem
Dinner in Mimilla Mall
Ophir and DaisyOctober 29, 2011 – Saturday
HISTORY AND PRIDE:
We left the hotel at 8:00 a.m. and descended from Jerusalem at 2400 ft. above sea
level all the way to the Dead Sea which is 1300 ft. below sea level. This trip
took us through the desert – an area that only gets about two to three inches
of rain per year. The Israelis are being prohibited from building settlements here because this would totally cut off East Jerusalem from having a route to the West Bank which is needed to link them together once a 2 state solution becomes a reality.
We are driving all the way along the Dead Sea down to Masada.
Ophir told us about a project called Red to Dead – takes water from the Red Sea to
the Dead Sea which would allow wonderful farming and increased tourism. Qumran
– city where they found the Dead Sea Scrolls – from the 2nd century.
MASADA
We are all armed with hats, suntan lotion, sun glasses and good walking
shoes. At this time, Lenny, Jon Ebin and
Geri are the only ones of our group of 15 who are planning to make the climb to
the top of Masada walking up the famous Snake Trail. We did this 17 years ago without any difficulty but we will see how we feel about trying it now when we actually get there. Once we got there, Rich felt that we should all take the cable car up in order not to hold the whole group up so we did.
HISTORY AND PRIDE:
We left the hotel at 8:00 a.m. and descended from Jerusalem at 2400 ft. above sea
level all the way to the Dead Sea which is 1300 ft. below sea level. This trip
took us through the desert – an area that only gets about two to three inches
of rain per year. The Israelis are being prohibited from building settlements here because this would totally cut off East Jerusalem from having a route to the West Bank which is needed to link them together once a 2 state solution becomes a reality.
We are driving all the way along the Dead Sea down to Masada.
Ophir told us about a project called Red to Dead – takes water from the Red Sea to
the Dead Sea which would allow wonderful farming and increased tourism. Qumran
– city where they found the Dead Sea Scrolls – from the 2nd century.
MASADA
We are all armed with hats, suntan lotion, sun glasses and good walking
shoes. At this time, Lenny, Jon Ebin and
Geri are the only ones of our group of 15 who are planning to make the climb to
the top of Masada walking up the famous Snake Trail. We did this 17 years ago without any difficulty but we will see how we feel about trying it now when we actually get there. Once we got there, Rich felt that we should all take the cable car up in order not to hold the whole group up so we did.
It was hot at 10:30 and it was probably good that we did not do it. 17 years ago, we climbed it at 5:30 a.m. which makes it much much cooler. Ophir, once again, was a terrific guide. We started in the new theater with a short Video on the history of Masada which was quite good – just 10 minutes; then up to the top in the cable car. Despite being here for the 3rd time, we were still awestruck by the whole experience. Herod did a wonderful job of designing his fortress complete with a huge palace and an intricate cistern system for collecting water. We also saw the bath house, ancient synagogue and even heard about them replanting a 2000 year old fig seed that is now blossoming into a tree. When the Jews were here, this was the last
stronghold for them against the Romans and in the end, they chose a group
suicide rather than surrendering to slavery.
DEAD SEA:
Lenny,John, Marvin ,Don and Bruce all donned their bathing suits and trudged into the
Dead Sea for the traditional sit on the water picture taken by all the girls
who did not go in the water. There we had an extensive buffet lunch before
boarding the bus back to Jerusalem.
In the evening we had terrific seats for the amazing Sound and Light Laser Show
at the Tower of David that traced the history of the Jews in Israel from Biblical Times through 1948. We all thoroughly enjoyed the show and highly recommend it.
We then went to dinner at “The Spaghetti’s at the Mamilla Mall which was directly
across the street from our hotel. Once again, too much food. Our group is
really bonded now with each other and we are having a great time together.
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