Day 19: Masada and the Dead Sea (June 30)

We went down to breakfast at the hostel and whereas last week we had walked out when we saw a crate of raw onions, this time we figured out they were just supplying ingredients for us to cook.  There was a full kitchen for everyone to use and a young man (from Palo Alto!) making himself breakfast.  Julia and Jim walked to get pastries (time is limited and there are many pastries in the world to try), I scrambled us up some eggs and Rachel made a cucumber and tomato salad.  It was strange to be cooking again, and even stranger to be washing dishes.  It was tasty though - and all before 7:15 am, when we were picked up by our tour company to go to Masada and the Dead Sea.

I was really worried at first.  We don't usually travel in tours and this company picks people up from all over Tel Aviv and takes them to a central location to divide into different tours heading out in different directions.  So, you really felt like part of a factory until it all got sorted.  I had paid a little extra to go "business" class which I don't think was any greater comfort, but did guarantee us a smaller group (up to 19).  We were a full group with a tour guide named Yehuda.  Funny thing about having more people to talk to in a group - you talk to fewer!  I actually ended the day not speaking to one other person on the tour!   It also made me appreciate Muhummad's habit of calling everyone by name - this was far less personal.


To add to the feeling of being part of herd of tourist cattle, our first stop was an Elvis-themed roadside diner!  If you order a drink it comes with a mandatory Elvis mug and a "free" croissant.  The guy explained to me it was an expensive cup of milk but it comes with a free croissant...I didn't argue the point that that isn't the definition of free.


On the up side however, it turned out that Yehuda is a super knowledgeable guy.  He was actually an archaeology student at Masada and worked there for a few years before needing to leave to go back to school to become a tour guide to make more money.  So, he knows and cares about the history of what we were seeing and gave us a great tour. It should come as little surprise by this point in the blog that though I had traveled to Israel and booked a tour to Masada, I had no idea what Masada was or why it was important.  It is the hilltop fortress built by King Herod to which the last of the Jews retreated until it was clear they were about to be overcome by the Romans (after two years of the Romans building a ramp and battering ram to break down the wall) and instead of becoming slaves to the Romans, the remaining Jews killed their wives and children and then killed themselves.  It is hard to imagine surviving out in that desert and building such a fortress in the first place.  We keep getting reassured that this isn't hot - wait til August.  Tip: don't visit the Middle East in August!

below black line original, above reconstructed

From there we went to the Dead Sea, the place Jim most wanted to see on this trip.  The beach we went to (with all the other tourists in Israel) was developed with lockers, showers, juice bars, real bars.  The girls and I agree it is something we are glad to have done, but not something we ever need to do again.  (I think Jim would come again, he loved to float).  They tell you not to drink the water (from the little I got in my mouth it is disgusting) and not to try to swim (because you can't and will end up face down, probably drinking the water).  But, they don't tell you that the ground to get in is scorching hot, that the bottom is full of sink holes that you fall into as you wade in, and that when you float there are salt rock statues along the bottom that hurt when you hit them.  I left the water bloody and bruised from the salt rocks, but with super soft skin after our 20 minute mud mask.

We wanted to be dropped off in Jerusalem rather than taken back to Tel Aviv so had to switch to a bigger bus and had to wait longer than we wanted at the Dead Sea.  But, we were delivered directly to our apartment where we watched a little soccer and walked to a restaurant Julia had found that was open on a Saturday night, Foccacia Bar.  We had a great waiter who was from New York but moved to Jerusalem recently.  When I asked why, he let us in on his secret (that his work doesn't know) that he is here to join the army and is training and learning the language.  He said we were his favorite customers (of the night, but I think ever) and that he really wanted to walk us out.  We thought he had some even bigger secret to tell us, but he literally just walked us to the door and said goodnight.  I still think maybe he is being held captive or something and was trying to communicate with us in code.  I hope not; if so we really let him down.