After breakfast we headed for a drive through the West Bank (safe parts) to the Dead Sea. Our first stop was Masada. I really had no idea what this place was or the story behind it. Pretty much what happened is Herod the Great built a palace here in the middle of nowhere, right in the desert on a high up mountain above the dead sea.
After Herod died the Romans inherited it and then got conquered by the Zealots who literally caught them with their pants down and then later the Romans wanted it back. Instead of becoming slaves the Zealots killed themselves which shocked the Romans. Crazy story.
The change of landscape from the Judean hills to only a few miles away in the Judean desert is as drastic as it gets. The desert gets 2 inches of rain a year.
On the road.
Date trees all over Judean Desert by the dead sea.
This is the line a British dude drew a long time ago to mark the dead see level. The dead sea is now hundreds of feet lower. It recedes about 3 feet a year. It will eventually stop receding though.
The Dead Sea! Lowest place on earth! Over 1300 feet below sea level. That's crazy!
Tool the cable car up to Masada, which is about 1500 feet above the dead sea. Living here sounds like hell. They chose here for security and safety.
The view from Masada to the Dead Sea.
Pictures of Masada.
2000 year old paint.
This was Herod's palace. Crazy they lived here.
Where the Romans built the tower to attack the Zealots.
The Baker's crack me up. They carry so much crap!
After lunch we went for a dip in the Dead Sea. I was pretty stoked. The water is around 35% mineral content so you float on top. 35% mineral content!!! The water is also a great health provider for skin ailments such as Cerises. Many people come here to cure it. You can also do a MUD bath here which helps extract impurities from your skin. it is a legitimate health spa.
Oh wow... Who let this guy where that blue speedo?
You better believe I slopped some mud on this hard body!
This is me floating. It is the most bizarre feeling! It wants to lift you right out of the water.
Nothing really lives in the dead sea. It kills all... Sady even my flip flop. Dang it!! I got these in Hong Kong and have loved them!
We then headed to Qumran which is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found! Cool! See the caves?
Then we headed to the Jordan River which flows into the Dead Sea. Somewhere in this river Christ was baptized. We read the account. We also read about Joshua who came here with the ark of the covenant. It is so neat to be on location and reading about experiences that happened right near that location.
This group was soooo loud. Immersing themselves. Yelling and praying and i think. Many people here were singing and stuff here too.
After the noise left I had a great moment here and felt really good and spiritual. A great feeling and a great peace came over me. This is why I have wanted to come to The Holy Land for so long! Christ was baptized near here in this river!
What a day. We then headed for the Sea of Galilee and our hotel which is in Tiberias. So many places with scriptural history coming to life for me so fast!
Stopped and got watermelon along the way.
Across from the fruit stand I spotted a sheep herder with his sheep. Love it!
The Sea of Galilee!
Tiberias.
After dinner I decided it is time to continue getting caught up on the blog. This is where I uploaded Thailand and India posts and wrote others. Felt great! I have a ton of spare time for the first time on my trip. Read an awesome email from Jordan Peterson about Vietnam (thanks Jordan!) and then had a cold sprite and hung out with the receptionist who was so cool! These conversations make the trip so great! We both love punk rock and talked about music and America and Israel at great length! Loved chatting with Coral!
Cool day!
No comments:
Post a Comment