Waking up at 3:30 am isn’t normally as exciting as it was today. But today, in Israel, we not only woke up to 80 degree weather, but we knew we were going to hike Masada.
Bleary eyes looked up the Roman Ramp with trepidation, but with an encouraging shout from two participants, we started to climb. To everyone’s surprise, we made it up to the top of Masada in 15 minutes. The beauty of the desert, the sun rising over the Dead Sea, and the ruins, a sign of long-gone civilization, greeted us. We spent an hour exploring Ancient bathhouses, temples and food storage, peppered with colorful stories from our Israeli tour guide, Maxi.
The hike down the Snake Path was steep and hot, but our group was encouraging and helpful to those who have a fear of heights. A delicious breakfast greeted us at the bottom of Masada and we had some time to relax and shop for souvenirs (of course)!
Our next stop, a thousand plus year old synagogue in Ein Gedi and a surprise sighting of Ibex was a fun and educational break from the heat. Our next stop, at the Dead Sea was full of mud, salt and sun. We all ran into salty water and floated around for over an hour – a group bonding session in the Dead Sea? Not too bad.
Our final stop of Eilat, overlooking the Red Sea, had a cool breeze and a delicious dinner. We took a walk to the local Promenade and saw what locals do on a warm summer evening. Looking forward to snorkeling tomorrow morning!
Emilie & Joel
