Camels and Desert and Hikes, Oh My!
At 4:10 am, you could hear the alarms coming from Bus 409's Bedouin tent. Why so early you ask? Well, only to get the BEST possible spot on Masada to see the sunrise of course! And let us tell you, we did.
After some tea and cake, we loaded the bus at 5:00 am to drive down the road to Masada, the mountain which King Herod the Great inhabited for a number of years. We took the "Roman" path which was a steep staircase to the top of the mountain. Even though it was very early, we all raced as fast as we could to find the best spot. We finally made it to the top and into a lookout tower over the entire mountain, officially giving us the best look at the sunrise (see the picture attached!). Even though it was a bit cloudy making the sunrise hard to see, it was a beautiful sight to behold and it left us all feeling blessed to be in this wonderful country.
Our stop on Masada was not over yet! We continued to tour around Masada seeing the walls of old bedrooms, mikvahs, and more built by Herod the Great, where he lived for a number of years. We learned all about the history of Masada through skits performed by our fellow participants, hearing how the Romans empire troops wanted to take over this land. It was a lot of fun getting to see the views from up on the mountain, something that a picture could never truly display.
The Dead Sea was our next stop for today. Everyone tries to explain what the Dead Sea is going to be like and we've all pictured it many times throughout the trip, but getting to experience floating in this water was absolutely incredible. Between the salt and the mud, our skin is smooth as can be!
After getting as much salt and mud off as we could, we headed back to Jerusalem for the final stop on our trip. We kicked off our stay by learning about the geopolitical history of Israel becoming a country, as well as the difficult times it has gone through since becoming a country. We saw the news as reported by different news sources, propaganda, and social media, and how the bias these outlets have can affect the seriousness of these situations.
Today has been the longest and most fulfilling day of the trip! While we're sad it's almost over, we also appreciate all of the amazing experiences, sights, conversations, and moments we have spent together over these last nine days. Here's to making day ten one of the best!
