The Never-Ending Day!

The last few days, we've met for breakfast at 7am, which felt quite early to most of us. This was nothing though in comparison to our early start this morning. We met up at 3:25 in the morning (which can't really be considered anything, but night) to begin our journey to Masada. We climbed up the snake path up Masada in order to see the sunrise at the top.

It was a very difficult hike -- completely uphill (a few people counted the stairs and settled on a number between 962-976). The trek was definitely worth it because the sunrise from the top was absolutely beautiful.

After taking myriad pictures, Elaun took us around the mountain and told us the story of Masada. It was really incredible to walk around the 2000+ year old structures and see the fortress while learning the history. At a whopping 8:45am, we headed back down the mountain (though it felt like noon).

We also went to the Dead Sea today. We bought Dead Sea mud and rubbed it on each other -- its apparently supposed to make your skin smooth. The water was a very strange consistency and it was a very weird feeling to float even if you were trying not to and laying in weird positions. The water itself wasn't super pleasant -- it burned and stung. It was a really cool experience despite the discomfort and our skin is probably healthier now.