a Masada sunrise, Ein Gedi waterfalls, and floating in the Dead Sea

I was convinced to join a tour group to Masada, Ein Gedi, and the Dead Sea that left from the Abraham Hostel at 3:10am in order to make it to Masada in time to catch the sun rise. I ended up in a van with Myles, a girl from Germany, a family from Spain, a couple from Australia, and a lady from Brazil. I love the conversations and friendships that form while traveling...

We got to Masada in about an hour and started hiking up the 350 meters before the sun flushed the foggy sky in oranges and purples. It was quite strenuous...

Goodnight moon...

Hello sun!

Yes, that's the Dead Sea... quite receded.

We got to the top before the sun filled the sky. Since many of you have already seen photos from my last visit to Masada, I'll just include a few here that capture the increasing light. It was magnificent to watch the stones glow...

This is a photo of me at the bottom of a very deep cistern. You'd certainly need to store a lot of water out here in the Judean Desert! The photo was taken from about a third of the way up:

See those black specks at the top of the tower above? Those aren't Tristram's Grackles, which are all over the Dead Sea area, but Israeli drummers. The music created a lively atmosphere. And speaking of birds, check out this columbarium (that some people think is a dovecot) and the shadow-play:

My favorite window:

I strongly encourage those of you who aren't familiar with Masada to read about it. Here's a link from UNESCO to start with. The site is massive (image credit: Wikipedia):

Map of Masada: 1. snake path gate. 2. rebel dwellings. 3. Byzantine monastic cave. 4. eastern water cistern. 5. rebel dwellings. 6. mikvah. 7. southern gate. 8. rebel dwellings. 9. southern water cistern. 10. southern fort. 11. swimming pool. 12. small palace. 13. round columbarium tower. 14. mosaic workshop. 15. small palace. 16. small palace. 17. public immersion pool.

18–21. Western Palace: 18. service area. 19. residential area. 20. storerooms. 21. administrative area. 22. tanners' tower. 23. western Byzantine gate. 24. columbarium towers. 25. synagogue. 26. Byzantine church. 27. barracks.
28–39. Northern Palace: 28. grand residence. 29. quarry. 30. commandant’s headquarters. 31. tower. 32. administration building. 33. gate. 34. storerooms. 35. bathhouse. 36. water gate.

37–39. Herod's Palace: 37. upper terrace. 38. middle terrace. 39. lower terrace.

A. ostraca cache found in casemate. B. Herod's throne room. C. colorful mosaic. D. Roman breaching point. E. coin cache found. F. ostraca cache found. G. three skeletons found.

Then, we took the van over to Ein Gedi (Joshua 15:62, 1 Samuel 23:29, Ezekiel 47:10...), where we hung out under a palm canopy until the entrance to the waterfalls opened (it was not even 8am, after all!). Upon entering, we were greeted by ibexes, rock hyraxes (featured in Leviticus 11:5 as an "unclean" animal even though it's not a ruminant), and many Tristram's Grackles. I stood very close to an ibex for a while as I watched him eat from a tree.

Check out this guy's incisors:

Especially after our hike up and down Masada in the intensifying heat, it was glorious to sit under the waterfalls:

(this guy is for you, Seth)

And finally... the Dead Sea! No balls of sharp (although pretty awesome) salt crystals on the shore this time... just delightful, squishy mud. The land behind the floating me is Jordan!

:)