Nov 14 - Masada, Ein Gedi, Qumran Caves

Nov 14

Today we had a private driver take us to some sites outside of Jerusalem.  I'd had a better sleep last night, though the day began at 5am when the girls in the dorm room across from us started packing their bags (I assume for a flight).

Ein Gedi Nature Reserve

We traveled to Ein Gedi Nature Reserve.  It's quite an odd thing to hear and see a waterfall in this barren, dry, landscape.

 

Qumran Caves

Our first sight-seeing stop was at Qumran.  We explored through the settlement of the Essences and had a view of the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found - yes, these caves do have a great view of the Dead Sea.

 cable car at Masada

We took a cable car up Masada, the mountain top fortress of King Herod.  In 66 AD it was the home of 890 jewish rebels (including families).  In 73 AD, the Romans broke through their strong holds and the men decided to kill their families and themselves rather than have them all become slaves.  Only 2 women and 5 children remained when the Romans entered.  

check out this website for an aerial view of Masada, it's pretty cool.  http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/Masada1.html

view from the top of Masada 

 Masada

 Masada

King David's tomb

My highlight was the Dead Sea (see my Dead Sea blog post).

Upon our return to Jerusalem, we headed towards Zion Gate and viewed the iconic room identified as the Room of the Last Supper.  Christians over the years have sure enshired a lot of historical sites, it's unfortunate.  A couple minutes away was the Tomb of David.  Last stop was the Chamber of the Holocaust, with photos and artifacts recovered from WW2.  The way the jews were treated is an absolute horror.

Finally, we took to our hostel roof top to cool off and relax  - it was 32 degrees again today.
We found the most excellent bakery in the Chrisitan Quarter, I've had 5 pastries today already and have bought a bag more for lunch tomorrow!

When heading out for supper, we ran into the Nova Scotian we'd met in Eilat.  He's returned from Jordan and is staying near Damascus Gate.  It's been fun running into an assortment of people on the trip.  The Calgarian lady talked our ears off the whole way up and down Mt Sinai, she was alot of fun.  And taking a 3 hr bus and crossing 3 borders with the couple from St. vital was just makes the world feel so small.

The Mount of Olives

Old city street

Tomorrow we take the public bus to Hadassah Hospital - it's supposed to have some great stained glass windows.  Then the Yad Vassem Holocaust museum and hopefully also the Tower of David Museum.  yes, the days are full, and I'm always up before 6 am.  A vacation for me is Not lounging around!