We finished our packing and then walked to Eldan to collect our car. There were not many taxis about and anyway, the traffic seemed a bit chaotic so we think it was quicker to walk. At Eldan they gave us a Nissan Micro, the one that looks like a bug. It was a lot smaller than we were expecting and were not sure if the boot would hold our bags.  Rob looked at it and thought it would take our baggage, so after negotiating the traffic we got back to the studio and loaded up. No chance did the luggage fit in and we had to put the back seat half forward. In contrast to the previous car, it was Jen this time that tried not to say “I told you so”.  So it was back to Eldan. After a little argument they said they did not have anything else in that class, but could upgrade us for $10 a day… but would only charge us $5 a day … mmm. So we left them, as the car had to be fetched from the car park, and went and had breakfast at the YMCA.

The only breakfasts available was the buffet for 50 NIS, so we tried to make it worth while. It was good that we had breakfast there as we would only find somewhere to eat much later in the day.

Leaving Jerusalem we travelled north and missed the turn that would have taken us through the tunnel, so we went the long way around which was good as we got to see some of the suburbs north of Jerusalem.  (Don’t blame the navigator for missing the turn;  the driver had said he knew where to go.) Travelling down the Route 1 again towards Jericho was quiet on our side of the road, but the traffic coming into Jerusalem was a lot heavier.

Turning into Qumran we saw two tour buses so were expecting a crowd. After having the last use out of our “National Park 6-visit ticket” punched and stamped “Finished” we joined the groups for the audio visual that was in English, so maybe we timed our arrival right.  The “Six for 80 NIS ticket” was a good deal as it allowed us to visit 6 of the parks, and as most parks charge more than 20 NIS it is good value.  It is valid for two weeks so suited us fine.  As most of the historical sites are covered by the ticket, 58 out of the 64 parks in fact, we will buy a 4-pass ticket at the next park.   (Incidentally, we had 8 visits for our 6 pass, we were not charged for Arbel Cliffs which was new, or for Herodium since Bruce had worked there).

The movie at Qumran was interesting and gave an impression of the life of the people who had lived there. That was after you survived the “flying” through and over the hills. The effect of flying over the hills is great but in the small auditorium it gets a bit hectic after a while. What was different was that at the end of the video the centre of the three screens lifted to allow you to walk into and through the static exhibition of some of the artefacts. Stepping out into the sunlight was dazzling to say the least. Boy it was bright and hot, our car indicated 38.5 degrees outside, and it felt like it.

We walked around the site and looked at the ruins and came to one conclusion … they were obsessed with bathing!   We don’t know how many ritual baths they had but it must have been important since the area is so hot and dry and lacking in water.

An ice-cream from the little shop help cool and sustain us as we headed for Mineral Beach.  Suzanne had told us about a lookout point just before the security check point so we turned off the road and climbed the twisty and steep road eventually coming out at a series of viewpoints, looking

both over the Dead Sea and the Judean Desert. One of the view points was

named zero feet, it was at sea level, and rather strange to be standing above such a large body of water and on rolling desert hills and to be at sea level. A lovely cool breeze made it very pleasant, maybe that is why the settlement a little further along the road was built here. The splash of green in the stark desert again makes you realise how the desert can bloom and is blooming.

Travelling on we passed a “beware of the camel” sign, strange to see but then that is probably (!) the biggest wildlife around here. At Mineral Beach we paid for our entrance, towels (with refundable deposit) and a locker key and then changed into
our swimming costumes. The walk down to the actual beach seemed to get longer by the minute, or maybe it was getting longer. With the water level receding, you can see where the water level had been but as the water recedes each year so the palm frond shade structures and showers are built closer to the water edge.

Walking into the water at first seems quite normal until you are about bum deep then you start getting the sensation that this is not a normal as it appears. This is not helped by the sight of people effortlessly floating on the water. The suggested method of floating is to sit down when you are waist deep, and then your feet just pop up on to the surface and you are floating bum down. Having recovered from the shock you now relax and stretch out and whoa .. you float… the only sensation is a feeling that you are so light that you will turn over.  Rob turned over and “swam” for a while, bum up in the air!

After floating around for a bit the next bit of fun is MUD!

At the end of the beach is a mud pit … for real. Digging in and coming out with hand-fulls of black mud we covered ourselves, not quite head to foot but we got BLACK.  Being black for a while didn’t feel any different apart from the tingling our faces and a little bit of stinging on a small abrasion on Jen’s hand. The mud has supposed healing properties and is good for the skin. So after letting the mud bake on a bit, we floated back in and let most of the mud wash off and then showered off the rest.

Once changed and back to our normal colour range, by now ranging from lily white (on the bum) to a dull red glow (our faces and arms) we headed for Ein Gedi. We had hoped to walk to David’s Waterfall but the temperature was still climbing and the crowd at the park “encouraged” us to move on. Stopping at the Ein Gedi beach we had lunch at the cafeteria, they won’t win any food awards but at least it was food…

Travelling on we arrived at Masada at around 4pm, checking into the guest house we collapsed on our respective beds and had a sleep. The view from our room, basic but clean and comfortable, is wonderful and looks out over the desert with the blue of the Dead Sea in the distance backed by the mountains of Jordan.

A comment about checking in – we have never, while in Israel, been asked for the spelling of our surname.  We might have been asked to repeat it once but our reservation has always been found in their system.   It was the same here at Masada.  Apparently this is because all words are spelled phonetically in Hebrew.

On checking in, we had asked if it was possible to get supper.  The desk clerk dubiously suggested that we come down at supper time and look at the food (he described the food as “school food”)  and then make a decide whether we’d eat here or go out.

We were too tired to go out so had supper here.  It was exactly as the desk clerk had said –  school food.  Chicken nuggets, vienna sausages, rice, penne with tomato sauce, corn on the cob and some stranger-than-usual salads. The riot of teenagers (four tour buses) were accompanied by armed guards as we have seen on numerous other occasions.  These were armed with M16’s and we are still unsure as to their real purpose – guarding the children or guarding the public from the children!  We still wouldn’t argue with them (neither guards nor kids…)

It’s going to be an early night as we want to be up at 4:00am so we can climb the snake path to see the sunrise from the top of Masada.   We are deliberating as to whether we will come down via the snake path or whether we’ll wait for the first cable car just after 8h00.  Either way, we want to be back in time for breakfast (after all, we’ve paid for it!)

Tomorrow …Masada at dawn! Day 17