Masada and the Dead Sea

view of the Dead Sea from Masada
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We left Jerusalem at 7am to head on a day trip to Qumran, Masada, the Dead Sea and Jericho.  Qumran is the caves that were found not too long ago by a local shepherd and had the Dead Sea Scrolls in them.  We learned that the scrolls were written by Jewish monks at the time that John the Baptist was around.  Later the caves were used by Byzantine monks.  We paid entry and went in but learnt that we couldn't go in the caves so that was a bit of a waste of time (and money).  Head off in the bus to Masada.

James in a cistern in Masada
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Masada was amaaaazing.  It was the last stand of the rebel jews against the Romans.  There were 1000 jews in there (including women and children) and the fortress is on top of a mountain (we had to get a cable car to it) where Herod originally built it.  The Romans spent months building a ramp up to it and once they breached the walls, all they found were 998 bodies.  The jews had drawn straws and it had been left to 10 men to kill all the others and then each other so the romans couldn't do it.  They left all their food out so the romans could see it wasn't because of starvation.  Two women hid in the cisterns and were able to tell the story.  We explored the fortress and found it to be amazing, especially with all the cisterns and water tunnels that kept them hydrated.

James sitting on the wall of Old Jericho
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After we left Masada we head to the Dead Sea for a swim.  We knew that we would be extra buoyant in the water but were still surprised by how much.  It was great fun and we covered ourselves with the mud to look like swamp creatures.  When we washed it all off our skin felt amazing if a little slimy.

We were taken to a buffet restaurant in our bus but James and I had eaten already so sat outside in the garden and chatted to some locals who climbed the palms to pick some dates for us.  Then we head to Jericho.  There are different parts of Jericho, the old city and some other places that are supposed to be momentous but it wasn't terribly impressive so we didn't spend long there and head back to Jerusalem.