Tuesday, March 6, 2012: Day 10 (Oops)

Tuesday, March 6- First, I have to apologize about missing two days of blogging.  I wish I had a reason but it really comes down to laziness and a "Back to the Future" marathon (every night at the same time is a different "Back to the Future" movie on).  Yesterday was our free day.  Everyone did something different but one thing that we all did was add money to the Israeli economy.  Today we started a long journey into the desert.  Our first stop was Qumran.  Qumran (Hebrew: קומראן‎)  is an archaeological site in the West Bank. It is located on a dry plateau about a mile inland from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea. It is best known as the settlement nearest to the caves in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were hidden, caves in the sheer desert cliffs and beneath, in the marl terrace.    Next we drove down a little from Qumran to Masada.  Once there, we had to take a cable car up to the top.  Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the Southern District of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau, or horst, on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada is best known for the violence that occurred there in the first century CE. In the final accords of the First Jewish–Roman War, the Siege of Masada by troops of the Roman Empire led to the mass suicide of the Sicarii rebels. Our final stop of the day was at the Dead Sea.  There most of the group (excluding me) took a dip in the Dead Sea (when a say a dip I really mean a float).  The Dead Sea, also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are 1,388 ft below sea level, making it the Earth's lowest elevation on land. Another great day of touring!  Tomorrow we get to visit Vad Vashem the Israeli Holocaust Museum; looking forward d to that!  Till tomorrow.  Shalom, Ian