Masada, the Dead Sea & a Bedouin Experience

We travelled about an hour and a half from Jerusalem to get to Masada, a Unesco World Heritage site.  We rode up on a large cable car to the popular archaeological site, a desert fortress rising above the Dead Sea.  It was here that a revolt between the Jews and Romans occurred.  From the tragic events of the last days of the rebels at Masada was what made Masada a Jewish cultural icon and a symbol of humanity's continuous struggle for freedom from oppression.

A view of Masada from the road.

Looking down from the cable car.

Inside the fortress

Looking down toward the Dead Sea

The desolate land (Judean Desert)

The Dead Sea has an excessive amount of salt water and has killed off any marine life.  The Dead Sea is a lake, 80 km long and 10 km across at its widest point.  It is also the lowest point on earth at around 400m below sea level.  The water might be uncomfortable but is actually very healthy.  The evaporating gases from the sea filter out many of the sun's harmful rays, reducing the risk of a sunburn.  Israel also mines the minerals from the sea, near Sodom, and exports millions worth of minerals annually.  It was a great place to float and trust me everyone is able to float.

A herd of camel along the road on our way to the Bedouin village.

Next was our Bedouin experience.  We visited the Bedouin village of Kfar Hanokdim, had tea and coffee when we arrived as we listened to a Bedouin explain about the people and the village.  

Inside the tent where we had our tea.

A Bedouin man

The Bedouin man serving us tea.

Then we had our camel ride.  It was quite an experience for most of us getting on, hanging on and getting off of the camel.  We had lots of laughs watching each other.

The camels are waiting for us.

A Bedouin man and his camels.

After our camel ride the Bedouin man is taking his camels home.

On our return they had supper waiting.  We washed up and sat down to a delicious meal, salad, rice, steamed tomatoes, rice, chicken and lamb kebabs followed by tea.

The table was set waiting for us.