Not to keep restating this, but this was a remarkable day, and even though completed less than 24 hours ago, I am having trouble remembering all of the mention-worthy details of it. To summarize, we visited Masada, the Dead Sea and an amazing Arab restaurant.
Breakfast: Due only to my discipline and persistence, we woke up at 8:00 a.m., probably earlier than I have in many weeks. This was extremely important due to the number of activities we had lined up for the day, and accounting for all of the potential problems we would potentially face. Not only did we wake up reasonably on time, we managed to catch the hotel breakfast, while not amazing, was by far the best "included" breakfast I've had on this trip (and most definitely milchigdecha (sp?)) and included scrambled eggs, various cheeses, olives, freshish bread, coffee and fresh fruit.
Car Rental: Our hotel had given us a voucher for Hertz, telling us that a reservation would not be necessary (I had making reservations for car rental). We were incredibly efficient finding the rental car area, which was located near the King David Hotel. When I showed up at the counter, somewhat damp from walking, the girl told us that no cars were available, so much so that if we had a car she would take it from us. Just as I did in Avignon, I walked next door, this time to Avis, where we encountered a true circus of angry Orthodox Jews. Men standing dressed in black, with beards and hats, reading from prayer books while picking up/dropping off their cars, screaming at the people working at the desk. We prodded one guy who had been screaming at the employees to tell us where he was from originally, which was Toronto, but like the girls from Olympia, he almost seemed ashamed of this, much rather wishing to identify as either an Israeli or a Jew. I was struck by his somewhat smug attitude and dismissive attitude as to our proposed plan to visit Bethlehem in the Palestinian Territories because, of course, he's a Jew! The good news was that we got our car, a small, very easy to drive Nissan, for an amazing price far below that which I paid in Finland, Avignon, and long ago in Iceland.
The Drive to the Dead Sea/Masada: Was incredible. While the desert region on the way to the Dead Sea was particularly scenic, the roads were well maintained and we entertained ourselves listening to the mostly Arabic music on the radio (no idea what any of it meant), and once reaching the Dead Sea the cliffs alongside were very pretty. But as I had been warned, Israeli drivers are CRAZY! Super fast, super aggressive, never pleased to just drive at 10-20 above the speed limit, stacking up behind me in an effort to pas
s. We found both locations with relative ease.
The Camel Ride: While driving to the Dead Sea, we noticed a camel sitting on the side of the road and stopped to take a picture. Or rather, Natalia stopped to take a picture. When I noticed that she had been gone for a while, I looked back to see that she was riding the camel being guided by a young Palestinian
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guy (later revealed to be from Jericho (we were nearby)). He then invited me to get on as well, which I did. As scared as I am of horses, I think I may be even more scared of camels, especially the part where they lean to get up or sit down. We walked around in circles for a bit, then got off. I thought it would be free, but he ended up charging us 100 shekels. BOOOO!!!!
Masada: We drove up a hill, parked in the free parking (whoo hoo!!!!!) and walked into the air conditioned Masada center. Masada is an ancient Roman fortress within which the Zealot Jews of the first century were besieged, and upon realizing that all was lost, committed collective suicide. It is also considered a symbol of Jewish resistance. I thought it was a pretty amazing/famous historical site, with first class views of the Dead Sea and the surrounding desert. After waiting through an embarrassingly slow line (behind a Catholic monk no less!), we got to the counter and eagerly asked for two "hiking" tickets -- that is, we wanted to hike up the 45 minute, 350 meter altitude gain, trail up to Masada, both being the semi-competitive types we are. The lady at the desk refused, saying "uh....maybe it is too hot...." This seemed strange given that it was less hot than it had been in days, rather pleasant in fact, and we had been looking forward to the hike. But rules are rules, so we purchased the more expensive tickets that included a ride up with a Gondola. We boarded the Gondola (which admittedly provided an excellent view down) and watched other hikers who had somehow been permitted to climb up the path. What the hey! We semi got over this disappointment and arrived at the summit, which featured many old ruins, the old synagogue, the old mikvah, the commandant's residence, the store room, as well as some solid views. Up here we finally saw the more "varied" types of tourists that had been apparently missing from Jerusalem before -- Christian religious groups, secular but curious tourists, non-religious Jews, and of course Japanese with cameras. Heard a nice bit of Spanish too, which I always find comforting. We walked down the path, which was of course much easier.
The Dead Sea: The lowest point on earth (422 meters below sea level), one of the saltiest places on earth (8.6 times saltier than the ocean!), famous touristic spot. Instead of merely finding a beach and sitting upon it, we turned on the Ein Gedi Spa (which reminded me in many, many ways of the Blue Lagoon in Iceland).
1. Our first activity was the mud baths. We walked clumsily to a clearing centered around a large bucket full of dark grey/greenish mud, which other tourists were excitedly applying to their bodies, which we copied. Supposedly these muds have some beneficial value (like the silica at the Blue Lagoon) to one's skin, who knows, it felt good and we both looked quite silly (pictures on my camera, but not my camera phone so will not be posted). I felt slightly like I was in a minstrel show.
2. The second activity was the pool. It was an ordinary pool. We walked in, and walked out.
3. The third activity was the sulfur bath. These were located inside, within the locker rooms, so were separated by gender. I sat in the hot water bath with a fattish Russian guy who tried to speak to me in Hebrew. I have no idea if the sulfur actually does anything, but just sitting in hot water and not worrying about sweating felt heavenly. One can only sit in such hot water for so long before feeling lightheaded, so this was only a 10 minute activity.
4. The fourth activity was the Dead Sea itself. Because the sea has receded so dramatically as a result of salt mining (SERIOUSLY) it was a LONG walk along a road (in flip flops) to the beach. We also only had about 20 minutes to enjoy it, as the beach "closed" at 3:30 because of Sukkhot, a holiday which I have hardly ever acknowledged in the United States. But it was just as well. The water was much more noticeably salty that I would have suspected. I, who finds floating in water impossible, was able to easily float in the Dead Sea, and found the water to leave a pleasant slimy film on my skin. I liked the way the water felt on most of my body, except for any place where there existed even the smallest irritation -- a small spot on my foot burned due to a slight rubbing from my flip flops, my arm pit was on fire as I had scratched it within the last few hours, any contact with my eyes was unbearable. That being said, I enjoyed it. On the bus ride back to Ein Gedi, an Israeli/American (hard to tell) guy with a shaved chest was talking about how it was okay that Israel was stripping away the Dead Sea through mining because it needed the money. He commented that Israel didn't have diamond mining like some countries, and I observed that it had quite a bit of diamond trading which seemed to be doing very well, and that the countries with mining seem to almost always be in not so good shape. "Maybe that has something to do with the people there", he said.
The drive back to Jerusalem: Again, very pleasant, although the drivers are insane. Heard an English song by Medina, the Danish Lady Gaga, that I saw perform in Tivoli, on a Jordanian radio station. I think it was called "Addiction". The sun was setting as we approached the city. SO PRETTY!!!!!
Dinner: Given that the evening was Sukkhot and all of the Jewish restaurants would likely be closed, we asked the guy at the front desk if he could recommend an Arab restaurant. His suggestion was the Ambassador Hotel, which ended up being a good one. We drove there (I drove there) without a problem, and ordered an amazing mixed appetizer that was enough to make me nearly full -- plates of salad, tabouli, hummus, tahini, eggplant sauce, olives, goat cheese, pita, garlic bread, and a bottle of local wine (only 60 shekels and wow!) I can hardly remember my entree, which I was hardly able to eat -- various types of lamb, french fries, rice. We had a good conversation with two guys visiting on behalf of the European Commission, one Irish, one Canadian about the various places they had traveled, as well as policy surrounding incarceration of criminals. The Irish guy went upstairs since he was tired (older) and the Canadian guy bought us drinks on behalf of the EC (only one each). Lots of fun.
Vampire Weekend -- Horchata
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