The Negev

When we woke up at 6AM it was still freezing cold. It was awesome to spend the night at the tent with my friends, but I don’t know if I would choose to stay there again. Once it started to warm up, we took a camel ride for about an hour. Some people rode donkeys, while the rest of us were on camels like myself. It was fun to be on the camel, but man did it ever hurt without having padding down there. The camel ride was fun to see the animals interact with each other – especially the crazy horny donkeys. It was awesome to see the desert in the daylight. After not being able to see anything during the night looking out into the desert during a perfect cloudless day was an awesome scene. Even though it is only sandy hills for as far as the eye can see and even farther, it is amazing to think that it is possible to visit the Golan mountains, see snow in Jerusalem and visit the desert all in the same day.
After the camel ride, we went to Masada. Masada is an amazing site, in the fact that it is the largest mountain in the area surrounded by flat desert and the dead sea, which is the lowest place on earth. Atop Masada there is a city in ruins. Since the 1950s, the site has been excavated and partially reconstructed. Masada was originally occupied by the Romans who had Jews as slaves. The Jews later rebelled and conquered Masada. They were able to live comfortably there for a number of years even though it was in the middle of the desert. At this point, the Romans began conquering Israel, and they had destroyed the second temple. Next they were to conquer Masada. The Jews knew that it was only a matter of time before they would be defeated, as they were hugely outnumbered. On the last possible night before they were to either be defeated by the Romans or taken as their slaves again, the Jews decided to kill themselves as opposed to be at the mercy of the Romans. Each man was sent to kill his family. After that they convened and held a lottery as to who would be the last man standing and must commit suicide (which is illegal for a Jew to do). The next day when the Romans reached Masada, they were surprised to see everyone dead, and the fortress ablaze. Many of the storage areas, and homes were kept in tact to show the Romans that they were able to sustain themselves atom Masada.

Entrance to the Roman King's living quarters atop Masada. Back row: Allison, Josh, Laura, Me. Front row: Shira, Mike

After the tour on top of Masada, we hiked down the snake path and headed to the Ein Gedi Spa. This spa was built 25 years ago, and it was right on the shore of the dead sea. Today, a shuttle is needed to take people 1 km away to the water. The dead sea is drying up due to the salt and mineral farming done in the dead sea. Once standing in the dead sea, I was a little hesitant to lay down on my back and float, even though I had previously been in the dead sea. Once I lay back and kicked my feet up, it was an indescribably awesome feeling to remain motionless and float at the same time. Also at the spa, the dead sea mud is concentrated with many minerals and is very therapeutic. It is also fun to throw! We covered ourselves in mud from head to toe, which was a lot of fun as well.

It was then time to leave the desert as we headed to Tel Aviv to conclude our trip. Once checked into the hotel, it was time for a shower – after sleeping on the ground in the desert, riding smelly camels, sweating from hiking, swimming in salt water, and being covered from head to toe in mud it was nice to be clean again. We had the night free for ourselves to spend in Tel Aviv. We went out for a nice dinner followed by a nightclub and an Irish pub. The night was lots of fun, as it was my last night in Israel.