Our first stop was Masada, the location of a desperate stand against the Romans during the Great Jewish Revolt. According to legend, the people of Masada committed suicide rather than die at the hands of the Romans. The men killed their women and children, ten chosen men killed the other men, and one chosen man killed the other nine before committing suicide. Masada is set on a mount separated from the mountains around, using height as protection. We used a cable car to reach the plateau. From the top, you can see the Dead Sea as well as several Roman military camps. We at a tour of a portion of the park before having to descend down to lunch.
Part of a tower at Masada
After lunch, which for me was falafel in a pita with the common tomato and cucumber salad and a little hummus, we went to Mineral Beach on the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is ten times saltier than the ocean and there are over a dozen different minerals that can be found there, which are believed to make going into the Sea, a relaxing and health beneficial experience. Because of the density, floating is quite relaxing as well. One has to be especially careful not to swallow the water or get it in one's eyes. After floating briefly, I took a mud bath, which consisted of me putting some of the black mud all over my skin, leaving it on briefly before rinsing off.
While I did enjoy relaxing for a little bit, I would have preferred a little more time at Masada. That is the downfall of going with a tour group. The tours have relationships with specific shops where they stop for a decent amount of time, where I would prefer to spend more of my time on one of the sites. However, for us, it allowed us to go somewhere where we would otherwise have difficulties traveling there on our own.
Dead Sea
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