Mountain, Spring, Cave, and Sea

Masada

Our day started off heading south to the giant fortress known as Masada. You can see from the pictures below that this structure is ginormous. Half the group made the trek up the Snake Trail. The other half took the tram up.

En Gedi

We then jumped on the bus and headed north to one of the most popular national parks in Israel, En Gedi. En Gedi is one of the most delightful surprises in Israel. It is a sparkling oasis, hidden in a canyon cut through the barren cliffs.

We hiked in and through a couple waterfalls before heading out to our next destination.

Qumran

Qumran was made famous by a bedouin shepherd boy in 1947. This shepherd boy was throwing stones at targets on rocks when he heard glass breaking. He climbed to the spot of the glass breaking and realized he had thrown a rock through a cave which in turn broke a vase. Inside that vase were the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Dead Sea Scrolls consist of more than 800 documents in all. Every book in the Old Testament is represented with the exception of Esther. The scrolls date back before the life of Jesus.

Dead Sea

Our final stop today was at the Dead Sea. Yes you do float and yes the mud baths make your skin feel amazing. It was a good ending to a long day.