This was going to be an extremely long day as the drive to Massada was to take 3.5 hours from the northern port of Haifa. I was up at 5.30am and off the ship by 7.30. Today we had a wonderful Israeli guide who was friendly, helpful and informative. What a change from yesterday. We took a south easterly route to start with through the Yizreel Valley and then on past Mount Gilboa. I was amazed to see how the efficient Israeli irrigation system has turned barren countryside into fertile growing areas – crops and fruit were in abundance. Then we headed south through the Jordan valley and the countryside took on the appearance that I had been expecting – dry desert with rocky hills rising steeply from the roadside. There in the distance was a small town nestling on the plain and this turned out to be Jericho. A few miles further on we made a stop at Qumran which is the area where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered and there at the foot of the valley was the Dead Sea itself. The lowest sea on earth, so full of minerals that it is impossible to sink.
Our next stop was at Herod’s Palace in Massada – way up on the top of the mountain. A cable car ride was necessary in order to get to the top but then we had an incredible one and half hour tour of the site. This was absolutely “out of this world” and thoroughly enjoyable.
After that it was off to lunch in a resort hotel on the banks of the Dead Sea and those who wanted to could try the experience of floating in the mineral laden waters. I spent my time looking for photo opportunities but I did have the most wonderful buffet lunch – with wine.
By the time we left the shores of the Dead Sea at 5pm it was pitch dark and the drive back to Haifa seemed very long and tedious. But what a day, what sights, what experiences.
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