Masada

On our second morning at the Dead Sea, we got up early for a hike to watch the sun rise at the top of Masada, a fortress/palace built by King Herod on top of one of the plateaus by the Dead Sea.

We arrived at the base of the plateau around 5:00 in the morning, in the pitch black dark, and immediately realized that we forgot our headlamps and flashlights. Still, we took off up the plateau, determined to reach the top by sunrise.
I think I spent the majority of the hike turned backwards to look at the sky over the Dead Sea. The sky was absolutely beautiful! I was nervous that we would miss the sunrise, but it really took about an hour and a half for the sun to come up, and during that time the sky changed so many times into so many beautiful colors. It was amazing.
After a short but very steep hike, we finally made it to the top, just in time to watch the sunrise.
We then wandered around the plateau, throughout the ruins of barracks, an armory, a palace, cisterns, a synagogue, towers and walls. I really had trouble wrapping my head around the fact that these ruins were from a fortress built in 35 B.C. On the way back down, I was glad to be able to see the surrounding mountains and plateaus in the light. I found the entire landscape breathtaking.

Cats, cats and more cats

There were cats everywhere in Ein Gedi, just like in Egypt, but for whatever reason, the cats in Israel were MUCH more loveable than the cats in Egypt.

Ein Gedi Kibbutz

We spent our first two nights in Israel at a place called Ein Gedi on the Dead Sea. Instead of staying in a guesthouse or a hotel, we found a room at a kibbutz. Kibbutzim are a form of communal living that combine socialism and Zionism. Although they were originally based on agriculture, industry and high-tech enterprises have replaced farming on most kibbutzim today.

The Ein Gedi Kibbutz is located on an oasis near the Dead Sea. You can see it even from a distance as you drive up from the southern part of the country.
Right in the middle of the kibbutz was a giant, beautiful baobab tree, which was such a surprise. I was used to seeing these trees in East Africa, but I had no idea they existed in Israel. (I later found out that baobab trees do not exist naturally in Israel; this one was imported to the area.)Around the kibbutz, the views were incredible, with the Dead Sea on one side and the mountains on the other. The kibbutz had a wonderful restaurant, a botanical garden and even a zoo, which had the most random collection of animals.

Sodom (and Gomorrah)

On our drive north, we passed the sites where the cities of Sodom of Gomorrah once stood. According to the Old Testament, these cities were destroyed by God for the sins of their inhabitants. Today there is no trace of either city, just the openness of the desert.

Micky D's

Interesting fact: McDonalds is not kosher, even in Israel. (I learned this when I accidentally asked for a cheeseburger in Burger King and was kindly reminded of the kosher rules that don't allow mixing of meat and dairy products.)