Dead Sea and Masada

Today's blog post is shared with us by 8th grader Michal:

Today was a hot, yet magnificient day . 
We started our day at 7:30 am. Everyone put on sunscreen and much excitement was in the air.  We boarded a bus from Tel Aviv and were headed to Masada and the Dead Sea - the lowest point on the earth.  We  spent time on  the bus sleeping and joking around and laughing. When we finally arrived to Masada I relized that we just left Tel Aviv,  a beautiful modern city with theaters, museums, coffee shops and restaurants just a short time ago, and now we had arrived to a desert, a dry land with one side the Dead Sea and the other side was the hill of Masada. It was such a transformation! We learned about the mountain's history and of the Roman rule of the area. Later  we went to the Dead Sea. Raz, Maccabee, Eden, Gabi and I went inside the water. Some of the people in our group put mud on their bodies but I got grossed out so I went in without mud! It was really fun to swim in the sea but the high salt content of the water made my skin sting! We all had such a great time. 


After leaving the Dead Sea and Masada, we rode camels!   After the camel ride we went to eat in Bedouin tents. It was very interesting but at the same time a weird experience when we ate with spoons and just our hands. After, we had delicious tea and coffee. Then we had a long and fun bus ride back to Tel Aviv. 

(To learn more about Masada National Park we urge you to visit http://masada.org.il/en. Masada is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Herod the Great built palaces for himself on the mountain and fortified Masada between 37 and 31 BCE.)