masada and rotten eggs

i found myself still in israel after making plans to go to jordan. c'est la vie, i suppose. however, i did something that i haven't done yet so i'm pretty excited about that. after shabbat dinner at petra & jan's, i was hanging out with lisa and jonathan. petra invited me to come to masada to see the sunrise. this was 2:45 am. twenty minutes later, i had my backpack packed with a litre of water and cameras. everyone recommends the dawn hike up the snake trail up to masada to see the sun rise over the jordanian mountains and the dead sea. oh masada, how you test me. i must be pretty out of shape at the moment because the hike that was supposed to last 45 minutes seem to drag on forever, over countless steps up steep inclines and rocks ready to give out. that wasn't all. there were about 90 almost vertical steps into the actual site. damn you, masada. however, it was all worth it. we got to the hike just in time to see the sun beginning to rise about three quarters of the way, the sky changing from midnight blue to cerulean blue tinted with orange and pink as the sun peeked out of the mountains. as it rose, it illuminated the amazing, wonderful desert scene around us, highlighting the white canyon walls below and the orange red walls around the place. we all celebrated this beautiful event with sips from the wine bottle and quiet contemplation.

masada is an important cultural heritage site for israelis. it is where the jewish people died rather than having to surrender to roman rule. geologically, it is at a great advantage as it is situated on top of the plateau with steep, challenging cliffs on all sides. approaching enemies could be detected. the site is in pretty great condition with many things to see besides the amazing 360 desert views. the most impressive part was the souther water cistern. it is a huge cavern with plastered walls with several holes at the top to draw water. it is amazing to see the extent of the place and see how it aided the jewish rebels in evading capture for so long. it is known that the israeli defense force is initiated on masada with the declaration: masada shall not fall again. fascinating.

afterwards, we descended from masada to board the car to take a short trip to metzoke dragot, a region on the dead sea that is less populated by tourists had has irregular intervals of fresh water. we hiked a fair way up the coast to find a remote enclosure of water. the hike was interesting as the air was permeated with the smell of rotten eggs, salt from the dead sea, and quicksand areas on the ground. never again. since i don't swim, i just waded a little before leaving. petra managed to bottle up some of the mud that is so popular near the dead sea area. now, i just need to figure out how to smuggle that back to the states.