Masada, about a forty minute bus ride from downtown Jerusalem is an isolated plateau on the edge of the desert with a glorious view of the Dead Sea. It’s about 700 steps to the top of this fortified palace built by Herod the Great. It fell to the Romans (big surprise) and sadly ended when 960 Jewish rebels and their families committed mass suicide. Now it’s a bit of a crumble of structures and it surprised me to find out that it’s Israel’s most popular paid tourist attraction. While it’s a nice three hour trip, it pales in comparison to the day we spent in Petra. (Sorry, Israel.) If you go to Masada and the Dead Sea together, it makes for a more interesting and complete day.
Andrew and I climbed to the top in about an hour and had a packed lunch at the top before walking around the ruins, making our way back down, and towards the Dead Sea for a quick dip. Floating like I’ve never floated before proved to be a much more unique experience. The “beach” was a rocky shoreline dotted with a handful of tourists slipping into the cold water for the experience, but then getting out when the salt started aggravating them. It was cold. Although once you acclimated yourself to the water, temperature wasn’t nearly as much of a problem as the salt content was. Warnings are shouted not to enter the water if you have any cuts – not to immerse your head – not to get any water in your eyes – and not to jump and/or dive in. You’re instructed to walk backwards and slowly sit in the water, but when you do, your legs immediately go out from under you and they gently bob on the surface.
Getting out of the water is difficult. It’s like seeking gravity out of a vacuum, or something like that. I grabbed for salt covered rocks and tried to push myself up free from the water only to slosh around and stumble out entertaining an older Italian who was drying off out of the water. Once you free yourself from the sea, your skin is covered in a slippery salty sea mixture that gets on all of your clothes even if you hold them at an arm’s length away. I grabbed a camera to get a few shots of Andrew and then he stumbled out of the sea to do the same for me.
After a mere fifteen minutes, my skin was tingling and I was ready to rinse off. Showers close to the edge of the sea provide fresh water relief. Everyone takes turns rinsing off and then changing under towels in a hurry to warm up before catching one of the last buses leaving Masada and the Dead Sea heading back to Jerusalem.
