Descending the Jordan River Valley - May 31st

Alas it is time to leave our little oasis on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. We awake at 6:30am and have our usual buffet breakfast (thankfully, unlike in Egypt, meals are no longer simply diarrhea/vomit fodder). After breakfast, Rolli takes us on a tour of the Kibbutz were staying on. For all intents and purposes, a Kibbutz is a mini communist community with two differences 1) it hasn’t failed (they actually thrive) and 2) its voluntary. Kibbutz members work long and hard and share all things in common with the other members of the community. Many notable Israeli politicians and generals in the army are products of the Kibbutz communities including: Prime Ministers Ben Gurion and Golda Meir.

Following the tour we loaded the buses for our next stop...the ancient Roman city of Bet She’an. Outside the city we de-boarded the bus briefly to get pictures of the ruins of an amphitheatre that once served as a makeshift diner for hungry lions that enjoyed a hearty breakfast of toast, jam, over-easy Christians...mmmm good. After arriving at the ruins of Bet She’an, we were told by Bro G, that we absolutely must be back by 11:30 or he would jeer [Br G cringes face and hisses] and growl [Br G puts hands in into claw position and goes “ggrrrrrr”] at us. It was scary; there were no stragglers, even Melissa made it back (no shopping available).

Next on our stop…the ancient city of Jericho. Jericho is the oldest city ever to be discovered by archeologists. The city is located in the West Bank and is under Palestinian control. We made it through the Israeli and Palestinian checkpoints without event. Shortly after arriving on the outskirts of Jericho, we get a glimpse of the Mt of Temptation where the Savior was tempted by Satan to throw himself down at the conclusion of his 40 days of fasting in the desert.

Moving along, we had lunch at the restaurant on the Mt of Temptation. We were served our choice of Shwarma (much like gyros) or falafel with French fries and lemonade…emphasis on the “lemon” as one sip was enough to make your bellybutton pucker.

Following lunch we went up the Mt of Temptation to get a view into the city of Jericho and to view the ruins of an ancient city believed to be 10,000 years old. The view of Jericho was beautiful. It was good to see that the city has been recovering from the two intifadas in the past eight years. In general it is surprising how normal and peaceful life appears in much of Israel and the Palestinian territories despite much of what we hear in the news all the time.

Next, we travel about an hour down the western bank of the Dead Sea to the city of Masada. Masada is one of the more interesting cities that we have seen on our tour as it is perched several thousand feet up on a cliff over looking the Dead Sea. The city was founded by Jews…or was it the Romans…anywho, some ancient people. At one point, the Jews had control of the city when the Romans decided they wanted it back. For three years the Jews fought off the siege until the Roman completed a ramp that allowed the use of a battle ram to blast into the place. The Jews in the city decided that it was better to commit suicide rather than face enslavement at the hands of the Romans. The whole story ends much like Custer’s last stand with everyone dead save a mother and two small children who survive to tell the story.

Moving on to happier subjects, our final official stop of the day is in Qumran where a Bedouin boy found the Dead Sea Scrolls by accident back in 1947. The park was closing when we arrived, but we were allowed get some pictures of the caves.

Before heading to Jerusalem, we made a stop at a little public beach on the Dead Sea. Thanks to a phone call by Rolli the beach stayed open longer to accommodate our late arrival. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth—approximately 1,300 feet below sea level. It boasts a 30% salination level, which is about eight times higher than ocean water. Due to the weight of the water, the human body is light in comparison and therefore floats with ease. We all enjoyed getting in the water and floating on our backs and stomachs and getting pictures with our hands and feet out of the water. The Dead Sea water is not only high in salt but also in many other minerals and oils. After giving ourselves mud massages with the clay off the bottom we would rinse in the water, which leaves your skin soft, silky and slippery as snot on a brass door knob. It was quite fun.

After our swim we boarded the bus and headed to Jerusalem. We arrived in the city just as dusk was twinkling away. Alas, we have arrived in the city many of us came on this trip to see. It was hard to describe the feeling of seeing the walls of this ancient and historical city for the first time as our bus approached from desert. No doubt this is a special place unlike any other city in the world. We are all excited for the next three days here.