Our friends, Anne and Doug, were so nice to put up all six of us. That would be a challenge under any circumstances, but they were in the middle of an international move! Like, their house was packed out the day day before we arrived and they were down to one car. It was so kind of them to invite us to come anyway.
We brought a few blankets with us and borrowed a couple of sleeping bags and made it work. We have 11 kiddos between our two families, and they all loved playing together. One day I asked Amelie what her favorite thing was that day and she said, "playing with my friends."
The oldest, Will, walked all the kids to the playground at the end of their block while Rob went to pick up a rental car. We decided to explore on our own this day so that our friends could more easily go to some appointments that they had and not have to worry about being our shuttle.
Driving in Israel was a lot different than driving in Germany. Besides the beware of camels signs (we did see quite a few camels but I was too slow with the camera,) drivers generally drive over the speed limits, do not signal to change lanes, drive straddling two lanes, and pull off the road randomly. Israeli police drive everywhere with their lights flashing. It took some getting used to.
We decided to visit the fortress of Masada for our first stop. This sprawling structure was built in the 30s BC and King Herod had two palaces here. You can hike to the top, but we opted to take the cable car to save time and energy.
The views from the top were pretty amazing.
The remaining buildings were in pretty amazing shape too. Due to the remoteness of the location, the site was relatively untouched for 2,000 years and excavation and restoration were only begun in the 1960s.
The kids just liked climbing, exploring, and collecting rocks. We had an extra seat in the car, so Isaac joined us for the day and her, Toby, and Jacob were like three amigos all day long.
The most fascinating story of Masada comes from the first Jewish-Roman war around 60-70 AD. According to the historian Josephus, a group of Jewish rebels attacked the Romans and then fled to Masada. Here they were in relative safety and the fortress was well stocked with provisions to last them a long, long time. The Roman army encamped at the base of the cliffs and decided to build an earthen ramp up to the edge of the cliffs. This took them 2-3 months to accomplish. Just as the Romans were about to breach the fortress, all of the Jews committed mass suicide. We imagined what it would have been like to watch the Romans building their way up to the walls.
There is a place at the fortress where they claim the Jews drew lots. A few would have been tasked with killing everyone else before killing themselves. Awful. The archeological record in some ways supports Josephus' telling and in some ways differs from it. There is no way to know for sure how many people died at Masada.
When the wind would blow up here the dust and sand really got stirred up and sometimes we ha to duck into a corner to get out of it.
The desert is beautiful... in a barren, desolate sort of way. This was the view from the Northern Palace.
Herod made sure to have all of the comforts here at Masada. There are Roman style baths, swimming pools, food storage areas, barracks for soldiers, and so on. But the doorways were barely 5' 6" apparently.
Toby's BYU t-shirt was a conversation starter here too. A few different people commented on it or complimented it. An Israeli tour guide told us he had one just like it that was a gift from a friend.
There were a few tour groups around, but it wasn't hard to mosey away from them and explore on our own.
The last settlement at Masada was in the 5th-6th Century when a group of Byzantine Monks established a church here.
Some of the tile floors are still intact and are really lovely.
We also walked over to the Western Palace and there was no one there. The Northern Palace was clearly preferred by tour groups, but this one was super cool too.
I love when you can find life and color in unexpected places. Even little flowers blooming in the desert.
By this point we were all ready for some lunch so we rode the cable car back down to the bottom of the cliff.
The little cafeteria had some pretty tasty chicken shawarma and falafel sandwiches. Food in Israel was pretty pricey, but as long as it tasted good, we didn't mind too much.
The other place that we wanted to visit nearby was Ein Gedi. This is a natural spring and desert oasis. Archeological evidence suggests that people lived here as early as the pre-pottery Neolithic era some 12,000 years ago.
In the Old Testament, in 1 Samuel, David flees from King Saul and hides in Ein Gedi. Saul seeks him "even upon the most craggy rocks, which are accessible only to wild goats."
We loved the hike over the rocks and around all of the little waterfalls and we also enjoyed talking about David as a shepherd boy, finding this place and then returning here to hide as an adult. It's fun to imagine and explore.
That is the Dead Sea just visible in the distance. At this point we were nearly to the top of the trail.
This dark tunnel portion of the trail seemed very man-made, but that didn't stop the kiddos from loving it.
At the top of the trail we reached David's Waterfall.
It's a really secluded and quiet spot. We all sort of spread out to have a look and try to take it all in. If I were hiding from a King, I think this would be a pretty fabulous place to go.
On our way back down the trail (it is a circuit) we finally came across some Nubian ibex goats. I was a little nervous since my goat encounter on Mallorca, but these guys let us pass in peace.
We also saw a lot of the Rock Hyrax, or rock badgers, everywhere on the cliff edges and edges of the trail. They looked kind of like beavers with no tail.
By this point it was getting late in the afternoon and about time we headed for home.
The kids were all such good hikers all day that they got slushies from the snack stand before we left Ein Gedi.
They also talked Rob into stopping at this massive playground we saw from the highway for a short time. It was Friday evening and Shabbat had already begun, so all of the shops were closed and they were the only kids out there. Our kids thought it was an awesome way to end the day.
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