Day 5: Triathlon...minus the biking...

Today, we started off going to Masada, which is where the last group of Jews fell to the Romans.  It is up on a very high, steep terrace above the Dead Sea and it took the Romans three years to build a ramp in order to get up to the gate.  The structures and ingenuity up there were amazing.  We took a tram up (which was basically a large ski lift that held about 50 people) and then half of our group (or so) decided to walk back down on the 'Snake Trail.'  It wasn't as steep as it appeared from the top!  It was a little harrowing, but really not too bad, and I wasn't even breathing hard when we got to the bottom...one benefit of being below sea level!

We then ate lunch at Qumran and toured the site where the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.  Our guide, Na'im, actually knew the boy (17 years old) who discovered the first piece of pottery that was holding a scroll back in 1947, I think?.

The next stop for the day was 'swimming' in the Dead Sea!  It was windy out so the water was a bit turbulent but there is no way you could drown!  The Dead Sea has 8 times as much salt content as the Oceans.  It tastes terrible and you don't want it anywhere near your eyes!  There was a group of us that lunged right in and floated around for a good while.  Supposedly the mud at the bottom is good for your skin, so we dug it up with our feet and then spread it on our bodies and kept floating around like bobbing painted turtles or something.  The water wasn't very cold, at least I didn't think it was, but there were some who could barely get in because it felt so cold to them!  Reality is perspective, I suppose!

Okay, that's all for tonight.  Well, there were a few funnies from today.  One is probably not appropriate to share, the second is kind of an inside thing and you would have to know Scott (or at least what he looks like) in order to understand, and the last one...well, it's probably not appropriate either!  So, I guess you're out of luck on this post!

Our guide has a surprise for us tomorrow....hmmm....

Good night,
Tara