Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea

This morning we woke up early to see the sunrise. It was the first day without cloud cover while in the Galilee. We had the perfect spot to watch the sunrise from ... the deck outside our room.


After breakfast we started driving down the West Bank toward the Dead Sea. The road is safe and there was one checkpoint with two young Israeli girls with machine guns casually slung over their shoulders. They couldn't be more than 18 years old. It is mandatory for every Jewish Israeli to serve in the military - girls for 2 years and boys for 3. They serve in the military between high school and college so most soldiers look like kids.

We hadn't planned to stop in Jericho but we pass right by it on the map so I decided we would take a detour and stop. We have never been because it is not safe for large tours to go but I heard it was okay for smaller groups. We turned off the highway and immediately saw the sign below. Traveling a little further didn't make us any more comfortable as the people didn't look very friendly. So, we decided not to stop. There are other places in Israel where Jews are not welcome in their own country including the Temple Mount. Here's the sign that turned us away.


There were several other stops along the way to our final destination for the evening. We stopped at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. There were pieces of every book of the Old Testament except for the Book of Esther. Before these scrolls were found, the oldest biblical text found were 1,000 years old. These date back almost 2,000 years and are exact to the Bible we read today.


 

We then went to Ein Gedi and hiked in to the lower falls. It is almost hard to believe that these are the same caves where David hid from Saul.

these people were singing and dancing in the water



We reached our hotel in the afternoon - the only "hotel" we will be staying at while in Israel. The pool looks beautiful from our balcony and I love the contrast between the oasis and the desert. These pools are salt water and you can float in it as easily as in the Dead Sea. We had lots of fun trying it out today and I am sure Ann was glad I didn't take any pictures. 




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