Day 7 - Approaching Jerusalem

David Dead Sea Resort & Spa

No wake-up call today.  We didn't leave the David Dead Sea Resort & Spa until 10:00 AM.  That was a nice change.  It's a little breather for the last, final days in Jerusalem.

Actually, that got me thinking today about what Jesus must have been thinking in the days before he
arrived at Jerusalem for the final time.  We traveled today from approximately 1500 feet below sea level and steadily rose up to around 2500 feet as we reached Jerusalem late in the day.

And our arrival was a little bittersweet for me.  It marks the beginning of the end of our journey.  We
only have 2 full days left, all in Jerusalem or Bethlehem, while at the same time seeing Jerusalem was like coming home.  We stopped at an overlook with a great view of the old city, the wall and temple mount, and there was a great longing to be there even knowing that it's the end.

Pool area at the resort

Good and bad, but all necessary.

But I get ahead of myself.

I actually crawled out of bed early and got to the beach area just after sunrise.  Found another photographer already there, a wild man from Tennessee.  No wind so I was able to compose this photo, my favorite of the morning.

Dead Sea Reflection

Our fist stop was Masada.  Masada is the most visited site in all of Israel and that's saying something.  It is not really a religious site from a protestant point of view but it is very important to the Israeli's due to its history.  You can read about it here.  It was packed with people.  Once again Hela was able to find a space for us to gather out of the crowds.  Reggie read Psalm 18 and then we sang two verses of A Mighty Fortress is Our God (due to time limitations).

Reggie took a video of one verse and has posted it on Facebook.  I figured out how to imbed the video from Facebook.  Here you go:

After that the group split up.  About half the group decided to hike down from Masada and the rest of the group continued the tour and rode the cable car down to the base where we would meet up.  Yes, I did the hike.  It was fun.  Good to stretch the legs and exercise a little and the views across to the Dead Sea were fantastic.

View down the Snake Trail and out to the Dead Sea

Desert canyon viewed from the Snake Trail

Vew back up the Snake Trail to Masada.
Our crew can be seen on the slope.

From Masada we took a quick stop at En Gedi.  En Gedi is where David hid from Saul.  Crazy that I

En Gedi

Small waterfall at En Gedi

was there.  It is literally an oasis in the desert.  There is fresh running water and waterfalls and, of course, caves in the hills.  It was a beautiful spot but little time to enjoy.  We had to keep a tight appointment at Abraham's tent because Max's people were coming after us.  On the way out of the park we spotted a couple of small Ibex (wild goat) in the distance.

Acacia tree at En Gedi

Abraham's tent is located in Judea near the possible location in Canaan that he would have lived.  It is really just a tourist location for lunch but they provide a camel ride to the tents and Abraham speaks to you about his life and what it means to be a guest in his tent.  It was the best food we've had on the

View from Abraham's tent

trip.  And they would keep bringing it until you begged them to stop.  And it was part of the trip so no additional cost.

And those who rode a camel got their international camel driver's license.  That may come in handy when I get back to Kentucky.

From Abraham's tent it was a relatively short drive to Jerusalem.  We stopped at an overlook so Hela could give us a little background and overview and then we headed to our hotel in East Jerusalem, the Grand Hotel.

Shalom