Since I arrived in Israel on Oct 9, I have been staying in the city of Herzliya and haven’t really ventured out to other parts of Israel, very much because of the fact that I used my first week to adjust to the new place and after that, the Orientation programme. On October 18 and 19, however, I had the opportunity to step out of Herzliya by participating in the Orientation Trip to the Judean Desert organised by the school. Yippie!!! I was so excited to the extent that I slept very little the night before the actual day… =P
We left rather early in the morning from IDC Herzliya, and reached En Gedi Nature Reserve in the late morning (which by the way, it is already on the other side of the Israeli territory… Israel is really small…). We went along Wadi David for a short hike in the lower section of the stream, where David’s Waterfall was located. According to the Old Testament, David came to En Gedi and hid there after he fled from King Saul (1 Samuel 23:29). It was very interesting when the tour guide showed us how some of the details written in the Book of 1 Samuel match what can still be found at En Gedi today. Some of my friends took the opportunity to swim in one of the pools under a small waterfall along the stream, and I must say that the water was so fresh and clear and most importantly, very cooling!!! I regretted wearing the jeans and not my bermudas for this hike… =(
Hiking along Wadi David.
David's Waterfall at En Gedi.
After lunch we departed En Gedi and went to Masada. King Herod, who ruled from 37BC to 4BC, built a winter palace at Masada. After the Jews rebelled against the Roman rule in AD66 and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple in AD70, Masada was used as a fortress by the rebels, and it fell to the Romans around AD73/74 after the Jewish community in Masada decided to end their own lives and the lives of their families instead of living in shame and humiliation as Roman slaves. (Yup, very sad/tragic stories here…) Masada is now a world heritage site and a Jewish cultural icon, and it was really amazing to see how well-preserved and well-maintained the whole site is till this very day, including the camps, fortifications and assault ramp built by the Romans and now, the most complete surviving ancient Roman siege system in the world. When I was standing on the top of Masada and looking over the surroundings (including the Dead Sea and across the sea, Jordan), it really made me wonder how a palace could be built in such a remote and high-altitude location more than 2000 years ago! We went up to Masada via a cable car, but came down along a snake path that took us about half an hour to finish the walk!
The ruins of the Northern Palace at Masada.
Behind me is the Dead Sea, and beyond that, Jordan.
Walking down the Snake Path at Masada.
We spent our night at a Bedouin-style holiday village at Mezuqe Deragot, somewhere in the Judean Desert. The temperature indeed dropped drastically as darkness took over the sky. We were treated to a delicious buffet dinner, and after that, a percussion performance which got many of us involved in trying our hands on the many types of percussion instruments from the different cultures around the world, before we all headed back to the tents and sleep (emm, actually, not everyone slept that early, but I was ‘gone case’ already. Haha!)
Dinner at Mezuqe Deragot holiday village. (Look at the food!!!)
Relaxing in the tent after dinner and enjoying percussion performance.
The interior and exterior of the tents which we spent our night in.
I woke up around 4:15am the next morning… again, I got too excited about the programme on the second day… nah, not exactly, I actually woke up early to catch the sunrise over the Dead Sea, and also to get myself prepared for a challenging hike at Mashash/Wadi Darga, the first of this kind in my life! The 3-hour hike involved going down the canyon, walking on the river bed (which will only be flooded with water in Winter), climbing up-stream and walking back to the starting point in the desert. I must admit that it was really challenging for me at the very start and I was not all that confident. Some of the slopes were really steep, and I was wearing the wrong type of shoes (well, I couldn’t bring all types of shoes for exchange lah!) and it became even more inconvenient with my camera bag. Nonetheless, it was a great hike, and I am looking forward to do more hiking in the future!!! Haha! This trip also marked my very first time walking in a desert, and I got dehydrated so fast in a desert!!! I thanked God that the trip was in the season of Autumn, couldn’t imagine how hot it would be if I did this in Summer!
Sunrise over the Dead Sea.
Hiking at Mashash/Wadi Darga. Both the scenery and the cliffs/slopes will take your breath away. =P
In the middle of the desert.
We left Mezuqe Deragot at noon after the freshmen class did a whole series of teambuilding activities, and reached the Mineral Beach at the Dead Sea. Like any first-time tourists, I took the opportunity to float on this largest inland lake in the world, and of course, the saltiest! The sea bed was filled with so much salt that you would think you were walking on oil, and that was before the water reached my knees! The rocks on the sea bed were more like ‘salt rocks’ – salt solidified and hardened to the extent of becoming rocks! Another popular thing that people would do on this beach was to put the mud filled with minerals all over themselves. I tried it, and the result was coming out of the water having very, very smooth skin which no bathing lotions can ever offer! Haha! =D
The Dead Sea Road along the coast of Dead Sea.
The Mineral Beach, Dead Sea.
Me floating on water in Dead Sea!!! The only time I need not to worry about sinking in the sea. Haha! =D
Yup, I was covered with the mineral-rich mud. =)
We left the Mineral Beach around 3pm and made our way back to IDC Herzliya. The bus which I boarded, however, included a stop in Jerusalem for those who live there. Jerusalem is nonetheless THE city which I have been longing to visit, especially after I came to Israel. When the bus was on a road at a height overseeing the city, I spotted Temple Mount from far!!! The weirdest thing was that the bus was in Jerusalem for close to half an hour, but I didn’t manage to take any good pictures of the city, even the streets! I was thinking, hmm… God probably wanted me to come to this city properly and not as a passer-by lah. Hahaha…
Sunset on the way back to Herzliya, after leaving Jerusalem.
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