Today was our first day outside of Jerusalem! A person described today as more of a “fun” day than a “Biblical” day, which I agreed with. I most certainly appreciated the less rushed pace and getting to enjoy interacting with so many different people from our group! They’re kinda really great!

It’s amazing how quickly the landscape changed from lush and green to dry and vast as we put Jerusalem behind us.

Tsuriel stopped at one point to orient us as to where the places we had already been were and also where most people would be traveling from to get to Jerusalem. Most who lived outside of Jerusalem would travel a path from Jericho.

A day’s trip in Jesus’ time was about 20 miles. That’s a lot of walking!

We then trekked to Masada (by bus, not on foot). This location wasn’t new to me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless!

Rusty was kind enough to pay for my ice cream, so we included him in my and Dave’s daily ice cream picture!

We rode the cable car up again (one day, I WILL hike up to the top via the Snake Path!)…

…which was quite packed. Later, on the way back down from Masada, Kate and I jokingly hugged each other to make room and were quite literally stuck that way the entire way down, as there was no room to do otherwise!

It still amazed me how distinctive the ruins of the Roman encampments are!

The siege ramp is smaller than the top of the wall, but the tower/battering ram that is described would have made up for it and be even with the gate.

We then went to En-gedi, which is known as the area where David hid from Saul (1 Samuel 24). I learned that it is in the territory of the tribe of Judah, which is the tribe David was from. He was probably very familiar with the area and had a higher likelihood of being helped by others because they were relatives!

Next stop was the Dead Sea! This was actually a whole lotta fun. We went to a completely different area than last time, so in some ways it felt like a new experience!

The water was still just as salty though, which meant I was still just as buoyant!

The big difference this time is that there was actually mineral-rich mud on the bank, which makes your skin super soft! So, we took advantage of the opportunity and covered ourselves in mud!

The evening was spent relaxing and conversing, looking forward to being able to sleep in a little later tomorrow!