More to come

Sorry to all who were looking for days 2-4 from Israel. Our internet access was not as good later in the trip, but more than that those sleepless nights earlier just caught up to me and I just didn't have the patience to sort through all the pictures. I'll post more after tomorrow (the last day of my semester). I appreciate your prayers in the meantime. I am still dragging a bit.

Day 2 - Jerusalem - New City

We had one day in the holy city and we made the most of it. It was an interesting contrast of the ages. We woke to a view out the window of this suspension bridge at an angle and curve. It must be a landmark, but I had never heard of it.

The drive to the old city was fascinating. After trying to make a shortcut, our GPS system took us through some really tight streets in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood during the morning walk to school/work. I wish I had a picture of it. There were kids of every age all over the place, and it was crazy how closely they walked to the traffic. I got honked at a few times for keeping my speed in check with all the people.

Day 1 - Qumran

(Here's the picture from the Dead Sea)

From Masada we drove north along the west coast of the Dead Sea to Qumran. Qumran is at the at the northwest tip of the Dead Sea. This little village was occupied at the time of Jesus' ministry and until the Romans put down the Jewish revolt in AD 70. Qumran is a little unique for it's interesting aquaduct system that runs through town and even right next to a central dining room of sorts. The aquaduct is pretty small, and there is debate about the function(s) it played. You can see it snaking below.

The aquaduct ran down from the mountains in the background of the next picture. If you look close, you can see a couple of the famous Qumran caves on the hillside. These are two of the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

We hiked up to get a closer look at the caves. We found the entrance to one of them, but the big cave you see was pretty far up there. We thought we were getting close, but it was still a good 100 feet above us. There is a marked trail for backpackers that starts at Qumran and goes back past the caves and through the mountains. You can make out one more cave from this picture.

We drove just a little further north and then cut over to the west to come into Jerusalem from the hilly east side. It was tough to see much at night, but still exciting to be in the city.

Day 1 - To the Negev

That is, to the south. That is where we went today, southeast from Tel Aviv to Masada first. It was almost a three hour drive and the terrain looked a lot like New Mexico and Arizona.

Karen will be proud to know that we hiked up the mountain to Masada. (Her guide made them hike the 1.5 miles when she was here) Most people take the cable car up and then some walk down. We took the cheaper option and rode the cable car back down. You can read more about Masada from the link on my last page if you want to. It was an impressive site.

We took a quick dip in the Dead Sea. I wasn't all that excited about this, but I have to confess that it is quite the experience. I felt like a fishing bobber sitting in the water. You just can't sink. If you flip over on your belly your feet kick right back to the surface. Our guide book describes one cruel Roman ruler following some sick tradition of binding and throwing in few men on arrival just to see if they would really float. Sick, but I have to tell you that they would indeed have floated. Even I, with no body fat at all, never even got my head wet.

Erev Tov

Erev Tov!! That is, "good evening" in Hebrew. Or maybe I should say boker tov (good morning). Right now the clock on my computer says 7:30PM and the clock by my bed (in Tel Aviv) says 3:30AM. I slept for a couple of hours this evening, and now I just can't fall back asleep. So I decided to break my blog silence on the occassion of my first trip to Israel.

Most anyone who would check this blog already knows the occassion for the trip, so I will just post a picture of the night sky from our hotel room on this dark and dreamless night.

Tomorrow we are heading south to the sites of Qumran, near where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found about 60 years ago, and Masada, the last standout for a group of Jews who were part of the revolt against the Romans from AD 66-73. Jerusalem was sacked and destroyed in 70, but the group held out on Masada for another three years!

We're staying the night in Jerusalem tomorrow night, and then in Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee the next two nights. More soon...