Massada and the Dead Sea

“The mountain is closed.” Crap. So much for crossed fingers. We came to Massada hoping to find a secret, alternative way up the mountain to see the ruins. Unfortunately, all our planned pleading wasn’t going to get us anywhere. The funicular, which is typically closed for one day out of the year for inspection, is now closed for the next several months for their “once every 10 year repairs.” I guess it’s important that the cable car doesn’t plummet to the sharp rocks below, but we were really looking forward to Massada. Of course, they couldn’t leave the snake path—the only other way up the mountain—open. It’s closed too.  “But, the museum, the gift shop, and the restaurant are all open,” the gatekeeper told us. Fantastic. So at 8:30 a.m., we hiked up the steep driveway to the top of the visitor’s center next to the mountain that is Massada. 

The museum was actually pretty sweet. It had an interactive audio guide and life-sized figurines that demonstrated different scenes from Massada’s history (from Herod’s construction to the rebel’s last stand against the Romans). It also featured several artifacts that were discovered in the 1960s. Of course, this is no replacement for actually going and SEEING the site, but at least we got to do something. 

The weather today was a lot like yesterday’s except it was deceptively warm and sunny all morning, and was only cool, cloudy, and windy later when we decided to actually put on our swimsuits and get into water. This was our last day to enjoy the Dead Sea spa at Ein Gedi. I read up on the benefits of Dead Sea mud last night, and was prepared to switch up my routine. Today, while dry, we went straight for the mud. Kevin opted out, but I slathered the mud onto my dry skin, pulled down my hair and dipped my head into the vat. In order to get the full benefits of Dead Sea mud, you have to allow it to dry before removing it. So we skipped the train and chose to walk the 10 minute stretch of sidewalk to the beach. I could feel the mud drying and beginning to crack. It was getting harder to move my face, and my hair was in one stiff, disgusting bunch at the side of my head. I passed a small family when we were near the water. The young girl with them took one look at me and ran behind her mother in fear. I'm sure I will forever enter her nightmares.

I rinsed my face in the fresh water tub and bobbed in the much cooler Dead Sea, scraping the mud mask off until I was finally free. When through, we rinsed off again in the cool fresh water showers (which are horrible when the wind is blowing...and was it ever blowing), grabbed towels and hopped on the tram back to the building so I could shower and get ready for my massage/facial.

**side note: speaking of nightmares, there is an un-Godly amount of overweight men in speedos here. It's painful. There should be rules about those kinds of things. Oh wait...there ARE. It's called common sense people. Please, spare us.**

I think everyone here may be in love with me. I keep magically getting freebies. The guy at the front desk at the spa gave Kevin and I free cups of grapefruit juice (bear in mind, this is a tourist hot spot with very set, jacked-up prices), tried to convince me I didn't need a facial because I'm "already sooo beautiful," and THEN gave me free coffee vouchers. Yea. Then the "lifeguard" guy on the beach offered me tea/coffee because I was cold, and I hitched a ride with him and some other spa employees I met back to the kibbutz so I didn't have to wait another 45 minutes for the last bus, AND they showed me where the is a BAR on the grounds! So yea. Needless to say, that's where Kevin and I spent a majority of our evening (everything is outside, so for the last few nights we haven't done anything after dark).

Tomorrow we leave for Jerusalem, which is about an hour and a half away from here. I'll miss this place, though. It was fun, beautiful, relaxing, and probably my favorite social stop so far.