Of Course It's Hard to Climb- It's A Fortress

This would be a day of highs and lows for us. The trip begins with a long and windy road to the Masada fortress. Along this road our tour bus was stopped by a large herd of sheep walking with a shepherd crossing the road. Driving further we also saw a caravan of camels strolling along the desert road next to our bus.

We arrive at the Masada and the sun was beginning to beat down on us though it was still early morning. Masada is intimidating. It is a fortress and is very fortresslike. The ramp that we would need to climb was steep and high. Tiff and I struggled. We don't climb...really anything. But I was proud of her resiliency throughout the entire trip. On this climb I became more certain that we should find out if she was indeed pregnant to see if she should be a little more careful.

Masada was by far the most rigorous climb of the trip. It was also where I began to develop a massive sun burn...really a sun scorch. This would crack and peel throughout the rest of the trip, at times I began to look like a snake whose scales were falling off. I was proud as if this proved my endurance. It probably just proved my stupidity. Throughout the day people would ask me if I was doing OK which began to wear on my nerves. I didn't know why they were asking until I walked by a mirror and saw my face as red as a firetruck. The good news of the day was that we went to the Dead Sea on this day and the Dead Sea is believed to have healing powers. Outside of the Sea was a lotion superstore of Dead Sea products. When I walked in an excited salesperson ran me over and handed me a jar of lotion to slather on my face. It was instantly soothing. I checked the price- $30. No wonder she was excited. No thanks, I'll handle the pain.

The Masada has a cool story behind it. The Jews overtook Masada from the Romans during a revolt in the 60's. When the Roman army came to retake it the Jews chose to commit mass suicide rather than become Roman slaves. The Jewish people see this site as a place of great national pride. Interestingly, the term Masada means "fortress" in Hebrew.