First weekend in Israel, Day 2 Masada and Dead Sea

Almost every young Israeli I have talked to has visited India once and they simply love India. I have heard about Raj Kapoor once and I have been called Amitabh Bachchan thrice so far :-)

I had read about the dead sea in geography books but I never imagined myself going to the place. I took another tour today and met a lot of people from yesterday's tour. Once again the tour was in English and Spanish and I got an opportunity to speak a little bit of Spanish.

We crossed Jerusalem and then dead sea to go to Masada and we took a ariel tram to the top of the mountain. Masada was a fortress and is situated on top of an isolated mountain. Masada reminded me of Ranthanbhore (Rajathan). A lot of history, multiple emperors and three years under siege. It was more like a smaller version of Ran, almost half the size of Amber fort (Jaipur).

I liked Masada but dead sea was better. I had to buy a swimming costume because I was not planning to swim while I was in Israel, but couldn't refuse the temptation of floating in the dead sea.

I went in and immediately felt that water was heavier than what I have felt in swimming pool. I floated without any effort and actually sitting in water. Splashing water was not allowed because the water is dangerous for eyes. If not for the unrest in Israel it would have been a very popular tourist destination in India.

I came out of the water, took a shower, applied a mud pack (no photos there) and went into the water second time. I would have loved to be there for longer time but due to time constraints I had to come out.

I suggest, you add 'the dead sea' as one of the places you have to visit.

PS: Israelis have a holiday on Saturday because of Sabbath, I suspect the word holiday may have come from 'Holy Day'.