"Yellow Car I Win"

After almost two weeks of sitting in the office, going out on shoots, and site-seeing around Jerusalem, Kim and I were ready to see some other parts of the country. Since both of us enjoy things being relatively planned, we researched the Dead Sea region for a few days. We found out how to get there by bus and tried to book a night at a Kibbutz (a communal farm). When those plans fell through, we ended up renting a car for a great price Masada & Snake Path
and spending one whole day at Masada and the sea.

It is at this point that I should interrupt the blog to describe a car game we play here at the bureau. I think this simple game started when Chris Mitchell (our boss) and his daughters needed entertainment on long road trips. The point of the game is self-explanatory, and oddly enough, quite competitive! Every time you see a yellow car you say, "Yellow car. I win." The car has to be completely yellow - not a goldish or orangey hue - only yellow, and you have to be the first one to say it. It is very similar to the slug bug game that you play when you see Volkswagen Bugs. Granted, you were probably 8 years old the last time you played...

Well, "Yellow car we win." We rented a yellow Hyundai Getz, and it was oh so cute. However, renting a car was the easy part; driving in Israel was the challenge. Kim drove like a pro, despite all the motorcycles driving within inches of the vehicle, irregular traffic patterns, anxious horn-honkers, random security checks, the odd camel or two, and her fellow intern obsessing over the Hebrew and Arabic radio stations.

We managed to arrive at Masada around 10:30 AM, passing the Jordan-Israel border checkpoint, the West Bank, and the Qumran Caves (where the famous Dead Sea scrolls were discovered by Bedouin herders) on the way. At the Masada visitor center, we watched a melodramatic educational video, complete with laughable English translation dubbed over the Hebrew-speaking narrator, then hitched a ride on a hanging gondola up the mountain. Like most of the tourist attractions we've seen, Masada has a rich history. And I don't just mean Peter O'Toole playing the part of a Roman general saying, "What have we won? We have won nothing," when he enters the fortress on horseback for the first time. Aside from the classic Hollywood film, Masada is actually King Herod's famous desert fortress on top of an isolated mountain cliff that is only accessible by a snaking footpath. (Josephus, the Jewish historian, called it 'Snake Path'...no one ever said the old historian wasn't creative.) During the time of the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in the early 70's AD, several Jewish rebels, including women and children, fled to Masada to seek shelter. Well, the Romans could not allow any rebellion for the sake of the empire. The legions tried various ways to reach the mountain-top fortress (complete with a palace, water cisterns, bath house, and comfortably-stocked storerooms) while the rebels pelted them with stones and other available weaponry. The Romans eventually piled dirt higher and higher to build a siege ramp leading up to the fortress wall. This huge ramp is still visible, although not traveled by tourists and pilgrims today.view of Dead Sea from Masada
By the time the Romans breached one of the walls, they entered the fortress only to find that all the rebels had committed mass suicide. Today, ideological victory is given to the Jewish rebels (hence O'Toole's famous movie line). Historians, archaeologists, and of course, the Jewish people, believe
Masada to be a testament to the resilience of Jews to withstand conquest, even at the expense of their lives.



So, Kim and I walked atop Masada for more than an hour and decided to hike our way down the mountain via the Snake Path. This little adventure ended up making us hot, sweaty, sore, and very glad to have our camel-backs (fancy water bags view of the siege ramp
with a rubber straw running from our backpacks to our mouths) to keep us hydrated. I played a joke on Kim and fully embarrassed her by wearing my white and blue socks with sandals. She ended up making a funny documentary of other tourists wearing socks and sandals,
taking note of the age and gender of each. According to Kim:

"Without exception, all cases were men who most assuredly flashed their AARP cards in order to get the senior discount for the ride up the mountain. That's what was so embarrassing. If you must wear socks with sandals, at least go with the trend: dark dress socks that reach mid-calf. Athletic ankle socks, Bonnie...really? I'm nominating you for 'What Not to Wear, Retiree Edition."

Ready to cool off in the nearby Dead Sea, we drove to the Ein Gedi Spa and paid a small entrance fee to use their lockers, showers, fresh water pool, beach, and mud. The inside hall of the spa wreaked of sulfur pools and sulfur hot tubs. I'm not exactly sure what benefits bathing in sulfur might give your body, but I'm pretty sure that it is not enough to convince us to swim in the putrid yellow liquid, bubbling up the stench of rotten eggs. And, in case a dive into the sulfur isn't enough for you, the spa has conveniently provided guests with yellow sulfur powder next to the Dead Sea mud pits. We managed to avoid both liquid and powdered versions of rotten eggs.

Walking into the Dead Sea was pretty exciting all by itself. After hearing about the salty sea for most of our lifetimes, being there for the first time reminded us again of how awesome it is to be in Israel. We chose a great day to go. The weather was moderately warm, the water cool, and the visibility amazing. We alternated video-taping the other's first floating experience. To quote a fellow American in the water with us, it was more than a little 'trippy.' You literally float, and it takes powerful core muscles to cause your body to sink or force yourself to stand. Salt crystals on the sea floor will slice the skin if you're not careful, so wear thick sandals when you go. By the way, Dead Sea water stings like fire, even on tiny abrasions! Its amazing how many scrapes we had that we didn't know about before we entered the water.

After floating for an eternity, we rinsed and walked over to the mud pits to experience the mineral effects of the dark chocolate-colored mud. If you've ever used any type of mud mask, then you can easily live vicariously through this ritual. We proceeded to bake for the recommended 20 minutes. Afterwards, our skin resembled that of elephants. Trying to walk to the showers was painful because the mud had hardened so tightly that walking became both difficult and painful. Moreover, the spa eagerly displayed its obsession with sulfur because we were provided with our choice of sulfur showers for rinsing off the mud. Even as I type this I can smell the rotten eggs flowing like a deluge from the shower spout. Kim accidentally rinsed in it before smelling her mistake. Another note from Kim:

"The smell wears off eventually. But, for the record, it is not an effective man repellent."

After a brief stint in the fresh water swimming pools and enjoying popsicles and cold drinks, we were back on the road to Jerusalem. We were too exhausted to stop by the Qumran caves after all, but safely drove our winner of a yellow car back to the apartment.