Friday, December 30, 2011

Israel - Day 1 - December 30, 2011

After a plane trip from New Orleans to New York, a bus trip between airports in New York, a 3 hour layover, a 10 hour flight from New York to Tel Aviv, and a two hour bus ride into the Negev desert, we finally arrived at the Ramon Inn in Mitzpen Ramon last night. After dinner and Bible study, Me and my roommate (Walt Barnes - Pastor of Roseland Park Baptist Church in Picayune, MS) crashed. We woke at 3am due to a misinterpretation of the correct time.

So after a really early start, I walked my 2+ miles (inside in a hallway of the hotel... It's too cold outside for this boy) and we went to breakfast. After breakfast, we began our journey with a trip to Ramon Crater. This place is the Grand Canyon of Israel.

Next it was off to Avdat, an ancient Nabatean city. We saw an ancient settlement that had been excavated. This city was on an ancient spice trade route. Avast has an excavated church that has a baptismal pool shaped like a cross. You can see a picture on Facebook.

It was on to the city of Beersheva. The highlight of this stop was a well, thought to be Abraham's well from about 2,000 BC. Again, pic on FB.

Our next stop was my personal favorite of the day... Masada. Masada was an ancient city on top of a mountain that was almost inaccessible. A snake trail winds up the mountain. This trail was used to bring goods to the top via animals. It is an awe inspiring view from Masada. You now ride a huge cable car to get to the top. This city was overrun by the Roman army in 73AD. There were a remnant of Jews left after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. This was their "Alamo." You can see several encampments at the bottom of Masada where the Roman soldiers stayed during their siege.

The last stop of the day was En Gedi to stop and check out the Dead Sea. I put a pic of me on FB at this site. Several people swam (not me). The water is too slimy feeling! This place is the lowest on earth... 1,300 feet below sea level... Makes New Orleans seem like its on a mountain! Had a great first day.


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