Holy Land Journey

My mom woke me early to enjoy a morning walk down to the Dead Sea before we packed up to get on the bus.

Mom holding a chunk of salt from the Dead Sea

We took a short drive along the Dead Sea to Masada where we took a cable car ride up the mountain to see Herod’s Mountain Top Palace and Fortress.

View from the cable car

From there we went to Ein Gedi to see the caves where David hid from King Saul. 

Caves where David hid from King Saul

We then stopped at the factory of Ahava – they make body lotions and creams from the Dead Sea. We carried on to Qumran, the location of the Dead Sea Scrolls discovery.

Mom and I at site of Dead Sea Scrolls discovery

Then we made our way north-west to Jerusalem. It was surprising to see the change in temperature — from 31 degrees at the Dead Sea to only 25 degrees in Jerusalem. We stopped at a lookout point where we celebrated with a glass of wine from Cana.

Overlooking Jerusalem

Highlights

I had been to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the R.O.M. in Toronto years ago, but it was incredible to actually be at the cave where they originally discovered them.

Cave where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered

The Acadia tree at Ein Gedi had thick thorns. Tradition has it that these were used to make the crown of thorns for Jesus.

Acadia tree thorns