We now are heading south to the Dead Sea. Our first stop is Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves nearby. We were able to see a couple of the caves and a few were wanting to make the trek to Cave 6, but it was closed due to flash flood warnings. Nice ruins of the village to see.
Our next stop was En Gedi, an oasis in the midst of this dry wilderness. We had a wonderful hike up the wadi (canyon) and saw some beautiful waterfalls. It was fun to see some ibex and a little mammal called a rock hyrex (sp?).
We then went to Masada, an amazing site on the top of a high mound in the desert. Herod had built an incredible fortress and this is where the Jews had there last stand against the Romans in 67 AD.
We made a stop at the Dead Sea so the braver ones (mostly us women) could take a dip. Was fun! As we traveled farther south we drove into an incredible sand storm.
Then our final stop was our home for the next 2 nights, Tamar, Terrance's dig site south of the Dead Sea. Due to the sand storm, they had lost electricity for awhile. It was the worst sand storm they had seen in the 10 years they have been here. Quite an experience.
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