THE LEGEND BECOMES THE EXISTENTIAL TRUTH AND HOW LOW CAN YOU GO

Thursday – 16 April, 2015 – Ashdod, Israel

Silver Wind’s schedule called for our sailing from Port Said at 9 pm Wednesday evening. The Captain made the now familiar evening announcement of a change of plans. He reported with more than a bit of frustration that the southbound convoy through the Suez Canal was running late. As the entrance channel was adjacent to our ship, it would be impossible for Silver Wind to depart until the convoy was through our position. He added, “When we will be able to sail from Port Said, I don't know.” After the unnerving excursion to Ismailia, I was ready to leave the increasingly dysfunctional country and proceed to safe and familiar Israel. We were scheduled for a 12-hour excursion tomorrow to the historical Roman ruins at Masada and perhaps a dip in the Dead Sea. We shared Captain Arma’s concern that a late departure from Egypt might delay our arrival in Ashdod and impact our tour’s itinerary.

I had booked this tour during our last cruise to Israel a couple of years ago, only to have it cancelled due to insufficient bookings. Masada and the Dead Sea and visiting Sri Lanka were unfinished business for me, a theme for this cruise. Silver Wind was scheduled to arrive at the Israeli port of Ashdod at 7 am this morning. I was ready to sail from increasingly inefficient Egypt, big time. So were the bulk of the passengers on the ship who had booked the cruise specifically to visit Jerusalem on another all-day excursion from Ashdod.

Israeli line handler employ a truck rather than manpower

We finally cast off from Port Said about 11pm. The Captain had the ship sail at maximum speed overnight to make up for the delayed departure from Egypt. We arrived at Israel’s sprawling container port for Tel Aviv only a little late. The Masada and Dead Sea tour would run as scheduled.

Israel is very efficient. Unlike the multitude of government line handlers in India, one no doubt high paid Israel line handler employed a pickup truck to do the job. Our tour left promptly and proceeded south on a local road. I looked at the Google Maps on my iPhone. We were paralleling the border with the Gaza Strip, just a few miles to the west. But all we saw was neat irrigated fields, clean farm vehicles, and upscale private cars. After a while our tour bus turned east. We entered the Negev Desert which covers the bulk of the south of Israel. Our tour guide explained that only the most southern portion of the Negev (which means “South” in Hebrew) is barren desert. The land we were passing through had small towns, but a fair amount of car traffic indicated a significant population in total. Some people were commuting to Tel Aviv, not all that far in this New Jersey sized country. Our young Israeli tour guide mentioned that after the war of a few years ago, there are only a few (!) Katyusha rockets being fired currently into the area we were driving through.  I thought his world is not easily understood by those of us who live in the USA. Our country has problems to be sure, but Canada doesn’t shoot the random rocket into Minnesota as far as I know.

It can rain heavily in the Negev Desert

The guide’s description of the northern Negev desert not being as we expected proved true. We found ourselves in a violent thunderstorm.  The bus driver’s mobile phone rang as the sky opened up. The guide then advised us that we were to take an alternative route across Israel. The main road to the Dead Sea was closed due to flooding. Excessive rain in April and May was a problem in recent years, and Israel has more than sufficient water supplies without relying on rainfall. He said that Israel actually provides drinking water to Jordan and nearby Egypt. Peace is wonderful, I thought. Climate change is not. This region doesn't need more problems.

An Muslim Arab Village in the Negev  

An Israeli Bedouin shepherd and his flock

We passed a few towns along the well maintained east-west highway.  One town had large mosques visible. The villages we were passing were all “Arab towns”, the guide explained. The mosque indicated that Muslim Arabs live there; the other towns were where Christian Arabs lived. He was careful to add that all inhabitants of these towns were Israeli citizens. Although we could not see them, there were a few new “Jewish towns” nearby. To relieve congestion the Israeli government is encouraging people from the Tel Aviv area to move south and is building up-scale modern towns for them from scratch. Significant amenities such as parks and shopping centers are included. There were no such amenities visible in the Arab towns we passed. We could see Bedouins tending flocks near the somewhat primitive villages where they lived.

Modern shopping center on the outskirts of a new town built to encourage city dwellers to move to the Negev

We stopped for coffee at a brand new, very familiar looking shopping center. It was near a new “Jewish town” that was over the hill, the guide explained. As we left the tour bus for the nearby toilets he warned us that as it was “Remembrance Day” which commemorates the Holocaust. At 11 am a siren would sound and everybody in Israel would be obliged to stand in silence. Unfortunately, the timing was perfect. When the siren went off, I and the men next to me at the urinals were already complying. (I'm not making this up. Travel is full of ironies.) I really felt guilty.

Luxury resort hotel on the south end of the Dead Sea

We climbed the Judean Hills and descended towards the Dead Sea Valley. The Dead Sea itself was visible far north, below in the haze. Salt evaporation ponds were directly below the road. We could see a number of modern luxury beach resorts along the water as we got closer. 

A cable car takes tourists up to the Masada Plateau. Note the switchbacks of the the hiking trail used by those with more time as well as the Jewish Defence Forces as part of their training

At Masada an Israeli Flag was flying at half-staff for Remembrance Day which commemorates the Holocaust. Across the Dead Sea we could see the mountains in Jordan we had crossed a few days earlier on our way from Aqaba to Wadi Rum

The ruins of King Herod's Palace

Herod had a Roman Bath. The water for the baths were carried by slaves from an intricate system of canals and underground reservoirs 

We arrived at the impressive cable car for the ride up to the 1,300-foot high Masada Plateau.  An Israeli flag was flying at half-staff because for Remembrance Day. It was fitting as well for the legend associated with Masada. It was hard to remember that the top of the plateau sits at sea level. Herod the Great built the mountain top complex starting in 31 BC. The guided tour of the remains of the massive Roman palace complex was fascinating. Besides the palace itself there were proper Roman baths, temples, and a number of (!) amphitheaters could be seen below surrounding the plateau. King Herod did not build a minor outpost.

The Siege Ramp built by the Roman Legend was still evident after 2,000 years

Our guide explained the emotional significance of the Masada Legend

Despite its appeal as a significant archeological site, Masada has a more existential meaning for Israelis. The famous story the Jewish rebels appears in only one reference. When the Roman Legions built a huge ramp and began to storm the site, the story goes that the 960 Jews who had taken refuge in the fort killed themselves rather than be taken. The guide explained that the truth of the story is irrelevant. Masada has become perhaps the most important patriotic monument for Israelis. All new members of the Jewish Defence Forces complete their basic training with a climb to the ruins. There they take the oath, “Masada will never fall again”. They are referring to the State of Israel, of course. The guide’s eyes watered as he told us this. He was clearly moved, and so were we.

You can't get lower on the surface of the Earth according to the GPS app in my iPhone

After wading into the slimy Dead Sea I took a selfie. A bather floated in the extremely buoyant water behind me

I wish we had time to walk down the well-worn hiking trail. Instead we took the cable car back to the tour bus park and drove a short distance to a resort hotel on the Southwestern shore of the Dead Sea, the “lowest point of Earth". The surface is some 1000 feet lower than Death Valley, the lowest point in North America which we visited last Autumn.

Some time after lunch was reserved for a dip in the Dead Sea. We were prepared to change into bathing suits but thought better of it when the guide explained that the slimy mineral content of the water would take days to clean off our bodies. More alarmingly, he warned us that wading more than ankle deep would result in being tipped over due to the buoyancy of the water. So I took off my shoes and socks and got slimed only for up to a couple of inches below my ankles. After this harrowing experience, Barbara and I walked out on a pier to sit in the shade. The temperature was now in the low 80s. I took a selfie as a swimmer floated on the surface of the Dead Sea. It appeared that no part of her body was actually submerged.

We returned to the ship the way we had come and sailed for Haifa where we were to have our last tour of the cruise.