Sunday, 8 July 2018

Israel 2018 Day 4, 7July


Sundown 6July, marked the beginnings of the Sabbath, which ended at sundown 7July. I didn’t realise, until I accidentally took the “Sabbath elevator” in the hotel, that there was a special elevator which stops at every floor on the Sabbath so that observant Jews don’t have to press any elevator buttons! Not only did the elevator stop at every floor, the door remained open for a very long time, so that no one had to hit the open button if people are very slow to get in or out of the elevator! However, a ride in this elevator nearly drove me nuts, because it simply took forever!

Mount of Temptation in Jericho: The place where Satan tried to tempt Jesus to bow down to him (Matthew 4:8). In my 2015 trip, I blew a shofar in a souvenir shop in Jericho. That was my one-off experience in blowing the shofar. I saw shofars in the souvenir shop this time too, but this is a different shop and the shofars are very cracked, so I didn’t buy the shofar here. Again, I blew the shofar. The shop sell camel backpacks, and I bought one. The bags are very lightweight, and seems very strong at the same time. I saw two camels outside the shop, and one of them kept screaming. I wonder if these are the camels they skin? Jericho (Hebrew: Yeliho)=City of the moon. The ancient people in Jericho worshipped the moon. This city consists mostly of Muslims today.









Qumran: This was where the Dead Sea Scrolls were stored by the Essenes.






Masada: a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the site of the last Jewish resistance before the Romans expelled all the Jews out of the Holy Land approximately 2000 years ago. It was 43oC when I was there! Totally unbearable!
























Been watching a Masada scenic video hundreds of times before my trip, now I finally get to make my own 360o Masada video!




Ein Gedi: A fresh water spring in the middle of the desert! This is the place where David was hiding from Saul and encountered Saul in one of the caves when Saul went in and used it as his toilet. David did not kill Saul even though he could have.











The Dead Sea: The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth. This part of the sea was different from the one I went to last time. The water felt a bit hotter and was shallower. It was nice to have the 360o camera because I got to film myself in the water this time.











Dead Sea floating 360o:

Dead Sea rubbing mud 360o:



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