Cultural desert immersion
Door: Richard Spijkers & Abhishek Sen
24 Mei 2014 | Israel, Tel Aviv
After 3 hectic entrepreneurial days traveling around Tel Aviv, we finally got ourselves a 'free' day. As a group we decided to go on a trip to the lowest place on planet Earth i.e. Dead Sea and some surrounding historical destinations such as Arad, Masada and Jerusalem.
Our bus driver (Yofin) for the day turned out to be a heavily opinionated yet extremely funny person. As soon as we got in the bus he immediately connected with all of us with his witty comments and stories. Obviously very passionate and expressive about his Jewish heritage, not all the students on the trip agreed with his political viewpoints but nonetheless, he was an incredible tour guide - taking us to off the road locations for perfect photo shots and even helping us catch a glimpse of mountain rabbits, deers and mountain goats.
Couple of hours later we reached the gates of Masada - a UNESCO world heritage site. The story of Masada is one that all Israelis learn about as a kid as narrated by Yofin. In ancient Roman times, when the Jews living in Israel rebelled against the then Roman government and declared themselves an independent state, the Romans were outraged at such disobedience and then annexed the state of Israel from the coast. All that was left for total victory was the city of Masada, strategically placed along banks of the Dead Sea on an impossibly high mountain that was surrounded by a valley. The people of Masada refused to give in to the imminent Roman threat and stayed put inside the city walls of Masada. It took the Romans 1.5 years to build a ramp high enough (~114 meters) to eventually siege the palace. Being proud Israelis and afraid that they would be tortured if captured, the people left within the palace walls committed suicide. The trip to Masada was very educational and took us back thousands of years and left us thinking how such an event might have taken place as we stood atop the palace walls, overlooking the Dead Sea and the valley surrounding the palace.
Hot and weary from our Masada visit, our next trip was .... you guessed it, the Dead Sea. 417 meters below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth. Tourists from all over the world flock to bathe in the salty waters of the Dead Sea - often times for therapeutic reasons as Yofin told us. We were strictly instructed NOT to drink the water, splash around like kids and get water in our eyes - but who listens to the guide, right? After a quick lunch of hummus, nutella and pita, we headed straight for the salty waters but not before lathering ourselves in muddy, mineral-filled clay (supposed to be good for our skin apparently). As soon as we entered the water, to our amazement, we found that it was absolutely impossible to sink! The water 'ride' was a lot of fun as we floated around the sea water.
With our driver yelling that we were getting late for our ride back home to Tel Aviv, we quickly cleaned ourselves of the clay and headed back to our tour bus. The ride back home was very interesting as we traveled through some of the poorer Israeli areas including the settlements, crossed the border into Palestine and then back into Israel after passing through stringent security. Yofin continued his stories and after a long day on the road, we wearied back to our hotel. And to top off this awesome day, we had an amazing dinner followed by drinks at a local pub - perfect end! Kudos again to the Yes!Delft student board members for arranging this awesome trip.
Our bus driver (Yofin) for the day turned out to be a heavily opinionated yet extremely funny person. As soon as we got in the bus he immediately connected with all of us with his witty comments and stories. Obviously very passionate and expressive about his Jewish heritage, not all the students on the trip agreed with his political viewpoints but nonetheless, he was an incredible tour guide - taking us to off the road locations for perfect photo shots and even helping us catch a glimpse of mountain rabbits, deers and mountain goats.
Couple of hours later we reached the gates of Masada - a UNESCO world heritage site. The story of Masada is one that all Israelis learn about as a kid as narrated by Yofin. In ancient Roman times, when the Jews living in Israel rebelled against the then Roman government and declared themselves an independent state, the Romans were outraged at such disobedience and then annexed the state of Israel from the coast. All that was left for total victory was the city of Masada, strategically placed along banks of the Dead Sea on an impossibly high mountain that was surrounded by a valley. The people of Masada refused to give in to the imminent Roman threat and stayed put inside the city walls of Masada. It took the Romans 1.5 years to build a ramp high enough (~114 meters) to eventually siege the palace. Being proud Israelis and afraid that they would be tortured if captured, the people left within the palace walls committed suicide. The trip to Masada was very educational and took us back thousands of years and left us thinking how such an event might have taken place as we stood atop the palace walls, overlooking the Dead Sea and the valley surrounding the palace.
Hot and weary from our Masada visit, our next trip was .... you guessed it, the Dead Sea. 417 meters below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth. Tourists from all over the world flock to bathe in the salty waters of the Dead Sea - often times for therapeutic reasons as Yofin told us. We were strictly instructed NOT to drink the water, splash around like kids and get water in our eyes - but who listens to the guide, right? After a quick lunch of hummus, nutella and pita, we headed straight for the salty waters but not before lathering ourselves in muddy, mineral-filled clay (supposed to be good for our skin apparently). As soon as we entered the water, to our amazement, we found that it was absolutely impossible to sink! The water 'ride' was a lot of fun as we floated around the sea water.
With our driver yelling that we were getting late for our ride back home to Tel Aviv, we quickly cleaned ourselves of the clay and headed back to our tour bus. The ride back home was very interesting as we traveled through some of the poorer Israeli areas including the settlements, crossed the border into Palestine and then back into Israel after passing through stringent security. Yofin continued his stories and after a long day on the road, we wearied back to our hotel. And to top off this awesome day, we had an amazing dinner followed by drinks at a local pub - perfect end! Kudos again to the Yes!Delft student board members for arranging this awesome trip.
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
