JERICHO!!!!! :) :) :) hehe - who would have thought!
You know Joshua is one of my heroes!
May 22, 2005
HEADING SOUTH TO EGYPT.
:)
Wow I am tired! I am ready to go though. Today will be a "down" day for photography. I think I am going to play with some filters and just mess around. Hopefully we will get a few good shots though!
Looking forward to the trip southward into Egypt.
Our tour guide, Joseph, arrived at 10 a.m. this morning. He was in a 4X4 and I could tell that it was rugged and was going to be able to handle whatever came out way! We took off from Jerusalem and headed south towards the border of Egypt. For about 1/2 of the way there we could see the Dead Sea to our left. This also was the border with Jordan. The ride was absolutely beautiful. A stark contrast to the city life! There was nothing but mountains and dessert the entire way. One would think that if there were not any trees or flowers then there is no possible way that there could be beauty. Far from the truth! The skyline was constantly filled with mountains and beautiful multi-colored hills. You could see different minerals in the sides of the mountains. You could see green for copper and a lot of reds and yellows. There was even silicon - white rock. Fossils were everywhere. We stopped at several locations where we were able to pick up old pieces of pottery and so on. It was awesome!
Our tour guide lives in Israel. He fought in the six day war and lost a brother. His parents both survived the holocaust. He was an amazing person. We talked a long time. He said that he believes that Israel should give back the land as it was in 1967. This seems to be a common theme now. He said that the majority of people here believe that. Interesting...as this is not what I am being taught in the USA. I am being taught and told that most of Israel does not want to give the land back.
The Dead Sea is made up of 33% salt. You can just lay down in the water and float. It is impossible NOT to float. I was having so much fun just trying to swim in the water. It is literally impossible. You just float! You can see those photographs below. If you get the water in your mouth then you are in for a rude awakening! The water taste awful. Do not drink the Dead Sea Water :) Note to self!!!!!
David watched me floating around and even brought me a newspaper at one point. LOL :) It was different - that was for sure.
We toured several ruins of ancient palaces. One was called Masata. It was located on an extremely high hill. You had to take a sky lift to the top. The palace was HUGE. It was in ruins though. There is an incredible story behind this palace. King Herod used to live there - and then others eventually moved in. There was a movie made about the war there. I will post more about this later.
We headed for the Egypt Border during the late afternoon hours. We did not arrive until the sun was going down. Once we arrived it took about 30 minutes to get through. The Egyptian Border Control was really nice. Our guide said I was an American and it seemed to help move things along at one point. I was a bit unsure how all of that would play out. I guess it is not a big issue here.
The Red Sea is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It is so clear. We were able to see part of it at the Egyptian Border. The hotel here is INCREDIBLE. We will only be here for one night though. No internet - at least I don't know how to sign in. Heh
Tomorrow we will be going to one of the mountains near this area. We are having a great time.
I am really worn out! Time for bed.
Here are some photographs from today -
JERICHO!!!!! :) :) :) hehe - who would have
thought!
You know Joshua is one of my heroes!
This is one of the LATEST cars over here! Really
good on gas mileage.
Near the border of Egypt.
Much of the drive down to Egypt looked like this.
Beautiful countryside!!!! Many colors in the desert and
the hillsides. There are so many different types of minerals.
Copper, Iron, Sulfur, and on and on!
Masada in Ruins
I have made it to the Dead Sea :)
The Dead Sea in Israel - Jordan is to the back of
me.
Floating in the Dead Sea reading a newspaper :)
David and Beau by the 4X4 that we went "off-roading" in.
Hunting for fossils. We found several! That is David and the tour
guide Joseph.
All of our tour guides have biblical names! lol
Sun setting behind the mountains - used a
filter for this shot. Beautiful to watch the sun
disappear.
Moon rising above the mountains...enhanced photo
Ok it will soon be MONDAY - we are going to climb Mount Sinai. This is the mountain that Moses was given the Ten Commandments by God. It is over 6500 feet tall. It will take all day and all night to climb up and back down. We will be going to see the sunset and the moon rise. The moon will be full. This will be the first time EVER that I have witnessed such an event. It will be spectacular.
TURN THE PAGE FOR MONDAY CLICK
HERE
See PADUCAH Live View Web-Cam Below
------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
LIVE: VIEW
FROM DOWNTOWN PADUCAH
...VIA WEB CAM FROM WPSD NEWS CHANNEL 6
------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
MAILING ADDRESS
BEAU DODSON
465 Ashcreek Road
Paducah, Kentucky
42001
Phone Number
Home 270-554-6715
Cell 270-970-1202
Email beaudodson@hotmail.com
