Based on popular demand, here is another retroactive blog posting from 2009 when I visited the Masada and Dead Sea on the way down to Eilat Israel.

I also have another retro post of our hike to Ein Gedi and Masada in 2007.

One the way, you can, of course, visit the historic site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  I still do not see how people climbed up in those caves…see one of them in the far top left of the photo?

Masada is an amazing place to visit.  It has tons of history and is one of the most amazing hikes/climbs you can do.  Yes, I recommend the hike and not the easy tram to the top.

It is one of the popular places for Israel IDF (Army) to conduct their unit graduation exercises and you often get to see them at the top and sometimes even practicing their Krav Maga training at the top as well.

I have done the climb multiple times, but the reality is…it is always best to do the climb very very early in the morning and then you can see the sun rising above the Jordanian mountains.

Now the other great part of Masada is the fact it is only < 20 minutes drive from the Dead Sea and all the hotels/resorts there.  There are many great hotels and choices and it is an awesome place to spend the weekend.

From there, we drove down to Eilat which is more like a Hawaii or Caribbean resort down that is nestled between Egypt and Jordan.  It is full of activities, night life, restaurants and of course diving in the Red Sea!

Now here is the really cool thing that was quite a surprise.  On the way back north from the drive from Eilat, we tool the eastern route which is close to Egypt.  Is there a hard border or fence in the dessert between the two countries?  Nope.  You can actually walk right up or across the border…but did not attempt that given all the guard posts on the Egypt side.

You can also check out my other entries from Israel:

• Caesarea
• Caesarea running club
• 4×4 in Negev desert
• Masada and Dead Sea
• Hebron
• Acre
• Jerusalem
• Syria Border