Visiting Masada and the Dead Sea....

It takes about 1.5 hours to get to Masada from Jerusalem....
One passes a lot of date tree farms and sees the Dead Sea along quite a part of the route.....

.....apparently the level of the Dead Sea has been dropping annually.....  less water is coming into it from the Jordan river......

One can see Masada for quite a while before arriving.....it is quite high and the surrounding countryside is around sea level... the Dead Sea being below actual  sea level!

There is now a very large cable car to go up... thankfully!

However quite a number of people do still choose to walk/hike up! With 40 degree weather(104F) walking up could lead to sunstroke... no shade en route!

Once at the top the view to the Dead Sea was spectacular ....

It is truly amazing what the Romans constructed at the top... taking into consideration that the only way up was by the 'snake road'.. .. now used by those walking up!
There was a 3 tiered palace..... this model shows what it looked like!

.........what one sees today......

...the Romans could not do without their bathhouse......

...and one sees evidence of the Roman camps surrounding the top when they were determined to win the Siege of Masada!

... and the ramp used by the Romans to gain final access..........

Returning to Jerusalem we stopped at a Dead Sea beach area.......

...and I felt the need to indulge in the lowest bar in the world!!