Beyond awesome

It's hard to believe that Eretz Yisroel is basically the size of New Jersey. You have so many different climates and areas.
For day two, I took a tour with Artzeinu, an orthodox tour guide group. Zahava, her sister Shoshana, her friend Bashi and I started off the  with a short walk to the Prima Kings hotel to meet the group. Of course, I held everyone up, and of course, we were the last to arrive!
Our tour guide was a fun and very knowledgeable man named Moshe. He proceeded to keep us entertained with all kinds of interesting facts and tidbits about the areas we were passing. It's an unbelievable feeling to hear about Israel in connection with various parts of the tanach. He really brought it to life.
Our first stop was Ein Gedi, a nature reserve. We spent an hour and a half hiking up a mountain, learning about the wildlife and plant life. Of course, there were plenty of picture opportunities along the way. Israel is truly a beautiful and unique country. Next, we popped over to Masada. The story of Masada is a chilling one of Jews not willing to give up Torah. We rode a cable car up to the top. In case you have never been there, the place is HUGE! We literally spent 1 1/2 walking through and learning the history of it. It's mind boggling to touch stones that are over two thousand years old! The views were breathtaking. Pictures truly do not do them justice. After lunch we headed over to the Dead Sea. I guess I was expecting the thick goop I make at pesach, so I was pleasantly surprised to find it feels life water. Until I pulled my hand out of the water. The water not only has salt, but there are minerals and oils in it as well. A bunch of ladies went in the water, although we were content to stand around in our coats snapping pictures.
I'm writing this on the bus back to Yerushalayim, where I know it is a lot colder than where we are now. I'm watching the sun set paint beautiful hues of red and deep purple in the back drop of mountains. I just want to add that the colors here all day have been so vivid. It's almost like someone took my brain and set it to high saturation. The sky is such a deep shade of blue. The Yam Hamelech can't even be described. The colors vary from place to place, from blue to green and in between. The shoreline is white, coated with layers of salt.
Overall, it was another fantastic day in a land that is a delight to look at and experience.

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday ... When the plane arrived at Ben Gurion airport,  the pilot announced,  "Welcome to Israel". There was applause. Only in Israel do the passengers clap upon arrival!!!

(I'll add pictures from today over the weekend, b'n.)