Bedoins, Jericho, Qumran caves

July 14, 2010
Today we had Maged pick us up at 7:30 am to go and see the Bedoins. They have camps not far out from Jerusalem, where they live in tents and corrugated tin shacks. They raise sheep and goats and some make a good living off of tourists. The others girls really wanted to meet some so I went along for the ride. When we got to the site which was right along the highway, they ushered us into a tent and had us sit on the ground around a low table. They served us tea and coffee which was very good and they said was cooked on the fire, but I noticed the fire with the pot on it went out and the refreshments were brought from the building next door, but whatever. We were taken on a little camel ride and we talked to the family a little and then we paid our 500 shekels (close to $200) and we left. I noticed they had cell phones and running shoes so I don't think they are as poor as they like to let us believe.
We then went to Jericho where we saw the sycamore tree that the people there believe Jesus called Zaccheus out of to have supper at his house. It is also where Jesus healed a blind man (Mark 10: 46-52) and where they believe Jesus fasted for 40 days and was tempted by Satan. We took a cable car up to temptation mountain and saw a church there built right into the cliff. The mountains around there are much harsher, steeper and rockier than I ever imagined and there are lots of caves up high that look really difficult to get to. Jericho is also the oldest city in the world and the lowest (1200 feet below sea level.) It is very warm in the winter and bananas are the main crop grown there. It is very hot in the summer, being so low. Today it was about 45C.
We also saw Elijah's spring, where the prophet turned the bitter water sweet. It is supposed to produce 1000 gallons a minute but I think much was used for irrigation before it got to where we were.
We then headed for Qumran, where the dead sea scrolls were discovered by a shepherd boy in a cave. Diane and I were really excited about this so after going through their little museum, we hiked uphill, in the extreme heat to the base of the mountain where the caves are. As I mentioned, the mountains are very steep and craggy so we didn't dare go any further.
We thought we were finished our tour but Majed offered to take us down to the Dead Sea to see what the water is like so off we went to see the sea. It was very salty, beyond what you can imagine and people were just bobbing around like corks out in the water. There were really nice rocks there as well, the nicest that I have seen here so far.
On the way home Majed told us more about his culture and invited us all to go the his nephew's wedding tonight. We were all tired and seriously had nothing to wear but it would have been incredible to have been able to go.