Trip 1

From Ramalla --> Nebi Musa --> Jericho --> Mesada --> the Dead Sea

Highlights: Taking a cable car to the top of Mesada.

Lowlights:  Wanting to throw Joey from the top of Mesada.  Very hot.  Africa hot.  Tarzan couldn't have taken this type of hot.  At least it was a dry heat.

Nebi Musa means the Prophet Moses in Arabic.  It's a little mosque on the sight where Moses was caught by one of the kings before he went to Egypt.

Jericho was an oasis in the desert.  In blistering temperatures, a literal plethora of fruit trees spring out of nothing.  Oranges, mangos, lemons, limes, grapefruits, bananas, and countless other varieties grow here.  Also the location of the only casino in Israel and the West Bank.  We visited the old city and Joey saw his first Camel on the trip.  This is reportedly the oldest city on earth.

Mesada is a towering plateau that was once a Jewish fortress town.  Rising to 10 feet above sea level, it's pretty impressive.  I say rising to 10 feet due to the fact that the rest of the terrain around the Dead Sea is 400 meters - 1200 feet - BELOW sea level.  During the Jewish revolt against Rome, this place was fortified by some 900 Jews and laid siege to by the Romans.  Instead of climbing the narrow twisting trail to the top, the Romans built a ramp out of dirt and rocks to give them easy access to the city.  Once there, they found that all but 5 people (1 woman and 4 children) had committed suicide rather than become slaves again...

The Dead Sea was like oil.  Joey took two steps and fell face-first, getting salt-water in his eyes.  This ended the Dead Sea trip.

Mc Donald's: 2    Burger King: 0