Masada

We stayed at the hostel at the base of Masada; Aside from the hiking and the museum there is nothing to do except go to the pool. It was over 40 degrees again so after we checked out the museum we sat in the pool for the rest of the afternoon. We had an early bedtime because we were going to wake up at 4:45 AM to hike the snake path for sunrise.

Below is a warning sign at the top of masada as you are about to hike down. I did not see a similar sign on the way up!

Attention,
The difference in altitude between the bottom of the path and the top is 350 meters. There are about 700 steps along the two kilometers of winding path. The average time for descending the path is 30 minutes.

We started our hike at 5:05 AM and it only took about 5 minutes to start sweating - it was going to be another hot day of over 40 degrees.We made it 80% of the way up before the sun rose above the Jordanian mountains. It was unfortunate that it was a hazy day and we did not have the best view, but it was still great to see. Once atop the fortress we had a few hours to explore before it was time to hike back down the same way we came up.

I was able to explore some areas that I had not seen before because I was not rushed this time. The highlight was the northern part of the fortress next to the roman ramp. It was a pretty far walk so if you are in a rush it is difficult to see it, but I think it is the coolest part of masada that most probably don't get to see.