A Parting of the Ways

Today, thirteen of the group headed home.  The other twenty of us headed south to the resort city of Eilat.  Located at the very southern tip of Israel, Eilat sits adjacent to the Jordanian port city of Aqaba.  Because of the rain and snow melt, we could not travel the normal route along the Dead Sea area.  The road was closed at several locations.  We traveled through Area A, a Palestinian Authority control area that took us around Bethlehem, by Hebron and Arad and south from there.  We reconnected with Route 90 at the southern edge of the Dead Sea.

We stopped at Timna Park to see and hear about the Tabernacle of God. A full scale replica is set up at Timna.  The explanation given was the most powerful and complete we have ever heard.  If you would like to read more about it, check it out here:  www.berean-to-berean.com.

The Negev desert has a stark but amazing beauty to it.  We saw camels, sheep, a fox, antelope and ostriches along the way.  We ate lunch and got ice cream at one of the kibbutzim that is a dairy in the desert.  Prior to stopping at our hotel, we traveled just a mile or so beyond to see the Egyptian border with Israel at the Taba crossing.  This was the fourth and final border we have been to between Israel and each of her neighbors.

Tomorrow it is on to Jordan, and Petra.