Masada and Dead Sea

A little while ago I posted about our trip to the Bedouin Camp in Southeast Israel.  Where the Bedouin Experience left off, a sunrise hike up the ancient and holy site of Masada and a swim on top of the Dead Sea picked up.

Our day began with a wakeup call around 4 AM.  Not entirely accustomed to our desert accommodations, the team groggily gathered around morning coffee before driving 20 KM east to Masada.  Originally fortified by Herod the Great, this mountaintop construction provides a commanding and impressive view over the Dead Sea below and Jordan to the East.  To reach the top of this plateau, we hiked up the Roman Ramp Path that winds up the rear of the facade:

Hiking up Masada before sunrise

Once there, we watched a beautiful sunrise over the Dead Sea that was certainly worth the early wakeup call:

Masada sunrise overlooking the Dead Sea

Once the sun was up, we toured around this 2000 year old site that holds as much historical importance as cultural and religious significance to the Jewish people.

Columns hint at Masada's Roman influence

After a morning full of hiking and walking around in the sun, we relaxed on the Dead Sea, one of Israel's most iconic and memorable attractions.  The lowest place on earth collects salt and mineral runoff from the surrounding hills, leaving it with a salt content that makes it almost impossible not to float on.  With its mud's famed curative properties and views looking up to Masada and off to Jordan across the Sea, no visit to Israel is complete without an experience like this one.

Relaxing on the Dead Sea

Shalom and Welcome!

This summer a group of 12 MBA students will spend eight weeks in Haifa, Israel as part of the Dingman Center’s Global Technology Entrepreneurship Fellowship.  There, we will develop commercialization plans for exciting high-tech intellectual property at the Technion in Haifa.  With this blog we hope to communicate what promises to be the experience of a lifetime through our photographs, videos, and collective voice.

What exactly will we be doing in Israel?  At the Technion, often referred to as Israel’s MIT, we will work in teams with our Israeli counterparts to develop commercialization plans for some of the world’s most cutting-edge IP.  We will study Israeli technology and industry dynamics through company visits and meetings with the leaders in agro-technology, water-technology and medical devices.  We will attend conferences in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to immerse ourselves in the latest trends and network with executives in the technology sector.  And we will gain invaluable insight and feedback by pitching our plans weekly to Israeli venture capitalists.

In our free time we’ll explore all that Israel has to offer.  We’ll swim (or float on?) the Dead Sea, tour the ancient city of Jerusalem, enjoy bustling Tel Aviv, and hike in stunning scenery in Israel’s North.  We’ll seek out the finest shawarma and falafel Israel has to offer.  And we might even spend a few hours on the beach.

We'll do all of this as a team; we'll learn from one another, sharing cultures, languages and perspectives towards the goal of collective learning.

Throughout the summer this blog will relate the story of our time in Israel.  We hope you enjoy it.