Ein Gedi Country, the tourism complex located at Kibbutz Ein Gedi, by the Dead Sea, has decided to invest $4 million in upgrading expanding and renovating its tourism offerings, reports the Ein Gedi Country General Manager Yochai Ross. The new program calls for the construction of 80 additional hotel rooms, while at the same time the 120 rooms already in operation will undergo renovation.

Visitors' Center

Recently, as part of the Ein Gedi Country program of improvements, Kibbutz Ein Gedi expanded its botanical gardens and constructed an on-premises Visitors' Center. The new Visitors' Center, on a cliff overlooking Nahal Arugoth, screens an audio/visual presentation of the kibbutz and the region and offers information on all of Ein Gedi's tourism offerings.

Ein Gedi Desert Tours

Ein Gedi Country is offering two desert tours of particular interest to pilgrims. One in the Negev Desert, is "A Biblical Weekend in the Mountain of God". The others is entitled: "Monasticism in the Jeudean Desert". The Negev Desert Tour - for which a one-day abridged version is also available - takes places at Mt. Karkom, to which some modern scholars have pointed as being the "true" Mt. Sinai. The Ein Gedi Friday-Saturday tour follows the trails of the ancient cultures, with biblical quotes used to relate the journey of the Children of Israel and their receiving the Ten Commandments.

The "Monasticism in the Jeudean Desert" is offering begins at the Eutimois Monastery, on the ancient pilgrims' route between Jericho and Jerusalem. An optional visit to Qumeran - where the Dead Sea scrolls were found - can also be included. The program is a one-day trip and includes a picnic lunch. It begins in Jerusalem and ends up in the Dead Sea area.

Adar Bet 5760 - March 2000