Hamat Gader

Last night I took a little trip with a couple other people from the Garin to Hamat Gader - a naturally hot sulfur bath resort. The resort is about 15 minutes down the road from Kibbutz, and on Monday night there is a special discount for residents of the area. The last time I had been there was about five years ago, and while the Roman ruins remained essentially unchanged, the hot baths received a major face-lift. The entire area was redone with the square pools replaced by a large lagoon shaped one with special massage jets and waterfall areas. Where a lone snack bar stood years ago, there are now a slew of restaurants and massage rooms. The only negative is that to make the pools more tourist friendly, the management apparently tempered the temperature of the pools. Fortunately, the one holdover pool from the "old" Hamat Gader is still quite boiling and I am happy to report that after bathing in it all of my muscles had turned into jelly.