Our own desert monastery field trip

Today Kent and I went on our own field trip. We tried to visit 2 desert monasteries. Both are located in an Israeli settlement on the West Bank. We spent about 30 minutes driving around trying to find one of them. We were finally successful, only to find that you have to call ahead in order to get into the site. :) Oh, well, we'll go back.
We were successful in finding the other. This first picture is me (or maybe a really old monk) sitting on the wall of one of the "cells" where the monks lived.
This is a view of the monastery and the surrounding area. It is now in the middle of an industrial park! The shed to the left, right by the wall of the monastery, is full of artifacts.

This is an old staircase going up to what would have been a second floor.

This is the crypt underneath the monastery. There was actually a chain across the entrance. But, . . . . .

Inside, looking out.

This was on the upper level. They believe it is the dining area. What you see is a long bench and a low table.

Also, up above is the remains for a church. This mosaic floor is from a 5th century refurbishing.

This is one of the nicest underground cisterns we've ever seen! It could hold up to 3,000 cubic meters of water. I stayed up here.

Kent went down in.

We had a fun little get-away! I drive, he navigates and most of the time we don't get lost! Or at least not too much.