Larry and I had a quick breakfast in our room at 6:00am before heading off the ship at 6:30 to meet our tour group and the small van to go to Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. We had met another couple on the ship during the first few days of our trip and they had told us about this private tour. We were able to get in touch with the company through email and secured two seats on a tourist van with 12 other people for our excursion. We got to see both places instead of just one....and best of all our tour was a small group instead of a large bus. What a grand opportunity! We were super excited to see it all.
Anyway we walked past 30 big buses that were preparing for the ship's passengers to be boarded. WOW! We are so fortunate to have made other arrangements! We passed through customs and went out through the ship terminal where our guide met us with a sign having HIXSON across the sheet. We were the first to arrive and three other families soon joined us.
At 7:00am we left the dock heading down a four lane highway towards Jerusalem via Tel Aviv. We passed many fields of crops. Agriculture is a BIG business.
One pit stop and two hours later we were brought to a scenic view of the City of Jerusalem where we spotted the Old City and the Dome of the Rock. Jerusalem was built of all white limestone, a written law for the city.
In the cityscape The Dome of the Rock stood out against the other white limestone structures with a sparkling gold dome. Here, we were told is where three of the world's major religions converge (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam). Our guide gave us an quite education and we will attempt to remember some of his tidbits; here goes...
The Dome of the Rock, in the Islamic tradition, is the place from which Mohammed is said to have ascended to heaven; for observant Jews, it's the location of the holiest spot on earth, and for Christianity, it's the former site of the Church of the Holy Wisdom. It is here, it is said that, the the Prophet Mohammed launched himself heavenward to take his place alongside Allah. Also, it is here , it is said that Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son. The dome covers the slab of stone sacred to Christians, Muslims, and Jews. The original building was constructed during 688-691 AD. Today, the dome is now covered with 1.3 mm of gold donated by King Hussein of Jordan. The gold cost the king $8.2 million US dollars and he sold one of his homes in London to pay for it. Us visitors can only admire the exterior of the building as the interior is only accessible to Muslims.
Next we wound around the mountain through the Mount of Olives to the Church of all Nations and The Garden of Gethsemane with three olive trees that date back 2000 years, making them witness to the biblical events that are said to have occurred here.
Next we passed by the thousands of tombstones on the hill across from the old city walls. We entered the ancient city of Jerusalem through the Dung Gate which houses the four religious factions; Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Armenian.
We entered the old City into the Jewish Quarter known for the Western Wall; where the second temple of Jerusalem was built back in 520 BC. When the wall was rebuilt some 2000 years ago, it was merely a retaining wall supporting the outer portion of the Temple Mount.
Jews were exiled out of the city and the temple was destroyed. Upon the return of the Jews, they purposefully avoided the Temple Mount, fearing that they might step on the Holy of Holiest Inner Sanctum that was only open to the highest priests. Instead the Jews began praying at the exposed outer wall and it has become the most holy of all Jewish sites. The Wall became a place of pilgrimage during the Ottoman period and Jews would come to mourn and lament their ancient loss, hence the term Wailing Wall. In 1948, the Jews lost control of the Wall when the old city was taken by the Jordanians. Nineteen years later in 1967 when Israeli Paratroopers stormed in during the Six Day War, fighting their way directly to the Wall. The first action on securing the Old City was to bulldoze the neighboring Arab quarters to create the expansive plaza that exists today for all to visit.
We saw many at the Wall praying today along with heavily armed guards and weapons to insure that it was sufficiently protected. One section of the Wall was designated only for women and another larger portion of the Wall was designated for men. Men had to have their heads covered with hats or Yamakas. It is traditional to write a prayer on paper and leave it in the cracks of the wall. It was interesting to see the various dress of the men in black garb with big tall black hats in the area and to see them pray earnestly, rocking back and forth on their heels, bobbing their heads in prayers, breaking off to press themselves against the Wall and to kiss the stones.
My Man at the Wailing Wall
Next we followed our guide into a long tunnel that lead through the Moslem Quarter. Here there were all kinds of shops with fruits, vegetables, handmade goods, food, clothes, drinks and on and on. It was very lively and jam packed full of people. We walked in single file because of so many people and activities going on. The smells, the sights, the sounds... OH MY! Can't get much more exotic than this! We wanted to hang out in this area and do our own thing but was afraid of getting separated from the guide. It was a maze of narrow pathways with small shops set up back into cave like areas.
It was interesting to see all the various ' costumes' that were normal wear for the locals. We were told that 30,000 Moslems live in this small area.
We were elbow to elbow and we believed it. As we walked through this quarter our guide lead us through the path that Jesus walked before his crucifixion. There were various stations that were marked with numbers along the way....where he was given the crown of thorns, where he fell, where he touched a specific rock....it was mind boggling all the places that had been commemorated. On we walked into the Christian Quarter until
On the outside of the church in the square was a big metal drum to put unexploded bombs. Nice greeting! The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is considered by Christians to be the biblical Calvery where it is said Jesus was nailed to the cross. The decision to place the church here was made by Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, 300 years after the death of Christ. Parts of the church that we entered dated back to 1099 of Byzantine origins. The final five Stations of the the Cross are here....Where Jesus was said to be stripped of his clothes, nailed to the cross, the sight of his crucifixion, where the body of Jesus was taken and handed to Mary. The last station, the 14th, is the marble slab where it is thought that Jesus was laid after death. The crowds that were here were enormous. It was hard to go from one room to the next. Awesome history lesson!
Next we walked outside of the Old City through the Jaffa Gate, made in 1898. Here we boarded the van and drove about half an hour to get lunch. After topping the hill out of Jerusalem we looked down into the Judean Desert below. After lunch we drove a few miles to enter the Dead Sea basin.
The Dead Sea is the lowest spot on the earth at 1200 ft. below sea level. It is 190 mi. long and 54 mi. wide. The Sea is divided down the middle with the east side belonging to Israel and the west side belonging to Jordan and the West Bank.
We went through an area where there were cement abandoned buildings that the Jordanian military once used when they controlled the area. We passed into the public area called Kalia Beach and paid 10 dollars each to enter into the Dead Sea.
We changed into our bathing suits and followed a sidewalk down to the Sea. Lots of people were there. Larry secured a chair to relax in while I took the first plunge. The water was cool and I slowly entered the very slippery, uneven bottom of the sea. I slowly got all the way into the water and immediately floated on my back...Larry encouraged me to put my hands into the air while floating....which I did and still floated with my head out of the water.
It was a very unique feeling. When you left the water you felt a slimy greasy kind of film that you could not wipe off with a towel. Larry went next.
Almost everyone rubbed the Dead Sea Mud on their bodies giving themselves a scrub. Many took bottles of the water and bags of the mud home with them to us. An Israeli company sells the healing muds in a more luxurious packaging all over the world.
Fresh fruits available to snack on
We showered off and then went back to the dressing rooms to get dressed, met our bus at 4:30 and then headed back for the 2 hour drive to our ship in Haifa. On our way back we passed the high razor wire electrical fence to the west that was where Jordan's border began. They actually had two rows of this wire that had to be crossed to enter their land and there was also a military car that patroled the area every three to four miles. We also passed through very poor areas that were part of the West Bank through Jerico. Apparently after the Six Day War, Arabs were allowed to return to their homes in Israel that became known as the West Bank so the areas are different sizes and not a uniformed border. We passed through one check point where a military guard came onto our bus and checked everyones Passport. It made our guide very anxious.
We arrived back at the ship around 7:00pm about 12 hours from the time that we had left. We boarded the ship reflecting on all the wonderful experiences that we had during the day. It all was an amazing experience, one that we would be talking about for a long time.
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