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Published: July 10th 2012
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We arrived into Israel from Dahab at the Taba land border. The process was thorough but easy enough; we did have our passports stamped so there will be no trip to Iran for us this year.
We were met by our guide who took us to visit Mount Masada, the famous palace built by the paranoid King Herod and also the place where the Jews made their heroic last stand against the Romans and committed mass suicide in preference to surrender. The palace was built on a hill 462 meters above sea level so we caught the cable car up rather than taking the path. The site was in very good condition and we both enjoyed our time up there with the secret palace built on the cliff face being the highlight.
After exploring Masada we travelled to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. The water is so dense that it is impossible to swim in, all we could do was just sit back and float around. Aaron had cuts on his feet which resulted in some extreme discomfort when we hit the salt water. It was extremely hot both in and out of the water so
we only spent a small amount of time there before travelling to Jerusalem.
The next day we did a full day guided tour of Jerusalem, luckily the temperature there was around 35 degrees which was a welcome change from the heat of Egypt. Jerusalem is a holy city to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam. We began our tour of the holy city at the top of Mount of Olives where we got an amazing view of the old city of Jerusalem which is defined within the cities walls. The Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. We explored each quarter of the city which held their own churches, holy sites and markets. It was really interesting to see how clearly defined people were by their religion.
In the Christian Quarter we visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The site is venerated as Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified, and is said also to contain the place where Jesus was buried. Today the church is separated and shared between several Christian churches and secular entities in complicated arrangements. Later we
Birth place of baby Jesus
Church of Nativity, Bethlehem. explored the Armenian Quarter which we found interesting as the building reflected many of the churches we had visited in Yerevan earlier in the year.
The Jewish Quarter was definitely a highlight, especially seeing the Western Wailing Wall which is the remaining part of the Jerusalem Temple from Jesus time and basically a shrine for the Jews. As we were visiting on a Saturday the day of Sabbath for Orthodox Jews the wall was quite busy and we were unable to take photos. On our way back to our hotel we were told by our guide that on the Sabbath, Jews are not allowed to drive and if you were to drive through their neighbourhoods on this day your car would be stoned. We found this all very interesting and decided we better not try this out.
We were unable to visit the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock as it was closed so we would have to wait two days to see the iconic Mosque and Moslem Quarter.
The following day our guide took us into Palestine to see the Separation Wall and the Church of the Nativity. We were a little unsure as
to the safety situation in Palestine but decided that we couldn’t come all this way without going there, and we are really glad we did. Getting into Palestine was no problem except that you can no longer take the direct route due to the Israeli West Bank Separation Wall. There are security checks as you enter and exit Palestine, however we were not stopped at either one, our guide pointed out the bullet proof buses which the Jewish people travel through the West Bank area in which was a little unsettling. Everything was pretty quiet in Palestine, many businesses are shut and there are not too many people out on the streets. We spent some time walking the length of the separation wall reading the graffiti and published stories of the Palestinian people. It was an emotional and eye opening experience. The wall itself helps you to understand how it must feel being a prisoner within your own country.
After the wall we drove to the Church of Nativity to see both the oldest church in the world and the apparent birth place of Jesus Christ. The church itself was nice and we were able to sneak down between
prayer sessions to get some photos of the place Jesus was born before being kicked out by an angry Armenian priest. Back in Jerusalem old town we were able to secure tickets for the Western Wall Tunnels which were interesting and even more so when the power cut out, luckily most people had their mobile phones which we used as torches. We spent the rest of the day exploring the markets of the old town in Jerusalem where Mikaela made some “successful” purchases to her delight including Jesus sandals.
The next day we explored the moslem quarter were able to enter to see the Dome of Rock which is one of the most photographed buildings in the world. The area surrounding the Mosque is lso considered holy for moslems and had a very serene feeling. The outside of the Mosque was beautiful and I only wished that non moslems were able to enter.
After this we took the bus to Jaffa, Jaffa is an ancient port city near Tel Aviv believed to be one of the oldest in the world. It is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah. After some exploring we
The City of David
The oldest settled neighborhood of Jerusalem and a major archaeological site due to recognition as biblical Jerusalem. made our way to our hotel in Tel Aviv where we spent a couple of days. Tel Aviv is a cool coastal city with boutique and vintage shops, cafes and markets. It is far more liberal than Jerusalem and seems quite European. It is a city that we could easily both live in.
Next up for us is a quick stopover in Jordan to check out Petra and Amman before heading to Kenya.
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Anastasia78
Anastasia78
Great photos!
Well done! I love this entry and the photos are beautiful. Looking forward to hearing about Petra...