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Published: February 7th 2008
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Petra
Second Wonder of the World for the shirt, only five to go. With Australia Day celebrations approaching in Jerusalem, I decided to take a few days off beforehand to tour the Holy Land. A few mates ended up being free as well so we piled into a hire car and headed down to Jerusalem. After a few textbook road trip moments (the highlight being driving through snow without snow chains and proving the car had ABS) we finally made it to Jerusalem. We even managed to fit in a quick snowball fight, much to the amusement of some Indian UN peacekeepers in the area.
With two days free Dean, Corey and I headed into the Old City after a well earned sleep in. Though it was my second trip to the Old City it was just as impressive as the last. I cannot help but be affected by the history and religious aura that grips the Old City. The entire day was easily spent wandering around taking in the sights, sounds and atmosphere. The days highlights included following the Way of the Cross, the view from The Citadel and the Old City Ramparts walk. I had visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchure and the Wailing Wall on my last trip to
Temple Mount
Not a bad place to ponder the worlds problems... Jerusalem but have included some of those photos here. Besides, I was almost kicked out of the Church of the Holy Sepulchure on my last visit after a friend jumped the queue - I recommend you be patient when you visit there! After working up an appetite we headed off to dinner to a place famous for its burgers. I had a crack at the BIG KAHUNA (750g of meat) as lead up training to the SUMO (1kg burger), which is definitely more than a pizza sandwich Ando. My training session was successful and I am well on track to tackle the SUMO later in the year.
With one day to spare before the Australia Day activities we headed off into the countryside and visited the Beersheba War Cemetery, Masada and the Dead Sea. If you ever come to Israel visiting Masada for a few hours is definitely worth the effort as the views from Masada are breathtaking. Masada is an ancient Jewish fort high in an isolated rock plateau, made famous by Jewish zealots who committed suicide here rather than be taken the Romans. The Romans had to build a massive earth ramp to breach the defences and
The Dead Sea
This was a weird sensation. I am used to sinking like a rock. it needs to be seen to be believed. After taking in the views from Masada we made it to the Dead Sea just in time for a quick dip. Dean’s digital SLR had forced me to put my waterproof/shockproof camera away for most of the day out of embarrassment but I finally got one back as I swam out into the Dead Sea with it for a few happy snaps (Though I must thank Dean letting me use a few of his shots!).
The next couple of days included a number of work functions that are best discussed over a few beers, but suffice to say it was the best Australia Day Weekend ever. Unfortunately after the weekend everyone had to go back to work so I was left to my own devices for a few more days in Israel. I grabbed another hire car and headed down through the Negev Desert to Eilat. The scenery through the Negev is quite spectacular (worth the three and a half hour drive), especially the 40 km long, 8km wide and 300m deep Maktesh Ramon crater as the road winds its way down and back out again.
The next stop was
Dolphin Reef
AWESOME!! The dolphins would swim past within arms reach, often on their backs showing off. Petra, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Petra is an ancient city carved out of the sandstone rockface in Jordan and I had booked a tour to take me from Israel to Jordan for the day. The day started with the tour guide casually mentioning that it might snow in Petra! It turned out to be a colder day then I thought but I hardly noticed the cold as I wandered around Petra - it is simply amazing. The magnitude and detail of the buildings, given they are almost 2000 years old, is breathtaking. I just wish that I could have spent two days in Petra.
My second last day was spent diving in the Red Sea at Eilat. I managed to squeeze in two dives. The first dive was at Dolphin Reef which included dolphins swimming past me at arms reach - awesome! The second dive in the afternoon was a couple of kilometers further down the road at Coral Beach. The coral was sparse and showing its overuse and though there weren’t many fish, I must admit there was a reasonable variety.
I then jumped into my little hire car and headed back to
Jerusalem in Snow
I was lucky to see this as it doesnt snow all the time - though watch out for the local drivers! Jerusalem to find it covered in snow. After a few scary encounters with the local drivers I managed to get a few photos of a snowy Old City and was soon on the highway to get back home.
Overall it was a great little trip. I had swum in the Dead Sea, survived the Australia Day Weekend, visited one of the Seven Wonders of the World, dived with dolphins and eaten the Big Kahuna burger. I have just enough time to recover before my shirt takes me to Egypt for my next adventure.
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Ando
Daniel Anderson
Pizza Sandwich
I wanna see photos of a Sumo Sandwich - that is two sumos stacked on top of each other with some meat in the middle - preferably baby seal if you can, but if not, the meat of some other infant animal will suffice. Only then can you beat the pizza sandwich!