Following the spring semester at Dalat it was time to go back to the States for a year furlough. This would be our third time around the world, but by commercial jet (Boeing 707’s or DC-8s) this time. We flew from Bangkok to Beirut, Lebanon, which was before their civil war. The city was similar to any wealthy touristy city along the French Riviera. We took a day trip to Byblos, a Phoenician city founded in 5000 BC, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. We enjoyed touring the archeological sites. From Beirut we flew to Jerusalem, the eastern half of which was part of Jordan at the time. We toured all the holy sites and then crossed through the Mandelbaum Gate, which was the only crossing between Jordan and Israel. The crossing could only
... read more