We were stranded without a guide after Jude abandoned us at the last Jordanian checkpoint, the minibus driver seemed clueless at the delay, and we continued to swelter in no man's land at the Jordanian-Israeli border in front of a stubbornly lowered boom-gate while machinegun toting soldiers strutted at the checkpoint dead ahead. After an age, the gate lifted and we were allowed to cross the Allenby bridge into Jericho, all of the group members breathing a sigh of relief. Arriving at the customs checkpoint, 4 volunteers from the group gained early access as a "test". Cass was horrified when I volunteered us to enter, and her fears were justified when we were left abandoned for 20 minutes in a kind of stateless limbo after customs and before passport control! Eventually, we were allowed through to meet up with our guide and the rest of the group. It was an inauspicious start to our time in Israel!
The staggering sight of Masada citadel perched atop a precipitous outcrop began to make up for our rocky beginning. The site of a mass suicide by the Jewish inhabitants so they wouldn't be enslaved or slaughtered by the besieging King Herod's army only added to the mystique. The cable car broached the dizzying heights and we toured the ruins before motoring onward to view the panoramic vistas of the Dead Sea, this time from the Israeli side. Jerusalem was next and a cute, boutique hotel was the staging point for a stroll through the city streets enroute to a lively restaurant and a delicious welcome dinner.
Our trip in to Jerusalem and Bethlehem and consequent travel within Israel was often quite tense. There were constant checkpoints and we were warned to have our passports and visas on hand although we were never actually checked. We drove through streets where opposing protesters were gathered either side, Palestinian settlers or Israelis, waving placards and chanting protests. The wall was visible often and the West Bank loomed over many of our journeys. Our guide, Isse, didn't help matters by constantly reminding us of the violence and religious tension in which we were immersed!
We toured all the religious sites and they were eminently interesting, if not leaving us slightly sceptical: was this really the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane? Did Jesus really carry the cross along this Way of Sorrows and fall down here, or put his hand print in the wall there? Come on!
The hordes of pilgrims certainly believed! They were everywhere, of every creed and colour, every size and shape, but with a couple of things always in common: they were rude and pushy and they were blindly adherent to the questionable tales being spun about the sites, so much so that there was much gnashing of teeth and throwing themselves down on any relic or street that held some kind of dubious historical significance. Anyway, it was highly entertaining if nothing else! The Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall are world famous and interesting to see and inspect up close and personal and it was especially weird to see the head bobbing prayers of the faithful against the famous wall!
After seeing all the big attractions in Jerusalem, we travelled on to Nazareth and biblical stomping grounds in the near vicinity. We toured impressive churches and visited towns that had significance because of biblical fame or connections. We sailed the Sea of Galilee in an open fishing boat then dined on the famous local-caught Tilapia which has been consumed in this region since the time of Jesus. To be perfectly honest, we both found it a bit underwhelming! Capernaum (the town of Jesus) and the Mount of Beatitudes rounded out our tour.
Leaving Nazareth the following day we were fascinated by the seaside towns and cities of Akka, Caesarea and Jaffa in turn. Akka had the restored wonders of the Knights Templar's tunnels dating from the 1100s. Extensive underground caverns and huge tunnels were beautifully restored, lit and displayed and held many wonders and treasures. On the way to Caesarea we admired the Bahai gardens on the cliff face at Haifa before exploring the extensive Roman ruins in Caesarea from aqueducts to an amphitheatre and the ruins of an ancient hippodrome. The port city of Jaffa was reached in the late afternoon and we strolled the foreshore, climbed through the hillside alleyways admiring the old city before retiring to our very flash and clean Tel Aviv hotel for the evening. After a bounteous breakfast, we cabbed to the airport for our flight to Istanbul leaving all 12 of our companions behind. What group and adventures awaited us in Turkey?! (Israel photo album here)