Day 29 Bangkok

Fay and our guide under the huge reclining Buddha.

We have a break in touring for two nights in Bangkok. We missed days 27 and 28 somewhere in amongst travelling and changing time zones.

Of course we couldn’t be in Thailand without visiting a temple or three (see photos)….

…. and shopping ….

…. and going on a river cruise – so we did all three and slept a lot!

We are impressed with the "land of smiles" although some Thais seemed to smile more than others!

However at this stage we are all templed out. We can’t really understand the local devotion to a dead man no matter how enlightened.

There seems to be no place for Protestant Christianity anywhere in Thailand (or Egypt) so for connections to our faith we have to rely on memories (and of course photographs) of Israel and Jordan where we walked in Jesus’ footsteps.

Day 29 – 2nd March 2010

Day 26 Alexandria to Cairo

Winter has finally caught up with us and we have exchanged the heat of the desert for the cool winds and storms of the sea at Alexandria. Fay dipped her hand in the Mediterranean with some difficult (photo) adding to her list of seas and oceans she has touched.

Today, the last day of our short tour of Egypt, has seen us visit the National Museum of Alexandria (photos - statues of servants to serve the king in his afterlife and rude jar) and the Monastery of St Macarius in the desert half way between Alexandria and Cairo.

Christians in Egypt in the first Century AD were persecuted by the Roman rulers into fleeing into the desert and forming communities, one of which became the Coptic Orthodox Monastery of St Macarius. The monastery was originally built in 360 AD and rebuilt many times over the Centuries. The present structure was restored from ruins excavated in 1970 (photo). This was a quiet and inspiring place but one dedicated to rituals and practices with which we could feel little empathy.

This is the last day of the Egypt tour. We’ve said goodbye to members of the tour group, we’ve all gone on our separate ways and we leave the land of:
• Pharaohs and Pyramids, Tombs and Temples,
• Crazy traffic (4 cars across two marked lanes, drivers driving with their horns and little buses and cars stopping whenever and wherever they feel like it)
• Small trucks loaded very high with goods often with people perched precariously on top – photo),
• Donkey and horse drawn vehicles,
• Dust storms and flooded streets,
• Unfinished buildings and
• Dirt, dust, litter in the street and pollution.

We’ve enjoyed friendship, fellowship, shared experiences in an exotic land and loads and loads of information about ancient material we’ve been exposed to since school days.

We will probably never be back but we leave having enjoyed every moment of the experience. Next stop (via Tel Aviv) is Bangkok for a few days and then home.



Day 26 – 27th February 2010

Day 25 Alexandria

Highlights of day 25 were:

The drive to Alexandria along the “desert” road,
• Along the way we passed many trucks with people perched on top (photo)
• We had a comfort stop at a café/zoo (photo) with animals we wouldn’t consider putting in a zoo like dogs and guinea pigs.
• We passed many pigeon cotes on the side of the road – pairs of inverted 3m high and 3m diameter mud cones with holes in them (often laid out in patterns). Apparently pigeons are delicacies in Egypt.

Kom El-Shuqafa – under ground catacombs. These were originally a private tomb and then became a public burial place in the 4th Century for many hundreds of people. There were some decorations in these chambers but not nearly as many survived the humidity of the coastal region. It was very musty down there and we found it disconcerting to be standing in among holes used as resting places for the dead.

The “daughter library” was an underground overflow storage for books of the famous Alexandrian library – very similar to the catacombs but with a different function: the storage of papyrus scrolls in little niches in the wall. We tried to imagine the numbering system used to find the scrolls and wondered how these early librarians would have found the books in the dark.

The Roman Theatre, Kom Al-Dikka, this is a small theatre seating about 600 people in one tier. We all stood in the focal point and were suitably impressed by the echo effect. There are Roman baths excavated at the same site. All the monuments are restored not original.

There is evidence of Christian use in many of these remains which we found interesting as it showed us the presence of Christians as well as their inventiveness finding and adapting places to worship.

Amud El-Sawari or Pompey’s Pillar is a 30m high column made from red granite from Aswan. It is amazing that it is still standing when everything around it has fallen victim to earthquake or other natural or human calamity. We marvelled at the mystery of how it was transported and erected without the use of cranes and heavy moving equipment.

The El Morsi Mosque is a very attractive building (photo) but has many very persistent and intrusive touts seeking to sell us all sorts of touristy stuff.

I personally found it very confusing to hear multiple calls to prayer and sermons all at the same time from many local Mosques

A huge modern Library is located on the supposed site of the original family Alexandrian library of antiquity. It is capable of seating 2,000 readers on 11 floors and hold 2 million books.

Our hotel for the night is located in the expansive garden grounds of what used to be the royal palace – we feel very pampered and are starting to feel like home seeing we only have one more day in Egypt.



Day 24 – 25th February 2010

Day 24 – A night we'd rather forget

Every one has their favourite travel stories, this could well be ours.

In the afternoon at Luxor a dust storm rolled in from the Sahara desert. Dust storms affect flights and ours was delayed 90 minutes.

At Cairo there had been heavy rain for most of the day and airport air traffic was very heavy – so we circled Cairo for 20 minutes. Our plane was parked well away from the terminal so bags took forever to be retrieved.

The effect of the heavy rain on the ground was devastating – roads were flooded and impassable in spots for cars and grid lock ensued– our bus driver bullied his way through the traffic maze and we finally got to bed at 1 am.

We had planned to leave the hotel by 7am the next morning but decided on an hour later which was just as well as our guide told us later that he did not get to his home until 3 am.

As you can imagine I’ve left out lots of juicy details which will be recounted at the dinner table at home many times in the future.

Day 24 Luxor

We visited the Valley of the Kings in the cool of the morning. Unfortunately no photos were allowed so there are no images for the blog but we found this an inspiring experience. Apparently digging the Pharaoh’s tomb was initiated as soon as the new king assumed office and only ended when he died – the builders had 70 days (the duration of mummification) to tidy up and leave before the mummy and all the interred items were placed in their places.

The valley was chosen after pyramids were abandoned as being too obvious a target for tomb robbers because it was both secluded and had a pyramid shaped peak above it.

One rubble filled tomb entrance was found and by-passed twice over a hundred years and finally investigated more fully in the late 1990’s and found to be the biggest tomb complex in the valley comprising 95 chambers and still counting. (see www.kv5.com)

Tombs we inspected were:
• Ramses III – for the scenes
• Tausert/Setnakhut – the queen king Tausert and her successor Setnakhut, for the building process and
• Ramses IX – for the colours amazingly lasting 3,000 years.

An informative demonstration of working alabaster was intriguing. As we approached, I thought the guys outside were fashioning wood but they were actually working alabaster – rough shaping, drilling, filing, polishing it into very fine alabaster jars and other ornaments.

We visited the three level Funeral temple of Hatshepsut – it had lots of colour in the images even though they are exposed to the elements. The photo of four statues n a row is from this temple.

On the side of the road we came across the Colossae of Memnon – 20m high statues. The associated temple has long gone it was demolished in an earthquake in 27BC. There was lots of archeological work going on at the site.

A dust storm blew in the afternoon but that doesn’t stop the intrepid tourist so we visited the Karnak Temple a huge complex built over a period of 2,000 years – each king added a bit more to the complex.

Highlights of the complex were:
• A mud brick ramp used in the construction of an unfinished part.
• A “room” with 134 columns – the roof collapsed in the 27 BC earthquake but the columns still stand.
• Most of the columns represented the papyrus plant but the central ones were the papyrus flower.
• The over writing of one king’s name with that of Ramses II (politics!).

Near Tutankhamun's tomb Faysang the chorus of Colin Buchanan's mummy song for our tour group and they all cheered and clapped, of course.

Every ancient thing in this country seems to be built on such a huge scale.



Day 24 – 25th February 2010

Day 23 Edfu to Luxor

We enjoyed an early morning tour of the temple at Edfu. This is a well preserved temple and features the angry god Horus in the form of a falcon (see photo). The stories attached to the images, as recorded on rock and papyrus, show great imagination on the part of the ancient Egyptians.

The day was mostly taken up with a relaxing cruise on the Nile for 9 hours from Edfu to Luxor. Passing through the lock half way was special entertainment specially watching the ship in front of us almost run aground!

This was followed by an evening tour of the Temple at Luxor. After our experience the previous evening we took a torch which aloud us to see the images better as well as the uneven ancient paving. The columns in this structure were awe inspiring in grandeur some represent house building reeds (see photo) and the dusk light gave this visit a very special atmosphere.

We were very impressed and at times amazed at the intricate nature of the rock carving we saw. The carving seemed to cover every available space in these huge structures.

An amazing 3km long avenue of Sphinx is being excavated at Luxor after demolishing and relocating houses, hotels, churches and mosques. Over 2,000 sphinxes are expected to eventually be uncovered in this project. About 70 have been excavated so far (see photo) and would have made a remarkable processional approach to the Temple.

Both temples were buried under many metres of silt as evidenced by
• graffiti high up on columns and
• the presence of a Mosque built at ground level in the 14th Century which is now well up in the air on the top of columns.

And then a demonstration of Papyrus manufacture. Papyrus is manufactured from layers of the strips of the internal part of the stem of the papyrus plant flower. After days of soaking and Days of pressing, a strong and impressively flexible material is formed which was the basis of many records in the 3rd Century BC to the 1st Century AD.

Both of the temples we visited today were used by the early Egyptian Christians as churches who sometimes defaced the images of the pagan gods and at other times covered them with render.


Day 23 – 24th February 2010

Day 22 Aswan to Edfu

A highlight of the day was our visit to a Nubian Village. On the way there we cruised past a wet land full of exotic birds. We saw hooded crows (very common), grey herons, black headed gulls, pied kingfishers and a night heron.

At the village we were treated to the colourful public interior of the home, an informative talk on the Nubian family life and a demonstration of weaving.

Apparently when a Nubian couple marries the normal custom is for
• a large public wedding celebration to involve the whole village hence the need for a large public space in the family home, and
• the man to live with his wife’s family for at least two years and sometimes longer so the family home gets bigger and bigger as the family adds rooms to accommodate nearly the married couples.

The motor ship we are on – cruising the Nile – has about 70 guests on three accommodation floors and one service floor with the restaurant. I spent an interesting time with the captain trying to communicate about speed, engines and what we were passing.

We had a delightful afternoon watching the Nile river bank slide past and talking with new friends from the tour group. One was an IT guru and another was a retired public servant who made and sold replica guns. We have 6 Canadians in the tour group along with 4 Australians, 2 from New Zealand and 2 from the States.

We saw what we expected to see – a thin strip of futile land and then the edge of the Sahara desert, fishermen mending nets, lots of Feluccas, the odd water buffalo and children swimming in the shallows.

And we saw lots we didn’t expect to see – several double sailed tourist hotel ships, a huge suspension bridge and another ship pass us.

We visited Kom Ombo Temple just on dusk so we enjoyed the sun setting while we tried to make out the hieroglyphics – one was part of a calendar and one was a lady in child birth (see the photo). We saw an ancient Nilometer (a well with a tunnel link with the Nile) which allowed the setting of taxes based on the measured maximum height of floods.

Day 22 – 23rd February 2010

Day 21 Aswan

We viewed the Aswan high dam both from the wall itself and from the air as we flew into Aswan from Cairo.

The Aswan high dam was completed in the 1970’s. It
• controls flooding and drought along the Nile,
• allowed 30% more arable land to be reclaimed from the desert,
• increased the number of crops from 1 to 3 times annually,
• is a source of fish (45 tonnes per day) and
• is a supplier of hydro electricity.

However the high dam
• allows only water to pass and not silt which in the past provided natural fertiliser and soil to farms,
• causes rising salinity due to fewer floods,
• causes eroding of the delta coast by Mediterranean Sea (silt used to replace erosion),
• flooded many Nubian villages, and
• flooded many known and unknown ancient Monuments.

We visited the Philae Temple of Isis between the high and low Aswan dams. This temple is interesting because of the mixture of cultures in it. It was built at a time when Greece and then Rome controlled Egypt and their influence is obvious and then its construction was halted by the advance of Christianity. It was eventually used as a Church at the 6th Century in the time of Constantine.

We were amazed by the shear size of the temple and the beauty of the images and hieroglyphics as well as the skill of the artists who produced them. The fact that the temple had been reasonably seamlessly moved during the construction of the high dam was also amazing to us.

In the late afternoon we enjoyed a relaxing sail on the Nile in a Felucca – unfortunately the wind didn’t cooperate so we had to motor back.

We now have three nights on the Nile – “hard work but someone has to do it”! The Egyptians have a saying – “tourists are money from heaven”!

Last night the show was Whirling Dervishes and belly dancing – swirling around for over 15 minutes without being dizzy – how do they do that.


Day 21 – 22nd February 2010

Day 20 Cairo and Giza

Images in order: Bob Touching the Great Pyramid, Fay at the entry to the Great Pyramid (we didn’t venturer in!), Us on a camel in front of the Pyramids, the Sphinx, Crazy Cairo traffic (apparently the garbage collectors are Coptic Christians).

Today we visited the Pyramids, the Sphinx and the Egyptian Museum.

Surprises in the Museum today in the collection of items from Tutankhamun’s 3,300 year old tomb were:
• Boomerangs
• A folding umbrella structure
• A folding bed
• A folding chair (all three complete with hinges) and
• A bed with a rattan weave cane(?) base perfectly in tact and without restoration.

We were not alone – this is peak tourist season but at least we had explanations of a lot of what we saw today.

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Day 20 – 21st February 2010

Days 15 to 19, Free in Cairo, Egypt

Images in order: Fay in covering provided at a local Mosque, Bob taking a break at the Anglican Cathedral, Sheep(Goat?) on neighbouring roof top, Sunset over the Nile, Reception area Ramses Hilton - all in Cairo.

Our Bible Lands tour of Israel and Jordan has been completed and we are free in Cairo before the start of our tour of Egypt.

We are staying in downtown Cairo which is noisy, dusty, smelly, full of smog and hot even in winter – the locals reckon it’s unseasonably hot (worse in summer, I guess).

Unbelievable as it might seem there is an old flat roof two storey building visible from our room where a small flock of sheep including young ones are kept.

We have ventured out of the hotel and have more or less mastered the art of crossing the road. This doesn’t seem much but the traffic here is crazy, speed limits, lane markings and parking rules seem to mean nothing – somehow we have survived with help on occasions from policemen or by following the lead of locals.

We are very gullible but we are mastering the skill of saying “No” and ignoring touts (spruikers) – the hardest ones are the ones who befriend you and engage you in conversation and it only becomes clear after a time that there is this shop or these markets that we might just want to see…. The incessant horns of taxi drivers asking if we want a lift is very draining.

We have visited foot (not by taxi!):
• The Anglican cathedral and attended a mid week English language ecumenical service there,
• The Egyptian Museum in Cairo (deserves a separate blog see separate entry) and
• Some gardens (two Egyptian pound, about 50c, entry per person, thankyou) a bit like our Hyde Park but fenced off with topiary (fancy shaped clipped shrubs), with courting couples and families having picnics (it was Friday – their Sunday equivalent). There were families of boys playing soccer and girls playing hand clapping games just like in Australia.

We have taken a guided tour for two to old Cairo (only 1,000 years old!), an old Coptic church suspended over a Roman gate, a Coptic Museum and a Mosque. Egypt was evangelised in about 40AD so the Coptic church is very old.

It’s amazing to think that we are in the land where:
• Joseph, Mary and Jesus sheltered soon after Jesus birth
• Joseph ruled over Egypt under the Pharaoh and saved Egypt from 7 years of famine and
• Moses initiated the 10 plagues and led the Israelite exodus to the Promised Land.

And we have relaxed. We didn’t realise, until we slowed down, that concentrating on the words of the passionate guides all day has been demanding even though very valuable and informative.

Day 19 – 20th February 2010

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

No cameras were allowed and we took nothing with us so we didn’t have a problem with security or cloak rooms. However that does mean that we have no photos for this blog – sorry about that. If you’re interested you could try www.egyptianmuseum.gov.eg

We were surprised by the crowds but then it is winter and peak tourist season and the Museum does have a world wide reputation we’re told.

The exhibits ranged in size from tiny jewellery to huge statues, columns and steles. So huge in fact I wondered how on earth they got them into the museum….

We stood in front of
• Tutankhamun's spectacular gold mask (he lived from 1,336 to 1327 BC) and
• Lots of the 5,000 odd treasures found in his tomb
• A 3m high 1,300BC stele which refers to the defeat of Israel – apparently the only mention of Israel found in Egypt so far.
• A 3,800 year old wooden boat.
• Some treasures older than 2,500 BC.

We think the ancients had a sense of humour – we found several jars with female figures looking like cranky mothers exasperated by having to deal with children’s untidy rooms ….. well that’s Fay’s take on them.

We also found metal lamps on stands with simple crosses built into the structure of the lamps.

And for the practicality of embalming process – a grisly find was a two and a half metre long embalming table which was sloped down to a drain hole and basin for collecting body fluids.

As Australians with such a short European history and where a 200 year old building is an historic rarity we found this a truly amazing historical experience and one which, no doubt, will be repeated many times over the next week.

Day 14 Free in Amman, Jordan

No doubt we only “scratched the surface” of what is available as Biblical sites in both Israel and Jordan but we know that reading the Bible will be much more informed after this trip.

Today we farewelled the Bible Lands Study group that we travelled with throughout Israel and Jordan. They are travelling by bus to Tel Aviv Airport via Jerusalem for the red eye special flight to Sydney via Bangkok.

There is a sense of security being with a tour group that we will miss for the next five days before we pick up our next tour group in Egypt.

It was a great multi age group and we enjoyed the fellowship and energy of both younger and older members of the group.

If ever you get the opportunity to do such a trip and walk in the steps of Jesus, his disciples and the prophets before them, then take it – it has been an extremely fulfilling experience.

This afternoon we visited the Bible Society of Jordan and spoke with General Secretary Munther Na’mat and Distribution Manager Salim Qubain.

They showed us some of the materials in the wide range of languages they hold for local Jordanians and the many foreign nationals who work in Jordan. They shared some of the procedures necessary for working in Jordan.

We enjoyed their hospitality and shared many stories of mutual friends.

Day 13 Petra to Amman

Today we visited Wadi (Valley) Rum in the South of Jordan which lies about 50km from Aqaba at the tiny Jordan coast line on the Red Sea. We enjoyed a four wheel vehicle drive through the desert to see Nabatean engravings and nomadic Bedouin encampments, see photo. Even though the land looked really inhospitable we were assured that there was a big export vegetable growing area nearby.

The land of the Midianites included Petra and Wadi Rum and stretched into the present Saudi Arabia.

We had Church “on the move” while on the four hour bus drive from Wadi Rum to Amman. Singing choruses without the words was a bit of a challenge but we did it!

Although Wadi Rum is on the “normal” tourist route we were reminded of
• Paul’s stay in Arabia (Galatians 1:17) directly after his conversion on the road to Damascus.
• Moses and Jethro in the land of Midian (Genesis 3, 4 and 18).

We also learnt of biblical connections with the Nabateans:
• The King Aretas mentioned in Paul’s escape from Damascus after his conversion was the Nabatean King at the time. (2 Corinthians 11:32)
• Herod the Great’s mother was a Nabatean and this was the reason he was never accepted as a Jew.
• Herod Antipas was married to a Nabatean princess and dumped her to marry his brother’s wife and John the Baptist's denunciation of this is what got him into trouble with Herod and John’s eventual beheading.

The run from the south of Jordan back to Amman is through desolate country, see photo, with infrequent herds of sheep and/or goats tended by single Bedouin shepherds either on foot or riding a donkey. We passed a truck load of New Zealand sheep which looked normal to us but which the guide said looked very different to her from the local black and white sheep she was used to.

Driving in another country (or rather, watching someone else drive!) is an interesting experience especially driving a big bus on narrow roads – parking and give way rules don’t seem to have too much relevance in either Israel or Jordan.

Day 12 Petra, Jordan

Today we were in the land of the ancient Edomites. Edom or the Edomites are mentioned a hundred times in the Old Testament in reference to the exodus from Egypt (Numbers 20) and other battles between Israel and the kingdom of Edom in the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon.

There is archeological evidence that Petra has had human habitation for around 10,000 years.

The Edomites were present at Petra before the Nabateans but it seems that the Nabateans were the ones who did all the carving of the spectacular mausoleums found at Petra. The shots show two of the better surviving examples: the "Treasury" and the "Monastery".

When worked in the summer the sandstone is soft and powdery so the “carving” would have been more like “filing”. The artisans worked from the top down so they had somewhere to stand!
The Nabateans left no written inscriptions apart from the names of their Gods and the names of some of the persons buried in the tombs at Petra. So they remain a largely mystery people. The Nabateans appear to have either conquered the Edomites or co-existed with them at least initially. The Romans conquered the Nabateans in 106AD and Romanised Petra. The Crusaders used Petra but only modified it slightly. Between then and its declaration as a Heritage site by the UN in the 1980s, Petra was used by the local Bedouins.

The Nabateans were also active in the land of the Midianites in Saudi Arabia, another nation frequently mentioned in the Old Testament and the birthplace of Moses’ father-in-law.

Day 11 Amman to Petra, Jordan

We travelled today through the land of the ancient Ammonites and Moabites famous for Moses leading the people of Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land.

Members of the group read Bible passages that are relevant or mention the area we are passing through and as we were leaving Amman we read about King David’s taking the city of Amman in 2 Samuel 12:28ff. Part of Solomon’s wealth came from control of trade and military routes but of course they were hotly contested by other surrounding kingdoms.

On the way to Petra from Amman in the north to Petra in the South our tour took us to
• Mount Nebo where Moses died after viewing the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 32:48-52). When we were there it was very hazy (see photo) so we couldn’t see much but we understand that from Mount Nebo you can see Jerusalem, Jericho, the Dead Sea and further.
• The traditional site of Jesus baptism is not far from Mount Nebo,
• We saw the fortress were Herod Agrippa imprisoned and later beheaded John the Baptist, Mark 6.
• We travelled part of the way on the Kings Highway Numbers 20, 21

Mosaics are very big in this area and have been for over 1,000 years, in fact there is a Mosaic school in Madaba. We watched the meticulous placement for very small pieces – the photo shows a small section (about 10cm long) of a larger mosaic. The colours are all natural local limestone rock colours.

For the last few days we’ve been enjoying beautiful oranges given to us from the garden of the 80 year old founder of the Guiding Star tour company we are travelling with. Gabriel lives in Jericho.

Pictures of the current King Abdulla II and his father King Hussein can be seen in many public places every where we have been in Jordan.

Day 10 – Jerusalem to Amman, Jordan

Highlights of today were:
• Gadara (a Roman town) where the Gadarenes lived – mentioned in Luke 8 (a local in traditional costume pictured),
• Gerasa at Jekash, the most recently discovered and best preserved Roman town of the second century AD,
• The river Jabbok where Jacob wrestled with God and where his name was changed from Jacob to Israel (Gen 32)

We’ve enjoyed
• Singing in the excellent acoustics of the Roman theatres and
• Hearing about the history of the region both ancient and more recent,

On the other hand we have not enjoyed being badgered by very persistent sellers of guide books, coins or postcards, the frequent security checks or going through military check points and the sight of so many men with weapons.

On the long bus drive from Jerusalem to the border near the Sea of Galilee our guide talked about
• Israel’s people, religions, geography and economy,
• The division into Israel and the West Bank
• The walls of Jerusalem as they have been built and modified over 3 millennia.
• Recent wars and attempts at peace,

So far the land of Jordan has been green and fertile but I understand that some 80% of Jordan is desert. We have seen our first few women in full burka but they were not common. There are tourist police everywhere we go – to protect us?

Day 9 – Jerusalem

Today was our last day in Jerusalem before crossing into Jordan.

Tour highlights of the day included:
• The City of David – the city of Jerusalem before the time of Jesus, before even the time of Solomon and the first Temple,
• The pool of Siloam – where Jesus healed the blind man (John 9)
• The water supply system over three successive time periods, including Hezekiah's tunnel (2 Kings 20:20 and 2 Chronicles 32:30)
• The tomb of David – the only king buried within Jerusalem,
• The large model of Jerusalem
• The Shrine of the Book – an impressive display of Qumran artefacts and scrolls,
• The Holocaust Museum – very moving.

In the afternoon we visited the site of Caiaphas’s palace where Jesus was taken before judgement by Pilate and where Peter denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed three times (Matthew 26). The church on this site is aptly named St Peter in Gallicantu (Latin for cock-crow).

And then we walked back through the bazaar in the Old City and spent all of our remaining shekels.

Day 8 – Dead Sea

We travelled south from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea area today and visited Masada, Qumran and Jericho.

We knew beforehand that Jerusalem is built on a hill and that the Dead Sea is under sea level, in fact the lowest point on the earth, but to drop 1,100m in altitude in just 50km was remarkable. It was on such a road that The Good Samaritan parable was enacted (Luke 10).

Masada is a dramatic fortress, the site of the last stand in 70AD of a group of 800 Jews against the might of Rome. The outcome was never in doubt despite their apparently impregnable position.

Qumran the location of the Dead Sea Scrolls dated to 100BC and containing parts of most of the Old Testament was a significant moment. The community lived in a small township and stored its documents in eleven of the hundreds of caves in the mountains behind the town.

The shrinking of the Dead Sea apparently due to the damming of the Jordan River amazed us. When we went for a “swim” we passed three change sheds located at one time on the coast each one further away than the next from the present coast. Swimming on our backs in the Dead Sea was a strange sensation (see picture).

We visited Jericho on the way back to Jerusalem, a sad contrast to the bigger city. Apparently Jericho is the site of the oldest city in the world – where man first settled down to farming. We saw a Sycamore tree like the one in Jesus encounter with Zacheus (Luke 19).

Even in winter the terrain is most uninviting – arid, rocky, mountainous. Flash floods are not unknown. How on earth anyone can exist in such an environment is unimaginable to us (soft westerners). We saw Bedouin with herds of goats along with donkeys and camels. One day we even saw goats herded through Jerusalem by a boy on a donkey.

Even the Israeli currency the shekel is a reminder of Biblical times every time we buy something.

One of the party found and bought a well preserved mite – the small coin of the Gospel account of the widow’s mite (Mark 12:42).

Day 7 - Free Day in Jerusalem

We enjoyed a few quiet moments in St George’s Anglican Cathedral, found the garden tomb, visited the Rockefeller Archeological Museum and then walked along the top of the old city wall from the Damascus Gate (pictured) to the Jaffa Gate.

The garden tomb is a refreshing alternative to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It gave us an idea of what the tomb would have looked like at the time of Jesus death and resurrection without the trappings of churches built, destroyed and restored over 1,700 years. It was both a moving and a relaxing way to start a free day.

In the Museum there were artefacts, statues and other items retrieved from acheological sites in Israel dating from as old as 5,000 years. There were even older human remains. One item that stood out was a horse’s bit from 2,000 BC.

Jewish, Christian and Muslim items where displayed. A major exhibit was of two marble lintels retrieved from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which were erected by the Crusaders in 1149 and moved to the Museum in the 1930’s after a fire.

Some items where quite intricate and complex whereas others were simpler and almost child-like and this didn’t seem to have much relationship to the item’s age.

In the process of finding the entrance to the ramparts and the top of the wall we found ourselves in a dead end – fortunately for us four young brothers between the ages of 5 and 11 had enough English to show us the way - for a price! There was much hilarity in this little episode.

From the wall we had quite a good view of both the old and the new city, the skyline, the crowds shopping in the narrow streets and homes in the old city. In our imagination we stood in the battlements and defended the city from various attackers.

Day 6 Jerusalem

A long day mostly walking through the old walled city of Jerusalem

We visited many traditional sites of events in the New Testament –
• The healing of the lame man at the Bethesda Pools (John 5),
• The last supper,
• The night of Jesus’ anxiety in the Garden of Gethsemane outside the city walls and across the Kedron Valley.
• The judgement of Jesus by Pilate
• Jesus crucifixion
• Jesus burial and resurrection.

Churches have been built over these sites and destroyed and rebuilt sometimes many times so that the original is only available in the imagination.

But we are very moved to be at each and re-live the event – for us reading the Bible will never be the same again.

At Temple Mount we were where:
• Jesus came when he was a boy
• Jesus threw the money changers out of the Temple
• Jesus challenged the religious authorities.

We also visited:
• The excavated site of a rich Temple official’s mansion.
• The Western (Wailing) Wall. Part of the retaining wall of the Temple which exited in Jesus’ time.
• The viewing platform around the Dome of the Rock Mosque
• A lookout with a panoramic view of Jerusalem.

Security check points with airport style X-Ray machines were set up for access to both the Temple Mount and the Wailing Wall.

Day 5 Tiberias to Jerusalem

We travelled along the Jordan River Rift Valley through the West Bank today. It’s cold but dry and clear. The land changed along the way from green and fertile to very dry.

Our big stop along the way was Bethshean (Bethshan, Bet She’an) mentioned along with other places we have visited in Judges 1:27.

Bethshan was the place where Saul’s decapitated body was hung on the city walls after he lost the battle with the Philistines. (1 Sam31).

Bethshan has been dominated by the Egyptians, the Philiistines, the Greeks, the Romans and more and evidence of these periods are all shown in the excavations we visited. The old city was built on the hill in the background of the photo.

A group of us sang “Amazing Grace” in the remains of the Roman Theatre – the acoustics are amazing.

After reaching Jerusalem we entered Bethlehem for a barbeque lunch Middle Eastern style and visited the Church of the Nativity, the traditional site of Jesus birth place. It’s an extremely old church which has survived the years without the destruction rebuilding cycles found at other sites. It was the site of the siege of Bethlehem a few years ago.

Sabbath day in Israel is a day when the roads are quiet and most of the shops and businesses are closed. We are experiencing Kosher meals in the hotels meat and fish and no dairy in the evenings and diary products in the morning for breakfast.