Israel & Jordan

December 11-23, 2006

To see the best pictures (185), click here.

To see all the pictures of just Petra (175), click here.

To see all pictures from the trip (800+), click here.

Sitting in the 'safe room' on 3rd floor of the Verint Building in Herzliyya, Israel just north of Tel Aviv. Since the Gulf War in 1991, building codes mandate that every building have a safe room…one where the walls are cement, the doors are heavy with metal hinges and cores so you could come in here to hang out while the bombs are going off. This is interesting in that there is a hole in the floor at one end of the room with a large metal hatch. At the opposite corner of the room, there is a metal ladder going to the ceiling and a metal hatch going up. It's designed as an escape path but also as a protection so that there is no straight shot from the roof to the ground level.

There's one in the hotel room as well. The hotel room (1209 at the Okeanos Ba'marina) is largely full length glass windows. My room is on a corner with an east and north view and both walls are all glass. Coming into the suite, there is a heavy metal door. The lock has three deadbolts that require turning the key three times to wind it locked. The closet is the safe room-cement with round vents in the wall, another heavy fireproof, bullet proof door and a large lever on the inside that protrudes 4 large deadbolts when it is thrown. The hotel itself is largely metal and glass. Beautiful sunrise for the last two mornings with the huge burning disc of sun rising through the eastern haze.

 

Hotel in Herzliya	Sunrise in Israel

I laid in bed this morning, waiting for it to get light. Sitting at the top of a glass tower, I was feeling the earth rolling towards the sun. I opened to read the first part of Luke, knowing that only a few miles east are the hills of Bethlehem where the shepherds, the lowly and not those in nice hotels on the beach in Herzliyya, saw the sign of Jesus birth. Not much evidence of the Birth here. Did see a little Christmas tree in the super market last night but that's been it so far as evidence of the holiday that so captures the Americas.

Had a good conversation with Deren over dinner last night as we sat in an Italian restaurant and talked nuero-economics. Deren was the Chief Architect when I joined Cogito and is a very thoughtful (as in thinking) guy. His conversations are always insightful. We walked the boat docks, and have walked back and forth to Verint from the Hotel which is about a mile walk talking much of the way.

So far, the food has been interesting. Still love the fresh vegetables and they are served at every meal (including breakfast). Olives, cucumbers (my favorite), peppers, radishes, carrots and the best tomatoes. I had St. Peter's fish for dinner on Tuesday which was a deep fried whole fish that looked like some sort of cod-a very light fish and tasted good. Last night was a pasta with bacon (more like ham) -tasted good but I tasted it all though the night…probably one of the reasons I was up at 4:30 and couldn't go back to sleep.

It has been interesting to observe the people. On the flight from Chicago, I sat next to a family (father, mother, two girls and a baby boy). It turns out he was born here and moved to the US and is coming home for the holiday (Hanukkah - a celebration of rededication and relates to the dedication of the temple and a miracle of 8-days of miraculous oil). We hit it off immediately and talked about Israel, motorcycles, and his work. His name was Aaron and he was wearing a common hair cut here-shaved head. We shook hands and he felt like a brother.

There was a large family feeling on the flight over. Lots of what appeared to be high school kids traveling together. Many families with small kids and the fathers were all very attentive and involved in taking care of them. Like a large party with kids congregating in areas of the plane. And when the wheels touched down on the runway, a wave of joyous applause ran through the length of the Boeing 777. (Speaking of the plane… a center seat for an 11 hour flight!!! My neck was so sore from sleeping sitting straight up and having my head flop around).

The people here at Verint are refreshing. There is no air of pretense. It seems that they are patient, smart and nice but they don't hesitate to say what they are thinking. I find that refreshing in a way…even when they say, "that's valuable information but we don't need any of it." There seems to be not much emphasis on style or looks which I also find refreshing.

Thursday

So far the trip after the work trip has gone well. The training at Verint went as well as it could have for having a product that promises to meet their needs but has major obstacles in doing so. The good thing about being with Deren is that he pointed out deficiencies so they know just exactly what they have available. In some cases, he undersold the value and so they were pleasantly surprised when they found that their ingest tests were going faster by a factor of 10x than what he had found in his testing.

I really enjoyed the group. There is an interesting psychology to the group. At first, I wondered if there was any 'personality' to them as they seemed so distant and aloof but by the end, we seemed to have formed a good friendship. They were very grateful to us for coming. Those that we worked with included Tami - she was the team lead for the group that was going to have responsibility for technical evaluation of the product. Aviad was one of her team members. Tall, gangly and had been with the company for 9 years and father of two little kids. Assaf was taking over for Ram who had originally performed the evaluation and worked with Willy. Rohar, a woman developer under Tami. Itsak, the 'brain' guy and Avi, one of the system architects.

Avi (short for Avrahem - Abraham) offered to take us to a place for dinner on Wednesday night and we had a great time. We first drove to the Jaffa old port and walked around. Lots of history there, being the landing site of so many invasions (including Napoleon) and the place where the import of the materials for the first temple arrived. Scenes of bloodshed and fighting have occurred there in the recent past during the creation of the Israeli state but now it's become a residential area for artists and designers.

He took us to a Georgian restaurant (I've asked the name three times and still can't remember it). Lots of atmosphere and authentic Georgian food. We learned (and it has been pointed out much since) that after the fall of the Berlin Wall there has been a huge influx of Jews from the former Soviet Union to Israel. According to Israeli law, anyone that can prove Jewish ancestry can become a citizen of Israel and with the dramatic decline in living conditions after the fall, may have chosen to move to Israel.

We had a great conversation with Avi, partly precipitating from not ordering any alcohol in a restaurant that specializes in vast varieties of vodka drinks. We learned a lot about Jewish law and tradition while he asked us questions about Mormonism. "In Jewish law, you are commanded to drink alcohol on certain occasions," he said. From his point of view (which seems to be fairly prevalent), the only commandments are the 10 rules of the law of Moses. Everything else is interpretation. The Talmud is only interpretation of the Torah or first five books of the Old Testament. There's no hereafter-when you are dead your are gone. Regardless, the rabbinical interpretation of the Sabbath is kept throughout the country (by the Jews) and it's hard to even get Internet service on Shabbat!

We finished with Verint by about 2 p.m. so took a cab to the airport and picked up a car from Budget. A brand spanking new, baby blue Hyundai Getz with only 21 kilometers on it. The kid that did the walk around was dramatic in pointing out that there were no scratches on it at all! We then found Clear Forest which was another meeting that Willy had set up since we were here. It was with the founders who were two really bright guys that understood all the limitations of the software and working with commercial implementations of graphs but were still intrigued with it enough to keep us for about two hours. Of course, Deren with his detailed explanations and hypnotic voice can keep anyone tuned in much longer than they originally intended.

I had written to the Jerusalem Inn via Internet and got no response so at the last minute, went to Travelocity and booked the cheapest hotel I could find in Jerusalem. It was on the Mount of Olives so I thought that it wouldn't be difficult to locate. It's dark by 5 p.m. here so we drove from where Clear Forest was near the Ben Gurion airport to Jerusalem in the dark. Even at night, the phrase "go up to Jerusalem" was evident. We climbed quite a bit in driving there. At one point, we passed through a checkpoint and found what appears to be the magic word to get you through with no questions. In response to their "shalom", I just say, "hello". I've been through about 10 checkpoints so far and it's worked every time.

Jerusalem is nothing as it appeared 22 years ago in 1985! The city is large, crowded and a mass of one way streets. We followed signs to the Old City and at one point, caught sight of the wall. We were traveling the wrong way however and so turned around and followed it north with the objective of following the wall to the east side. Not easy to do! Eventually we made it and immediately saw the BYU center impressively lit up on Mt. Scopus. We followed the road along the Kidron valley looking for Mt. of Olives Road but didn't see it. I finally stopped at a gas station and asked and it turns out that the road runs along the top of the mountain--not up the front--and we were soon driving along it. The Mount of Olives Hotel was nothing like the Okeanos Ba'marina. Located in a heavily Arab area, it looked like it had been built to capture a view of the old city but was soon eclipsed by other buildings and the view lost. From what I could tell, we were the only guests in a 50 room establishment.

The hosts turned out to be very nice. Similar to my first impressions of the Verint people. They sort of give the idea that they would rather not even look at you, let alone talk to you. But after a few overtures, they open up and are very warm and friendly. It appeared to be a family that ran the place. A couple of sons that ran the desk and answered questions. A woman that fixed the breakfast and cleaned the room. And a father that sat around in his robe and told people what to do. I learned later that their big season was the Russian Orthodox Christmas and New Years which were in January and February and at that time, the hotel is completely full with Russians.

We dumped our stuff and headed back to the Old City and parked near the Jaffa Gate. A HUGE, multi-level parking structure has been built across from it and the entire area is under construction. When we were there in 85, it was just an empty field between there and the King David Hotel. Parking was about $4.

The city was pretty much closed up but we started walking and were soon at the Western Wall. It was all lit up and people were coming and going. Security was similar to airport with the need to empty pockets and put my camera bag through a scanner. There was a 'comfortable' spirit there and we lingered for quite a while. The wall is the last remnant visible of the remains of Solomon's temple (and it's subsequent rebuildings) and is the holiest place for Jews. Men in their black suites, prayer shawls and people with jeans and skull caps were all there, praying at the wall. Some prayers are simple and contemplative and others include rocking and wailing-hence the term the "Wailing Wall".

We then just wandered through the tunnel like streets. In early communities, house were built and bridges linked the housetops so that people could travel from house to house over the roofs. You can't do that now but the streets take on a tunnel-like nature with patches of sky appearing between arched bridge sections. We came across the Cardo, the remains of the Roman street that was built through the center of Jerusalem during the Roman era. Walking around was like a game of Riven with hardly anyone around. I knew we were in the general vicinity but had to get directions to get to the Jaffa gate to exit. Near the gate we had dinner at a restaurant that featured a tattered fake Christmas tree and some Santa decorations-hardly any indication of western style Christmas here.

Meals have been good. How often do you get cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, radishes and olives for breakfast? Those greens with some others and hummus seem to be the condiments of every meal. Hummus is made from creamed chickpeas (garbanzo beans) mixed with spices. Eggplant, bread, eggs, cheese, are things served at many meals. At Verint, we ate at the company cafeteria each day and it included a broad selection of meat and vegetarian dishes.

I missed the best part of the sunrise for photos as I was so tired on Friday morning but we set off again for the Old City. We parked and just wandered some more. Deren is like a mini-walking version of Wikipedia. With a degree in Anthropology from MIT and a wealth of knowledge about so many subjects, he was great to have along. We were walking but often discussing his well thought out views on philosophy, religion, sociology, and science. He found it interesting that the Jews and Muslims both abstained from pork and posited that it was due to the fact that pigs vie for the same food as humans do whereas cattle and sheep don't. In a tightly closed and scarce environment, having pigs would be at the expense of your own food.

We found one terrace with a nice view and were taking pictures of the Wall and Dome when a fellow in a skullcap announced, "We are about to have a wedding here. You are welcome to stay and watch and participate if you would like." The couple were two older Russians (40s or 50s) and it appeared that there were only a couple of friends or family there to support them. A fellow with a violin played music and people were recruited from the crowd to hold the chuppah, a piece of fabric that is held over the bride and groom. Due to Deren's height, he was immediately conscripted as a pillar.

I stepped back to get photos and video. People who just happened to be there all joined in, singing at times, listening to the cantor. People would step up and read or sing scripture. Wine was drunk at different times, the groom offering to the bride. At one point, the goblet was crushed (inside foil and a plastic bag) and then dancing began. The men joined hands and danced around the groom while the bride and women on an upper level were dancing. Deren has stepped back as the dancing started and one of the orthodox men (beards, black hats, long forelocks) grabbed his hand and pulled him in and said, "No worries!"

Several things I noticed, the groom seemed to be the focal point with most of the attention of the ceremony. The women were kind of sent away to do their own little thing. And, there didn't seem to be much going on in the way of attention or affection between the bride and groom. I had met a young fellow Eric who was watching as well. He was from the States but was Jewish and had come to serve in the military. I asked if he thought it was their first marriage and he said it was very unlikely..maybe a second or third! Anyway, good shots of Deren adapting to local culture-that's an experience he wouldn't have gotten if he had gone home on Thursday night!

Eric was delightful to talk to. He asked about my digital SLR so we talked cameras for a while. He is a communications officer in the Israeli Air Force. A desk job but interesting for him. He said he liked to come to Jerusalem on the weekends and listen to the tours in English. There is a lot of variation in the stories and historical perspectives, depending on who is giving the information and the background of the people they were giving it to.

I mentioned that people back home thought it was unsafe here. "Bring your mom and your family in the next six months! It's very safe." "Why the next six months?" I asked. "Oh, I don't know. There's talk." "Talk of what?" "Just talk. Last summer a war…next summer. The next six months are a good time to come!"

We crossed through the Wall area after looking over part of the temple mount. We had tried to get into the Dome of the Rock area but it was "Closed today for the Muslims to pray." "Closed tomorrow too."

Then to the Israel Museum. Deren was a good navigator and we were there without getting lost. His main interest was archeology but the archeology wing was closed until 2009 or 2010 for reconstruction. We did visit the recreation model of the Old City Jerusalem at the time of Herod. Incredible and very interesting! I took several pictures and video. It gave me a real feeling for what Jerusalem and the temple would have been like at the time of Christ. I kept thinking of it and how it must have looked from the Mount of Olives, maybe at night with the lamps going. I've read up since on the different temple phases that were built and the history of the place. The temple at the time of Christ was actually undergoing an extensive renovation that began with Herod before Jesus and was carried on throughout his lifetime. The BYU center has several models that show the temple in the time of Solomon, Zarruababel, Herod, after the Romans destroyed it, and today with the Dome.

The Museum was interesting and we took in lots of it. I really want one of those rams horns (shofar) for sounding the call!

Then we headed for the Dead Sea. It's taken me a while to sort of feel comfortable traveling here. I think it's just feeling uneasy not being home. It always seems to take a few days of being on the road before I feel comfortable. It also doesn't help to have checkpoints with machine guns and to be whizzing around in traffic wondering if you are heading into a bad area. I have a map at home of the proposed security fence and the Palestinian areas and the country looks like Swiss cheese! There's also this little traffic thing that if anyone sees you doing something out of the ordinary-like pulling to the side of the road, taking a drink from a water bottle while driving, or not staying with traffic-they'll honk at you.

We headed east and down from Jerusalem towards Jericho-on the forbidden to enter list by the Budget lady. Traffic thinned and so did civilization. Still along the road were Bedouin tents of goats hair only combined with tin huts and surrounded by sheep. The hillsides were absolutely void of any vegetation.

From the junction of the highway running along the Jordan river, there was nothing at all to the south. We finally reached the Dead Sea area but there were signs everywhere that said leaving the highway to the east and camping on the beach is prohibited. It was a weird phrase and although we could see people occasionally on the beach, we weren't sure if we could pull over. Eventually we came to a place named Mineral Beach. The signs were still there but it looked like a public beach area and there were a couple of other cars there so we pulled in, parked and hiked down to the beach.

Aaahhhh… stillness at last! Other than some boisterous boys up above on the rocks. Deren and I took off our shoes and socks and waded into the Dead Sea. The beach we were at was a mix of rocks, a little sand and some salt. We just sat there and watched the sunset on the mountains to the east that were the mysterious, forbidden to enter from here Jordan. The water was very interesting! While at Verint, during my presentation I showed the U of U psoriasis findings. Avi had piped up and said, "They didn't need to do all that research! We have a cure here in Israel. It's called the Dead Sea!" I wondered if it would cure athletes foot.

The salt water is a different consistency than fresh water…it just looks more viscous. It also had a bluish green tint, almost like the color of the water at Havasupai in the Grand Canyon. I doubt any of the pictures captured it but the blue/green of the clear water with the rocks beneath, melting into the haze and the starkly barren Jordan mountains subtly highlighted in pink created a surreal atmosphere. The water was glass smooth, warm and I'm thinking Mastercraft with a good water ski! Probably would have destroyed the boat in a matter of minutes. I dipped my finger in the water and then just barely touched my tongue to it and it was AWEFUL! The concentration of salt combined with all of the minerals like iodine, magnesium, potassium and about 9 times more salt than the ocean make it something you don't want to open your eyes while underwater.

We found our way back to Jerusalem in the dark and tried to find a place to eat. Being the Sabbath (it starts on Friday evening at sunset and continues till Saturday at dark-defined as when you can see three stars), everything was closed. We navigated to a section of town that looked like from the map like have touristy places to eat…nothing. We finally found a restaurant tucked back away from the main area and dined there. I felt a little like a rebel, eating out on Saturday night while everyone else was observing the Shabbat-but later I learned that everyone else was at home eating fine Shabbat meals with their families so I shouldn't have worried.

Sunday (well it's actually Saturday but feels like Sunday because the Sabbath is observed on Saturday) I got up and took some pictures of the city as the sun came up and found several good vantage points…again it was hazy so not sure how they will turn out. The focal point of the old city from first view is the Dome of the Rock so that's what gets photographed the most. I looked for angles and textures and things that might be a little different. In a city this complex, I'm sure that everything has been photographed and yet it's all can be interpreted differently. I have a series of photos that capture the "reality" of here. Shots that look so picturesque and then pan back to see the garbage or traffic that surrounds it.

The Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies is unique. The building is of beautiful architecture and emanates a strong, wonderful spirit. It was immediately visible at night as there are lights that illuminate it's multiple arches and terraces looking over the Old City from Mount Scopus (next to the Mount of Olives). Inside in the hall (I don't think it's called a chapel), glass walls three stories high and on three sides provide a spectacular panorama of Jerusalem.

BYU Center		BYU  Center concert hall

We were about 30 minutes early and as we walked in, were directly conscripted to sing with the choir who were practicing for the Christmas program. An immediate feeling of being at home, welcome and needed. A brother Moody was directing the choir-his job as one of the center's service couples is as the organist. The organ sits at the back of the hall with pipes up the center.

The meeting was a district conference and there were members from all over the country. There are branches in Tel Aviv, Tiberius and Jerusalem. I sang next to Eric (?) Peterson from Woods Cross, UT who is living in Jerusalem working for the US State Department in their computer technology group. He had a young family and a new daughter only two and a half weeks old. We sang Christmas hymns and a song that I believe Brother Moody composed (Beautiful Jesus??) as he had retired from the Church music department.

The branches consisted almost entirely (as far as I could tell) of non-natives. The Tiberius branch included Russians, Armenians and Filipinos. A Korean fellow working for the UN and other Orientals were there from Tel Aviv, and the Americans at the center. Eric said that the Jerusalem branch had about 20 people on a regular basis without tourists. There were about 75 people there total. Still, they did a primary program with the children dressed as shepherds and wise men and it all sounded good.

Afterwards, everyone was invited down to the cafeteria where lunch was served. More hummus with vegetables and a kind of egg/chicken casserole. While eating, I had the chance to visit with Dan Rona, the famous LDS tour guide for Israel. He was a very nice man and suggested I join them for one or more days while there. The guide rates were about $150 per day with hotels an additional $150. I thought about it but in the end decided I would rather come back with Mom and do his tour.

We also visited with Elder Whitehead and his wife who are from southern Alberta. It turns out they are uncle and aunt to Tom Olson, my old missionary companion and are a delightful couple. She played the organ for the meetings and they are living in Tiberius working with the branch there and, once a week, go to Nazareth for service. Afterwards, they showed us the center video and then gave us a tour of the facilities. Impressive! The center was built with the best materials, most talented architects and designed to impress and it does. Complete with a gymnasium, faculty and student dorms, underground parking and most important, a security center that monitors the site as well as the couples wherever they are at anytime.

Each apartment/dorm is designed to have a terrace view of the city plus a garden of flowers and the trees and shrubs of Israel. Most interesting up the north side is a real olive press, complete carved out stone channels for the oil to run when it is pressed. Also a wine vat with multiple levels for treading grapes. Olive trees and other plants from the area.

I asked Dan what site Deren should not miss in Jerusalem since he had to leave that evening. His answer was the Garden Tomb so we headed over that direction. Again, I never would have found it based on what it looked like 22 years ago…even inside. The tomb was still the same but a ramp had been built out so you could see Golgotha from the garden area and about 15 meeting areas had been built, terraced up and down, for religious groups to congregate. Fortunately, because of the low tourist levels, we could spend as much time as we wanted there in and at the tomb. The site is maintained and provide access free of charge by some church in England. To me there was a wonderful spirit there, similar to our temples. I don't know how to describe it but the impression was, "It's just obvious…and simple…and part of the plan that Jesus died and was resurrected." There were several trekkers there, discussing with different accents whether they believed it or not.

Garden Tomb	Inside tomb

From here, we headed to the airport. Much warmer in Tel Aviv and such a beautiful evening and sunset. I dropped Deren in the terminal and then tried to decide where to go next. I finally decided to drive east and see what I felt like when I got to Jerusalem. Once there, just kept going and thought I would stay in En Gedi but the hostel was full. Finally ended up in En Boqeq which is a stretch of very nice hotels lining the Dead Sea-no cheap ones. I didn't feel like driving on so picked what looked like a less expensive one and ponied up for the $110 to stay there. It was worth it and the hotel clerk was so nice. I started talking to a fellow (Jewish) about his camera and later when I was on the Internet, he offered to show me his site. I noticed that he was a professional photographer and was stationed in Thailand so we immediately started talking in Thai. Small world!

Sunday

I think it's Sunday…but really Monday as far as the day of the week is concerned. I'm sitting here with the breezes of the Dead Sea filtering in off the balcony of my 3rd floor room at the Tulip Hotel. It's balmy, warm and sunny and with palms wafting in the breeze while birds warble in the background…along with the sound of garbage trucks and construction equipment backup horns.

Monday

6 a.m. here in the resort town of Eilat, Israel. It's dark, the wind is blowing and it's a little chilly. Can't sleep although I need to as I'm headed for an all day trip to Petra.

Eilat and the Gulf of Aqaba

Tuesday…

Sitting here looking at the mountains of Jordan to the east…today with a completely new perspective of the place. Yesterday, we 'did Petra' in a day. Was met at the hotel by a cab and two Aussies, brothers Harry and Alon. Alon was just finishing his year here in a youth movement. It actually is a movement, getting people of Jewish heritage to move from Australia to Israel. They start in grades 3 and go to 12 and then spend a year between high school and collage. The piercings in his lip and eyebrow were no indication of what a nice kid he was…nor his brother's shaved head and goatee with a long tail of hair in the back. Harry was just finishing an apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic and they had family in Israel so he had come to visit his brother, see Israel, Jordan and then head to Egypt for a few days. Great companions.

The other four were two Israeli couples. All were delightful and so friendly to travel with. One fellow was a PE coach near Herzliya and his volleyball team had just won the high school championship and were headed to Hungary for the finals. It is always interesting to see where people are from and where their Jewish ancestry was dispersed to. Romania, Germany, many from Poland and one of the women was from Iraq.

The border crossing was not casual. We went through Israeli exit. Having paid the $32 in advance to our happy little tour guide, he collected our receipts and then gave us instructions on how to get through and to the other side. Several passport checks and a stamp and then we proceeded to walk the 200 meter border crossing with wire fence on both sides. There to greet us were two large pictures…the old king and the new king Hussain, smiling in 15 foot color photographs under a sign that said, "Welcome to Jordan". A customs and bag check and we met up with our Jordanian guide for the day, Abdullah Jerze. He collected our passports and got more stamps and receipts, another guard check and we were at our van, a late vintage Hyundai.

He immediately began the tour over his little PA system, showing all the growth of Aqaba. 5 years ago, it was 75,000 and now it's 110,000. "Big plans for Aqaba!!" he said. We saw the King Hussain airport in the distance which could soon be an International destination point and down along the ocean were large development plans. They need something to rival the Las Vegasish site of Eilat across the border.

Either big plans are afoot for the rest of the area or someone's got some deep pockets for public works. The road out of Aqaba was a six lane freeway…and we were about the only car on it. Abdullah showed us the railway built by the Turkish under their rule and started explaining the history, basically starting with the "Holy Prophet Abraham" and moving up to the current king. It was all interesting and I wish that I could have captured it word for word.

After the narration, he launched, rather forcefully, into an editorial on the current situation in the middle-east. No one said a word and I wondered if the Israelis were getting offended. He would get very passionate about something and then say, "But we are optimistic that there will be peace, someday." I finally asked a question about the huge truck stop that we passed a while back to get him off topic. It turns out that Aqaba is Jordan's only seaport and a major port for Syria and Iraq as well. There were hundreds of trucks, many of them tankers and they were about the only things on the road other than us and an occasional tour bus.

The gist of Abdullah's commentary was that the people in the middle east are descended through millenniums of tribes, each with an established order and general area of rule. The imposition of boundaries and ways of governing by the British, UN and US are viscerally detested…not the least of which is the establishment of the state of Israel for returning of the Jews in 1948. In the country, the ancient laws, line of rule and ways of governing are still accepted. In the cities, where westernization and immigration have diluted the tribal identities, it's not as important. However, all ruling parties of these countries are of the original tribes. I bought a head dress and the fellow that sold it to me, pointed out each of the different head scarf patterns and where they belonged. Jordanian, Palestinian, Iraqi, Iranian, Sauidi… each with a different color and pattern.

Back to the ruling tribes…they have learned (by other experience) that their leaders must be hard and forceful in ruling-otherwise there is chaos. He told the story of one early leader that was short and in the midst of some riot between factions at a mosque, he climbed up and took control and said to his men, "Any head that comes above the masses, cut it of. Let nothing stand in your way, animal, obstruction or human. Destroy it!" That kind of power is what the people will respect. That seems to be evident in last night's newscast here. Infighting within the Palestinian factions of Fatah and Hamas. The commentator said it is a 'crisis of leadership'. With today's international emphasis on diplomacy, it's no wonder that the kinds of leaders that the US and UN back, are treated as milk toast by those who they are to govern. If they rule in a way to bring order, they are ostracized because of their abuse of human rights.

King Hussein of Jordan seemed to be a good leader. He kept the respect of his subjects and at the same time, established a kind of peace with Israel. It's interesting though that in Jordan the population is about 6 million. 2-3 million of those are Palestinian refugees and many are living in camps. With that three million plus another 2 million that have come in from surrounding countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, the 1 million native Bedouins are in the minority. However, the Bedouins are the rulers.

So we drove this highway, stopped for a break at a tea shop. All men there and like others, appear to be stand offish but when you start talking, are really friendly. No one was buying anything and so I bought a headdress and formal outfit-I think it's called a koofiah..

We turned off the freeway and wound along a paved road to Wadi (valley) Musa (Moses). According to the books that I read, Wadi Musa is a supposed site where Moses smote the rock and the Children of Israel were given water. A spring runs from the mountain side and is enclosed in a three domed building. Wadi Musa is a large town and with the tourism potential of Peta, looks like St. George with lots of new construction. There are many hotels, the latest are a new Marriott and Movenpick high on the ridge overlooking the rock valley. (Tips for those wanting to see it conveniently, you can fly directly to the area from Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Stay at the Movenpick right at the gate to the site and spend at least two days to hike the whole area and get the full effect of morning and evening light.)

A horse ride was included with out tour but it only goes for about half a mile and is a purely tourist gimmick.

The Siq	Water works	The Treasury	Cave homes

Petra was one of those sites that was far beyond my expectation. It starts at the beginning of a slot canyon (siq) and follows it for about a mile. Originally it was paved with hewn stone which still is intact in many places. In other areas, the government has put down cement to make it easier to navigate. Most impressive are water channels that were manually carved in the walls on both sides, (sometimes visible and sometimes hidden) that carried water from Wadi Musa spring down into Petra. At the beginning of the siq, large channels had been dug and stone tunnels hewn by the Nabateans (natives who build Petra) to divert water from flash floods from entering it. Apparently in 1963, a French group was inside on horses when a flash flood hit and killed like 17 people.

Along the way are carvings of gods, camels, guardians, etc. Many of the heads of the gods have been destroyed. They appear to be the same gods that plagued the Old Testament people-gods of fire, sun, earth and fertility.

The siq abruptly ends at the Treasury, the grandest and most spectacular of the carved facades. What is amazing is that the detail is fairly intricate and it is all done from natural rock that was in place. The Treasury is carved back into the rock face of the cliff so that rain won't fall on it and destroy the surface. The columns, little eagles, animals, leaves, cups…everything are carved from the one rock mountain. No room for error!!!

Apparently, the larger structures were carved as burial tombs for kings. The Treasury was assumed to be a treasury and the name stuck but not really. From here, the site spreads in all directions. Stairs up to the left and a canyon down to the right. I really wished that I could have spent a couple of days there but the agent couldn't work it out without costing me a fortune.

Further down, the canyon opened up to a market area. A whole mountainside of carved facades plus hundreds of carved caves. The number of caves in the area are over 5000 and at its peak, the city supported between 35,000 and 45,000 residents. Most impressive was the amphitheatre that seated 7000 people. Parts of it were of hewn stone with Roman arches (the Romans conquered Petra and introduced their influence in the form of the Corda (colonnade), roman market place and temples. The amphitheatre however was mostly hewn stone out of a concave rock area. The benches were all smooth and even. There were half steps up the isles and even a concourse terrace level mid-way up. The place in it's height must have been a fantastic sight, especially in the evening with the lamps from the holes in the rocks.

We walked down through the Roman market area and then had a Jordanian buffet lunch. The siq was supposedly the only entrance to the place so I wondered how the two mini-vans got parked next to the restaurant. As it turns out, the government built housing for all of the Bedouins in the area. I could see it in the background in the hills from the restaurant and a road had been built coming down in a more open area. The Bedouins had camels, donkeys and were selling trinkets of bracelets, jewelry, knives and such…mostly made in India.

Being government sponsored has its advantages for tourists I think. To start with, no one really seemed hard pressed to sell you anything. There were no high pressure sales pitches…at least compared to other places I've been.

We could wander back on our own and I decided to walk through the temple area and then over the hill, hoping to come on the back side of the amphitheatre. Over the ridge, there were hundreds of more caves where the poorer people lived. They were all carved out of rocks and inside each of them were other squared out holes that had been carved. No idea what the practical use was. I came on one that had a Toyota pickup parked inside-that was totally random!

Going over the ridge, a sign said, "It's not advisable to go beyond this point without a guide, or at least letting a companion know where you are going." I soon found out why as my assumption to get to the amphitheatre was hindered by another massive cliff of carvings. I double timed it to back track and had a brisk walk all the way out in order to meet the rest of the group on time.

Fascinating place! It is one of the destinations in my "Atlas of Mystical Places" that I have been wanting to see for a very long time.

As we climbed in the van up out of the area, we had a spectacular view from above Petra of the rugged, dense and vast rock formations. It's very easy to see how the Nabateanscould keep this place hidden and protected for several hundred years.

The ride back to Aqaba was largely quiet. I put on my iPod and watched the setting sun over the sand and giant rock outcroppings to the background music of Beethoven. Wadi Rum is the Bedouin equivalent of Utah's Monument Valley was off to the east. Would be a nice place to visit someday.

At the border, the entire complex (it looks like it was built to accommodate a large flow of traffic) was open just for the seven of us. Abdullah collected our passports and shepherded us through the checkpoints. We shook hands and bid him farewell and walked the 200 meters as the night sky fully darkened.

I dropped my gear and then walked over to a shopping area and had a falafel plate. Hot bread, deep fried falafel and more hummus with veggies. On the way back, I stopped at the travel agency where I got the Petra trip and told Shirli and Euova how much I enjoyed it. I had also gotten a parking ticket the day before so asked how to take care of it. Euova said she worked at the post office and would take care of it so I gave her the 100 shekels ($25) and she said she would send me the receipt. I offered her 20 shekels for the stamp and her effort but she refused saying it was no problem and not that much. The two of them were a delight to talk to.

6:40 P.M.

There's not a lot of daylight this time of year! It's been dark for almost two hours now. Sitting in the penthouse corner room of the Panorama Hotel in Tiberius. Not quite as nice as the Okeanos but for $25 per night as opposed to $200, there's bound to be a few differences. One thing's the same however, the hot water actually comes out of the cold tap in both hotels. Maybe that's a way to get you to use less hot water!

I also figured out in all of these hotels that the heater and the air conditioner are the same thing, even though it only says 'air conditioning'. There is no adjustable thermostat and you just turn it on. In last night's hotel and now this one, it goes really hot and then it's like the AC comes on to cool it off. But hey, I'm not freezing. Weather here in Galilee is actually very pleasant tonight and I walked around and had a …. For dinner. 25 shekels for dinner and $25 for the room… that's the rate I was originally expecting. I think I've outgrown hostel hotels though. After worrying about trying to find a cheap place in En Boqeq and staying in what looked like the worst (but was actually fine) for $110, I just said forget the price and go for time and convenience. If it's too expensive, just travel less!

There are parts of this that I really enjoy and there are some major advantages to traveling alone but on the other hand, it just sucks! It would just be nice to be with someone that would enjoy it and me and I her… or her and 7-10 kids!

So like one of the advantages is you can stop and pick up people very easily. The morning after I left En Boqeq, I turned for Eilat and here were three young women, thumbing a ride. They had on backpacks but were also wearing scarves, skirts and those pajama like pants that are multi-colored underneath. I piled my stuff in the back to make room and they dove right in.

The one in front, a dark haired girl with glasses, spoke English better than the other two. They were in the army but were on holiday and were going somewhere that they couldn't exactly tell me-not Eilat-and they seemed to be very excited. She had a detailed topo map and kept looking at it and at the mountain side to our right (the Dead Sea-or what's left of it at this point-to the left). She told me that she was a guide in the army and all she could tell me in English that she was going to 'take the hike'. It wasn't to see plants or animals or friends or mountains. We hadn't driven too far when we came across a couple of cars parked on the side of the road and a sign in Hebrew and English that said, Mount Sodom. This was the place. A well trod path lead straight up the mountainside.

They thanked me several times and started for the trailhead, then one of the girls turned and waved me to stop and they brought over a toy draddel, gave it to me and wished me "Happy Hanukah". It was fun to talk to them but I got the distinct impression-as I have from almost everyone-that they didn't enjoy being in the army.

So today, there were lots of people out hitching. I left from Eilat and drove northwest on a different route than I had come in. Immediately there was new geography with the rugged, vegetation void terrain of the Negev desert area. I climbed steeply out of Eilat and then drove through mountains changed colors dramatically with different strata from tan to reddish brown to blackish purple. At one point, I noticed another road that was roughly parallel to the one I was on and thought it odd that there would be two roads side by side here in the wilderness. A few miles later, I noticed a lone tree, bare of leaves, symmetrically rooted in a little valley completely void of any vegetation. I stopped to take a picture and started to walk towards the fence that was between me and it so I could keep the wire out of the picture. The fence was double with about 10 feet between the lines and it dawned on me…this was the Israeli-Egyptian border! I looked back and here were two video cameras, mounted to a pole. Neither had worked for years and were oddly cocked pointed to the sky.

I had passed a checkpoint with a barrier completely blocking the road. At most of the checkpoints you weave through a few concrete barriers but the path is clear. Several men were near a guard hut, smoking, talking and laughing and two women were manning the checkpoint. I rolled down the window and said the magic word and she immediately waved me ahead. First she went over to the barrier and pulled a rope-it looked concrete but it was actually just plastic and she slid it out of the way so I could pass.

I soon came to the Uvdah airport…or what I had assumed was a commercial airport from the map. The travel agent said that last year, flights from Europe had flown directly to Uvdah and business was a lot better. It was actually a large military base that looked a lot like Edwards Air Force Base in California. There was one jumbo plane there and that was it. I had passed several military outfits, some hummers and jeeps and saw a group unloading rings of razor wire with a fork lift. Very few other cars at all.

I had intended to go towards Be'er Sheva but hadn't come across a gas station leaving Eilat so stopped at a kibbutz, bought some dates and juice made there and asked were the next gas was. It was further than I thought I could go so had to head back east to the Dead Sea - Jerusalem road. Even after that, gas was getting low and by the detail on the map, I didn't think I would reach the next marked town. I came to a large kibbutz that had many buildings and thought that someone there had to sell gas. I pulled through the gate and saw a pump off to the right, next to a store. I walked in and it was the local IFA. Gloves, shovels, tools and all kinds of farming gear. I asked the guy if there was any place to buy gas and he said no but I could go over to the pump, wait for a farmer to come fill up with their card and then ask them if they would fill me and I give them shekels. Or, the next gas station is 30 kilometers (20 miles) up the road. I had enough to get to the station so did that.

I'm blown away at the massive farm and green house projects that exist here in what appears to be a practical total absence of water. Miles of greenhouses with all kinds of vegetables. Acres and acres of date palms. The folks yesterday said that the sparing use of water was an Israeli specialty and they were able to use drip irrigation to minimize the amount needed and had advanced technology that they exported. They also had a desalination process and were able to capture and recycle water through the greenhouses. I came upon one large complex with rows of bogenvelias and the phrase, "desert blossom as a rose" came to mind.

Not far past one of the major intersections for a road going out through the west desert, I passed a woman hitching. I didn't stop but the look of disappointment on her face made me feel guilty. I soon came on two young men hitching and as I started to pass, the one put his hands together in a praying/pleading expression so I pulled over.

They didn't look particularly Jewish and I was a little apprehensive but that didn't last long. The one didn't speak English at all and he was more Arab looking but the other one spoke enough to get by. They turned out to be a lot of fun. The younger one, Maku, was 17 and he had not learned English in school (which was unusual)…he also wasn't going to school but his dad was Irish so he had learned from him and from watching TV and movies. The other boy, Aviatar, was 19 and a Hummer driver in the army. (He disliked the army as well but loved driving the Hummer and described himself as an Xtreme guy…he had broken his back when he fell 36 feet while doing something and was in the hospital for 2 months. They were friends from and area between Jerusalem and Bethlehem and were on their way to Tiberius to meet a friend and go fishing.

It was a struggle but we actually communicated quite a bit in the two plus hours of the drive. Maku was 3rd of 7 children and Aviatar was 3rd of 10. Maku only had one father and mother for all the children but Aviatar's father "liked to have sex" and he didn't know all of the many mothers. They told me how to tell Palestinian license plates from Israeli (Israeli are yellow and Palestinian are green-police are red). According to the map, the pink areas are areas that are totally controlled by Palestinian authorities. In the Yellow areas, Palestinians have control and authority over Palestinians and Israelis have responsibility for Israelis. Green areas are under Israeli control. And Tony Blair is here today to help sanction a two state solution-no idea where or how that state border is going to work out! So many similarities to the Indian reservations.

As we drove past Jericho, the boys said it wasn't safe. There was a gambling Casino there which was of interest to them but the Jericho Hotel was a very dangerous place. I was struck again by the loyalty and love of these guys (as well as the couples yesterday) toward the homeland of Israel. It's a holy land…and very beautiful Coming out of the more Arab areas where there was more agriculture and nicer homes, they proudly said "beautiful Israel". They pointed out important mountains and the Jordan River (canal) and the nice towns.

It was interesting getting a picture of the difference between Arab, Palestinian, Israeli and Jews from a very limited English exchange. From their point of view, the Palestinian Bedouins were good. The Fatah and Hamas were not so good and the Hezbolah were bad. They had fired the ketusch (bombs) on Tiberius and in northern Israel. Brother Whitehead told us of the night that Tiberius had been bombed. The ketuschs carry several bombs and then drops them all at once. He said, that they heard one and wondered what it was and then 4 more, one right after the other. The fifth one hit very close by and it rattled the building they were in, shaking walls, lights and raising dust. Then they went out and finished their home teaching.

We finally arrived at Sea of Galilee or Kenneret as it is called in Hebrew. Again, it's much more built up than I remember with resort after resort and amusement parks lining its shores. The holiday (we're up to six candles on the menorah now) has brought lots of people in and the streets were crowded with kids and families. Three young girls were walking stylishly in tight, low hanging jeans (which was a little uncommon for here) and the boys were excited. I dropped them off near the center of town and drove back to try and catch the last rays of sun on a fishing trawler working its way north with a cloud of birds trailing behind.

I went back and found the best recommendation for hotels in the Lonely Planet guide-the Panorama-and then set out for a walk. Not much of interest in the shops but the lake was glassy calm. I tried to imagine-as best I could with lit restaurants, blaring music, and a boatload of kids going out on the water for a party that included disco-what it might have been like 2000 years ago. Hopefully, I'll get a little of that tomorrow as I go to Capernaum where it's less populated.

The one thing that seems to me a validity of the scriptures, is the scattering and gathering of Israel. That's one thing that was warned about, prophesied would happen, did happen to an absolute degree and now they have returned. The concept of being Jewish is so diverse. As we approached a checkpoint, they stopped us and the magic word didn't work. Aviatar spoke to the guard for a minute and the guard ask me for my passport. He asked me where I was going and where I had come from and then finally motioned us through. "He didn't believe that Aviatar was Israeli-he looks Arab!" said Maku and they laughed. The guard was very dark skinned-he being from Ethiopia. This week, I have met Children of Israel Jews from all over! One of the displays at the Israel Museum was a synagogue that had been disassembled and brought from the southern tip of India with a community of Jews that had emigrated--'welcome home to Israel' was the sign coming across the border from Jordan. The couple yesterday said, "We have been all over the world, including the United States, and even our children say, this is the only place that feels like home. This is a special place, a holy land." In the BYU Center, there were special translation sections for Russian and …. Spanish! Coming from South America. Shane and Amy's neighborhood in Mexico City is largely Jewish. So how… are you going to check that at a border crossing and ensure Jewish heritage?!? A young fellow, Fabiosa (?), that I met at church is from Brazil. He had gone on his mission to Brasilia and now was working on a kibbutz packing grapefruit. He wanted to stay in Israel but couldn't stay more than six months because he wasn't of Jewish lineage. He looked as at home here as anyone else. The only group that looks distinctly different are the orthodox Jews…due mainly to their dress of black suits, black fedora hats, forelocks--and the fact that they are all 'white bread' as our friend Eric from the Air Force had put it.

Wednesday

Wednesday…. I think… I hope! My flight out is on Friday and I'm planning on about two more days. Actually, I could go home right now and this trip would be considered a success in accomplishing one of the main objectives in extending the extra time. Today, I sat on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and just thought and read most of the day. You couldn't ask for a more perfect day with moderate temperatures, clear sunshine and still water.

It takes a bit of effort to find a solitary place here. I got up and left at six this morning hoping to catch some good light at sunrise for pictures. I drove and drove and drove and eventually ended up on the east side of the lake. I say lake because it's smaller than Bear Lake or Blackfoot Reservoir. Total circumference is about 55 km or 35 miles. Most of the waterfront has something on it. On the south and west sides are hotels, pay beaches, and amusement parks. On the east are several farms or kibbutz with rows of palms, bananas and covered greenhouses and a ribbon of noisy highway.

It's not the best time of year for pictures as everything is brown and doubly so as there has been a long drought and everyone is worried. There's supposed to be rain tomorrow-the first in a long time. The sky was also hazy so no distinct light at sunrise.

I found a public beach area and walked along it for a mile or so, taking random shots of things that struck my fancy. A kingfisher diving for fish. Piles of tiny shells. Rocks under water. A fire ring-may have been left after some fishermen had cooked fish over it the night before. Tiberius across the way. After the sun came up, I headed on around the lake, stopping for a few shots from a hilltop and then taking note of the places I wanted to visit when I came back. I circled back to where the River Jordan comes out and heads for the Dead Sea. The sign in English said Baptismal Sight and I pulled in. It was a pay site that had been neatly cordoned off with gardens planted inside along the banks and a massive ramp and hand rails. From the pictures, it is a place where Christians can be baptized in the River Jordan and often do so in mass gatherings.

I hopped over to the other side of the bridge to where some fishermen were getting ready to go out for the day in their wooden boats. They were mending nets and smoking and talking. Fishermen still make a living getting fish from Galilee-and I had one of the local catch for dinner tonight-another St. Peter's fish.

Further south, I wanted to get a picture of the river not enclosed in baptismal bars but it practically disappears. I found a sign where the road crosses the river but it just emerged as a pond and then rushes. It was hardly even a canal or a stream-most likely due to the drought.

I came back to the hotel and checked out and then headed to what Lonely Planet termed the "Jesus Boat". It is part of the Yigal Allon museum and features the remains of a boat that was found in 1987 and is reported to be about 2000 years old. It was an interesting story…two brothers who were fishermen found some old nails when the lake was very low due to a drought. They got archeologists involved (one of them American) and they discovered the outline of a wooden boat about 12-15 feet long. The story is similar to the Steamship Arabia in Kansas City. Rising waters required that they do something so they built a berm but water kept seeping in. They decided to move it but because the wood was waterlogged, the minute it started to dry out, it turned to powder. So, they covered it with plastic and sprayed polyurethane foam on it. They dug around it and then put a couple of tunnels underneath where they also sprayed the polyurethane. Then they removed the dirt between the new foam ribs and filled those spaces with foam. Finally they cut a channel and floated the foam boat to where they could lift it with a crane. The boat was put in a pool and for 7 years, kept in a changing pool of chemicals so that it could be dried out without dissolving. Today, it sits in the museum, supported by hundreds of little aluminum fingers. They don't actually say it was a boat that was used by Jesus but say it came from his time period. It was just interesting to see the size of the ship and the sea….or the boat and the lake.

The rest of the museum was about the Jewish settling of Palestine and mainly focused on a fellow named Yigal Allon. I was the only guy in there and there were a couple of movies that were supposed to be going in English but weren't as I would like to have learned more. Apparently, he was instrumental in establishing the concept of a kibbutz and also in leading a youth movement called the Palma that became the backbone of the underground and freedom fighters. He was also the first head of the IDF or famous Israeli Defense Force which is today's army.

What was captivating to me were the photos of him and the Palma. They almost looked like casting photos for a movie. There was a determination, a sense of adventure or more importantly 'mission' in their eyes. Men and women. Working with radios, with airplanes, at shooting ranges, and with munitions.

Ruins at Capernaum

From there, I moved up the road to Tagbha where the Heptapagon church is. This is a church supposedly built over the rock where Jesus laid the loaves and fishes for multiplication. It's a few hundred yards from the lake. Several generations of churches have been built over it and currently, the only thing showing is the top of the rock under the alter. Also found here are floor mosaics from the Byzantine era that show two fishes and a loaf of bread. It's a quiet place though, and beautiful and outside the gate were an older man and women on violins playing classical music.

There has been some beautiful music on this trip. Sunday at the BYU center after the conference a young man announced there would be two musical numbers-a sister something Russian sounding and him! He had a Russian accent as well. He played guitar and was backed up by a girls chorus, several who looked oriental. (I later learned that they were all from the Tiberius Branch and there were several Filipino women here working as caretakers.) Anyway, the woman was incredible! The center is used for concerts every week and has a beautiful grand piano. She started playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and then played for about 40 minutes, straight classical music all from memory. I spoke with her after and I thought she said she was from Armenia but Deren thought she said Romania. She was an elegant lady and later I spoke with her daughter who was gorgeous. She had recently graduated from BYU with a dual degrees in Communications and International Relations. She had such a presence, command of the American English language and stunning good looks.

In talking to the Whiteheads, the service leaders (you don't use the m-word missionary here) in the Tiberius Branch, they were saying that with the huge influx of immigrants from Russia after the fall of the wall, all were musicians. Getting off the boat, if they carried a violin, they were violin players. If they carried a flute, they were flute players. If they didn't carry anything, they were piano players. Sister Whitehead accompanied the conference and the choir on the magnificent organ and also a young Russian man playing a recorder. It was wood and he was very accomplished.

From Tagbah, I went to Capernaum which was just up the road a ways. Here was another church that was built at a supposedly important site. There were two purported ancient structures here. The first was Peter the Apostles house and the second was a Jewish synagogue that Jesus taught at. From what I could tell, Peter's house had been built over by an octagonal chapel and then this was built over by a replica of the Lost in Space Jupiter 2 space ship. Well not really but it kind of looked like that. It hovers over the ruins with a glass floor. The structure is actually quite impressive with glass views of the Sea and a place to hold mass.

Next door, the Romans built over what was possibly the synagogue that Jesus taught at. They did a pretty good job of covering it up but a corner section has been unearthed to show the foundations of something else. The Romans knew how to build with precision and style. The fitting of the rocks, the symmetry (even today), the grandness of the feel… all are impressive.

It's interesting to me that most of the rocks around Capernaum and Tiberius are black lava…just like at home. The Romans used white stone quarried from somewhere but the Galilean village and many of the ruins around the area (and even buildings in the city Tiberius today) are of the volcanic black rock. It rekindled my inspiration for getting a rock cutter and using lava rock on Ardell's place to build a family gathering place and a museum.

And finally, I found the spot-somewhere on the shores of Galilee where you couldn't hear the sound of trucks and cars passing by. It is a little national park just north of the Greek Orthodox pink domed chapel. There was hardly anyone there and I basically had it to myself. I wandered down to a patch of ground above the rock shore line and sat down on the grass and just thought until I was tired and took a little nap. With my mind cleared, I continued reading in the New Testament which I had just started reading a week before I left. As I mentioned, the setting was wonderful.

I read where Christ called Peter and Andrew to leave their fishing and follow him and thought of the fishermen I had seen earlier that morning. I read where He put out from the shore and preached. Where He multiplied the loaves and fishes. Where He calmed the waters after being asleep in the ship (or maybe a boat). Where He crossed the sea to the other side and there cast evil spirits out of the man and then they entered the pigs and ran over the cliff into the sea. I looked across the lake and tried to see where there might be cliffs but didn't see any from this distance…it probably didn't take much of a fall onto rocks to kill a pig. I read where He sent his disciples on a boat and went up to a mountain to pray. Then with winds and waves, he came walking to them across the water at 5 a.m. in the morning, stilled the waves and almost had Peter walking with him. All those things happened right here.

I read and thought most of the afternoon and then realized that the gate was about to be locked and the signs had warned to be out ten minutes early. Heading back to the car, I saw a fishing boat headed towards the harbor. As I finished reading, I saw where He left and headed for Cesarea and thought that might be a good place to go next. As I pulled out, the metal gate was shut and I feared I was locked in for the night. Fortunately, it wasn't locked so I let myself out and then shut it again like a good farm boy.

Cesarea is in the Golon Heights. I started that direction but soon discovered that I had lost my map. I hadn't packed it well as I intended to use it and knew I had probably dropped it at the hotel on the way down the stairs. Of all things…maps are my main souvenir! I live with them for days in a place and then date and sign them and add them to the box. So disappointing. Without a map and with darkness coming on, I decided to avoid the Heights although I would have liked to have seen Mount Hermon as it is over 9000 feet high and is considered one of the two locations where the transfiguration could have taken place. I headed back to Tiberius and reasoned that I would go back to the Panorama and in exchange for the dumpy room, have a nice meal of Galilean fish.

Someone had put my map on a shelf and I was happy. I dined on St. Peter's Fish, a broiled tilapia from what I could gather. Again, served with pita bread and copious amounts of hummus which is seeming to make everything sort of taste better…sort of like mayonnaise only you can eat it straight.

This afternoon really felt like a gift in a way. I don't think that I had a powerful manifestation to the reality of the events of Jesus life in Galilee and Capernaum but it just seemed like they could easily be imagined.

As I was moving during a break from the grass down to the rocks, I came across a Jewish Orthodox family, the only other people in that area of the park. He was tall and skinny and dressed in a white shirt and black pants. She was in a dark dress and had her hair in a net. They had seven little children, the oldest, a boy, looked about 12. They were trying to get them to all stand together while the dad took a picture. The little boys with their forelocks, the baby in a stroller and middle boys wanting to be ninjas with sticks. As I walked up, I asked them if they would like a shot of the whole family together and the mother said yes. I would have loved to use my camera to get some good shots as it was a perfect background but was hesitant to intrude so I took one with their inexpensive little camera.

Families are all over here for the holiday. I slipped into the Golden Tulip to see if I could get internet service and the place was like a giant family reunion. Kids running everywhere, menorahs being lit by the doorway, people going for doughnuts, and siblings and cousins walking around the market streets. There are a lot of good people here-and even though you have to search hard to find evidence of Jesus, many of his teachings are being followed.

I was thinking again tonight about the mix of people that are Jews. The UN and the world could probably learn from how many different nationalities are united under the Jewish banner. Unfortunately, that unity has probably come as a result of persecution.

President Bush gave his press conference tonight on possible changes in Iraq. He is bound and determined and the press stuck it too him. He is committed to his objectives…I just wish he and his advisors could agree on a viable strategy. Speaking on the press, the leader of Singapore had an interesting comment about something that has happened there that supposedly 'limits' the free speech of the press (Pharisees). He said, something to the effect that, "My job is to protect the people and the peace. The press are not elected by the people and don't represent them." It's a line I think President Bush would have liked to have used tonight regarding the press getting access to classified information.

Well, tomorrow maybe Mount Tabor-the other mountain site of transfiguration and then head up to Jerusalem for one last night before heading home.

Thursday…

It's funny how familiarity fosters a sense of comfort. The first night at the Mt. of Olives Hotel, I was a little nervous staying in a member of the "Arab Hotel Association" facility. Travelocity didn't mention that fact. But tonight, after a couple of nights in a much worse hotel, this one really seems quite comfortable. You don't even have to get out of bed and walk across the room on a cold dirty floor to turn off a bed lamp!

Today was another great day. I was so happy to get my map back and debated on going north but decided to head south instead. Go for Mount Tabor instead of Mount Hermon. Climbing up and away from Galilee, I came across the Mount of Beatitudes Church. Five shekels to drive in but it was well worth the $1.25. I believe it was a Wesleyan church and built with local volcanic rock with a large dome and lots of pillars. Again, due to the fact that it was a nice large tract of land and maintained as a holy site-and the fact that other than a small group of people holding a service under one of the canopies, I was the only person there-it was a nice place to reflect. An order of sisters appears to run the place and the inside of the church was immaculate-very clean and warm. Like St. Peter's church, the Pope had visited there and left some souvenirs.

As I left, the bus driver for the group inside was sucking on his hookah or water pipe. I wanted to ask how it worked, take pictures and watch him but I got the feeling that I walked around the bus and kind of caught him so didn't want to push it. The hookahs are used by the Arabs filter the smoke from the tobacco (or whatever) through water which cools it and supposedly filters some of the bad stuff out. Walking through the old city of Jerusalem, I came on several groups of men, sitting around smoking together. Some had their own and some hookahs had multiple tubes so they could smoke through one pot.

From here, I headed south west and eventually came to Mt. Tabor. Brother Whitehead had said that there were two mountains considered possible sites for the transfiguration and that he kind of thought the one up north (Hermon) was it. The scriptures say a 'mountain apart' and Tabor fits that description. It's not that far from Nazareth either. But Jesus also traveled up to Ceasarea Philipi which is near Mount Hermon and it is the tallest mountain anywhere in three countries with an altitude of over 9000 feet and even snow.

Tabor (and Nazareth) are in Arab areas but they are supposed to be peaceful. I was kind of hoping to hike it but there were no marked trails and you can drive right to the top. It's a spectacular climbing drive and at the top, you enter through an arched gateway and then proceed along a narrow, rock wall lined road with ferns or cedars sealing the one lane road. I think this is a Franciscan church. The father there was from Oregon and Washington and it too was very nicely kept with gardens and flowers and many old artifacts.

As I pulled up, a big van of big dark skinned men got out. They were speaking a language that I couldn't figure out but they were conversing with each other like Polynesians, laughing and talking in that distinctive "we're having fun" way. While I was in the church, they came in and all sat together on the front three rows. I heard what sounded like someone humming and then all of a sudden, they broke out singing hymns in rich and beautiful harmonies. High tenors, low basses and everything in between. It was pretty cool. They sang several hymns and then one of them got up and said, "Let us pray." He then proceeded to give a beautiful, simple prayer, just as if he were in sacrament meeting, including "help us all to go away safely." The only other people in the church were a clean cut American and his little family who seemed to know the singers. As I talked to all of them later, the guys were Fijian military who were in Egypt on a one year assignment working with the US military helping secure the border between Egypt and Israel. They were on a one week vacation, traveling around the Holy Land, singing at all the churches and the American had met them the day before at the Church of the Ascension. He was a Lt. Colonel with the American forces that were on a one year assignment in the Golan Heights (he said they were really safe) and his wife, three little kids and his parents were over to spend Christmas with him. Everyone was so friendly and we all shook hands and wished each other Merry Christmas. It's hard to believe it's Christmas time as there are hardly any signs of it here at all. I pulled into the BYU Center to see if I could ask Brother Moody for directions to some sites and they said, "Closed for Christmas"-that reminded me what time of year it was back home.

Bless the Israeli Government's hearts. At the top of Mt. Tabor is another national park like Capernaum with lots of space to go find a private place and sit and read and think. Not that that was a problem with only a handful of people there. I found a secluded spot, just off from a rock wall that had probably been built centuries ago and not maintained since, and sat down to read all the accounts of the Transfiguration and the references to the modern day visits of Elias/Elijah, Moses and John the Baptist. It was a beautiful place but I just didn't have the feeling that I did the day before on the lake, like it was the right place. Could be me. Or maybe Jesus just climbed it as a kid and the transfiguration took place at Mt. Hermon. Certain places, places that I think we know He has been, seem to resonate when reading about them. Tabor did but not as much as I would have expected.

As I started down the mountainside, I came across an open space looking over the Jezreel valley. The town of Shibli was below and with its several mosques I could tell it was predominantly Arab. As I stepped up to the edge where the mountain dropped away, below me on the a sloping area, a para-glider was all laid out. A young fellow in a coverall and helmet was looking up and to the south, then back at the chute. I could see he was going to fly and asked if I could take pictures. "Sure!" he said. He tested the wind several times, then hooked up to the wing, flipped it up as he pulled back and in one smooth movement, turned and ran towards the cliff. The wing filled with wind and he caught an updraft as he went out over the edge and lifted up above me. He turned and waived to me and then worked his way back and forth, sometimes catching the updraft and sometimes dropping. I watched him into the haze until I couldn't make out his dull red chute from the brown farm earth that stretched as far as the eye could see.

I feel lucky to be seeing some of these things that you wouldn't expect…the Fijian military singing and a hang glider and a herd of camels. Descending down from the mountain, I decided to head back to Jerusalem in highway 65. It went though Jenin which was a pink area on the map but then so was Jericho and the road just bypassed it. I drove for a while and as I came through one round about and over a hill, there were soldiers everywhere and a big gate across the road that was shut. Had to back track a little and then head back to the road going down the Jordan valley. It was a side road and saw lots of farmland and a huge dairy. The sign said "Robot Dairy Farm"…I wondered what that meant.

I passed through areas that the boys had told me a couple days before were Arab and that appeared poorer. Much of the vegetable farming is done with rows of plastic formed into hot house tubes. It appeared that rather than roll up the plastic and disposing of it each year, they just let it blow and there was garbage everywhere! Road side stands selling fresh fruit, onions and tomatoes.

The Jordanian border runs on the west side of the Jordan River through most of this area and it's a mile or two to the river. The far side of the valley (in Jordan) it appeared that the same hothouse farming and irrigating techniques were in use and there were miles and miles of green houses.

I came on the sign for the "original" site of Jesus' baptism near Jericho. The one just off Galilee is used for tourists and people that want to get baptized and I don't think it's regarded as an actual site but rather a place where people can go and just say, "I was baptized in the Jordan River."

So I wanted to see what the real site looked like. It was closer to where John the Baptist had been preaching so is more likely a real site. As I pulled up, there was no one there. A center had been built but looked like it had been abandoned for several years. Toward the river was a massive barbed wire fence blocking the way with a big rusty gate and a padlock and a sign that said, "No Photography". Not gonna see much here!

I circled back and shot a photo of the gate and then back to the main highway. Hadn't gone more than a couple of klicks when I came on a pack of camels meandering toward the desert with a guy on a donkey herding them along. It was a nice site and the herdsman waived his cigarette in the air and said, "Hallow!"

Back at Jerusalem, I parked at the Jaffa Gate underground parking structure and slipped into the restrooms at the Rampart Tour. It looked kind of interesting but at 16 shekels ($4) I wondered what it would be like. I had plenty of time so paid the money and it turned out to be pretty interesting. Again, a couple of people at the beginning but for most of it, I was the only person on the walls. The ramparts were built as a walkway along the inside where guardians could walk to keep watch and fight from above. There were narrow vertical slots where they could aim down on intruders. One plaque said that before the 1967 war, the Jordanians used to take potshots at Israeli people on the west side of the old city.

Inside the walls were all kinds of things. What stood out from the old buildings, shrines, mosques and stone structures, were the basketball courts, junk piles and high density of rooftop water tanks, antennas and satellite dishes.

The ramparts start mid point on the west wall of the city and then go north, all along the north wall and then south clear to the Stephen's Gate, just before the temple mount. When I started, the sun was still up and by the time I worked my way around, it was completely dark. I took pictures of the Jerusalem center and sites in the city. I climbed one set of steps to look north and as I turned, full on saw Golgotha. It was quite a site…graveyard on top, bus station below and all. I'm not sure if it was the site or the feeling that came with it.

I was disappointed again in my attempts to see the temple mount in the Dome of the Rock area. It turns out that they closed at 2:30 on Thursday and won't open again until Sunday morning. That's the fourth time I've specifically tried to see it and have missed the window. It's an interesting feeling approaching one of the gates to the Dome area. Two or more Israeli military are there with their Uzi machine guns. "Closed for Muslims to pray!" They say. "Can I just look inside?" "Nothing to see!"

I wonder what it might be like as a Muslim going to worship and having to pass the infidel military to get in. Lots of men and boys were going in and there was no 'recommend checking'. I wondered how they could tell if someone was Muslim or not. I, with my Lowepro camera bag around my waist just screamed tourist I'm sure.

As I came down off the wall, I followed a group of four priests all dressed in black robes and black hats. They were going up the Via Delorosa, a path that is supposed to mark the last walk of Jesus carrying his cross to Calvary (a site inside the city). They stopped at different places and chanted prayers. The next morning, I saw what appeared to be the same guys on the hillside across from the city, standing in the graveyards and what was probably one of the ancient's graves. I exited the Jaffa gate area, looking for shofar along the way. It's about the only souvenir that I thought would be cool. The shofar is the horn of an ibex and is what was blown to bring down the walls of Jericho and also at different ceremonial events. It's also supposed to be what is blown at the coming of the Messiah.

The city was shutting down and I came across some interesting sights. There appeared to be quite a few police walking around. They are all carrying pistols and don't have them holstered but have them hanging out from their hips for quick access. Most are in a dark uniform but I came across a couple that looked like and elite corps-really nice guns, fit and smart jackets for uniforms. At the airport as I was leaving, I saw a kid with a T-shirt on that showed an F-16 jet and said, "Don't worry America, Israel will defend you!"

I came across another group of young Jewish men that appeared to be protesting or celebrating. They weren't orthodox but had on skullcaps and were singing and dancing. Two army officers were had them sort of pinned into a small area, watching them intently with hands on their Uzi rifles.

I found a restaurant near the Jewish wall and ordered lamb chops. It was a nice restaurant but I was the only person in there. They were watching Jordanian music videos and I think it was Arab owned. The owner was a nice guy and his two sons were working. A teenager cooked and a boy of about 10 or 11 served. It wasn't Passover but I had just read about the Last Supper in an upper room near there.

It's interesting how so many little things on this trip sort of work out coincidentally. It's like I have a tour guide but I don't. Just stumbling on sites, or coming across things that make me think. Having the light unfold in a certain way for a photo or like having the lights to the BYU center come on just when I was about to move to where I couldn't see it. This morning, I was awoken at about 4:30 by a cock crowing thrice. Everything was still and quiet (which was unusual) and then this chicken. Today, seeing the clouds move in rapidly and a little hit of rain in hopes of "ending the drought". Finding a cave on mount Tabor that would have been big enough and secluded enough for a prophet to hide in.

The guys at the hotel were happy to see me again…especially since I had the key. I think they had cleaned the room and then just left it for me as they gave me the same one back. I talked to the old guy in pajamas and a robe who owned it. He had a big safe in a closet and got inside, unlocked it and got out a tin with a 100 shekel note in it and gave to one of the boys. I asked him if he owned the hotel and he said, "I'm supposed to. The government runs it!" I got the sense that it was their family treasure and now they were just struggling to keep the family going by running it. Both times when I checked in, they asked if I needed hot water at night. They turn it on and it takes three hours to heat up. The patriarch said that things run off benzene and when they first opened the hotel, it cost 800 shekels to fill up the tank. "Now it's 12,000!" "Israel is so expensive!" This morning when I had breakfast, I knew I was the only person in the hotel! All of the tables had been stacked on the wall except on and there was only one place set on it. Cost for the night and breakfast was $43.

I thought I'd try and find the Orson Hyde garden and pulled straight down the hill from the hotel to a little parking area with a walk going off to the north. That was it! It's actually in better shape than it was 22 years ago and has been kept up nicely. As I came in, there was an Arab man climbing over the wall to go down into the Kidron valley and all the rest of the time I was alone. I walked the serpentine path to the top, taking in the rocks, olive trees, cedars and enjoying the view of the city. At the top is a rock walled amphitheatre with a frame where the plaque with the dedicatory prayer used to be. The plaque is gone and the framed area is all burned out like several fires had been set underneath it. (There were also several other little fire remains but they appeared to be from people warming themselves who had been drinking Amstel beer and left their cans). I thought it about for a minute and concluded that putting up a plaque in the middle of a predominantly Arab owned hill that said, "Welcome home Jews" was probably not appreciated by the locals. As a "Jerusalem Memorial Park" donated by the Orson Hyde Foundation in Salt Lake City, Utah, it was probably much less offensive. The BYU center is the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies and also referred to as Mormon University. They guys at the hotel asked if I was Mormon when I told them I was from Utah and they asked if I had been to the center. They seemed to know it well and the Service Couples there said that many of the Arabs use it for weddings as it is such a beautiful setting.

So I've had a chance to study a lot of the other elements of history while I've been here as well. Today I went to the Bible Lands Museum which documents all of the other civilizations that are known to exist since like 10,000 B.C. For us (me I guess), so much of ancient history has been the Old Testament and New for this part of the world and the Book of Mormon for the Americas. In reality, the documentation of those civilizations is just a sliver of the history of other peoples that have existed. We look at Solomon's temple as one of the greatest ever yet just a few hundred miles away were massive temples in both Iran and Egypt that were part of huge civilizations.

After I left the garden, I found a spot on the southeast corner of the city to park and walked down through the City of David. Getting there, I got caught in what appeared to be a big public gathering at the Dome of the Rock. People were parking illegally and the guards at Stephen's Gate were tightly and tensely controlling traffic in and. Men and women were arriving in cabs and private cars and the place looked like people heading to the Conference center-except many were carrying prayer mats and little portable folding stools to sit on. It was quite a site.

The City of David is the first area that David conquered at Jerusalem and is situated down below the old city. From this point, the temple would have really been up on a hill and it's interesting how steep and deep the little valleys are. I hiked down to the bottom where there are many ruins being excavated-thanks to some Jewish benefactor. Everything has a sponsor of some Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so which is nice. The area entrance was free but when I got to the bottom, I needed a ticket to go through Hezzakiah's tunnel which I needed to have purchased at the top. Oh well, I'll just look at the pools of Shilom. Too bad, they appear to be covered with a building and a nice hole with trash in it to the side. No, back the other way. I walk to the end of the walk and see a place where water could have come out of the rock into a pool area, half natural and half manmade but it was dry. In the museum, I see another model that shows the pools on around the other side of where I had been. There are advantages to tour guides.

I hiked back up through the little valley to the base of Absolom's tomb. Absolom was David's "beautiful beyond description" son who let it go to his head and then tried to overthrow his father. The authenticity of the tomb is questioned but it's located at the base of the hill where there are all kinds of graves and many of them assumed to be prophets. I walked back up a steep dirt trail, past a couple of graves hoping not to become unclean. I'm not sure of the rules but Jewish custom requires staying away from the dead. On the eastern side of the city, there are two large arches (the Golden Gate) that are supposed to be doors through which the Messiah will enter the temple. These look like gates that have been sealed off. The comment was made that the Muslims buried their dead there so that the Jews won't go in that way as it will make them unclean.

In my trip here, I have walked all the way around the old city except for about 100 yards between the southeast corner and the gate to the temple wall so I drove this segment and on around as I prepared to leave. The rest of the morning and early afternoon were spent at the Bible Lands Museum which I have already described. I took lots of pictures with my small camera of displays and text. Particularly interesting to me were the maps of civilizations of areas, trade routes, and the evolution of things that allowed population to expand.

For example, it was noted that the domestication of animals was pretty important as it enabled people to stop hunting and gathering and settle down. Then they were able to plant crops (grains) which grew naturally in Iran. This enabled them to get more food easier and hence the population started to increase. With growing population centers, trade become important. I wonder at what point, they decided they needed to conquer and kill other civilizations because most of history is just about that…who killed who and took what and destroyed what and how long before someone did that to them.

So much of what we know of history probably has little to do with the majority of the 100,000,000,000 people that have lived. Thinking about Israel right now, from the world view (press built perception), this place is danger zone, a cauldron of terror but being here, people are living normal lives with families, holidays, traffic, shopping, working, etc. That's probably the way that most everyone else lived and we only write about the 'emotionally charged' events.

I thought about driving to Jaffa Port to see it in the daylight but only had an hour and a half of light by the time I got to the airport. Yesterday as I was driving around the old city and trying to capture a few shots in stop and go traffic, the car ahead of me stopped while I was still going. It wasn't a hard hit but I immediately imagined the worst. The guy ahead of me in a white sedan, got out and walked back. He looked to be in his 20's and was a big guy. I got out and said, "I'm so sorry!" He looked at it and just shrugged as there was no damage and then stuck out his big teddy bear hand to shake mine. No big deal. Anyway, I was a little anxious to get the car back in one piece and so far, not even a scratch on the new Hyundai. So, I turned it in. As it turns out, I was two hours past when I picked it up so had to pay another $40 for the extra day. Oh well…no big deal.

So here I am, at the gargantuan, majestic and mostly empty Ben Gurion Airport. My flight doesn't leave for another 5 hours so I'm writing, reading and will shortly be looking for a power outlet. In the mean time, I'm going to spend my last shekels (exchange rate 4.2 shekels or NIS for 1 US dollar) and a big glass of that freshly squeezed pomegranate juice!

Friday night… Sitting here at the terminal, waiting for boarding to begin. I've been reading through and editing this and the last six hours have gone by quite quickly. This airport is awesome! Spacious (I just saw some official go zipping by on a Segway), clean, efficient (I was through security faster than at Salt Lake) and totally free, fast Internet service!!! Very nice! Boarding's going to begin and I need to spend my last few shekels, maybe on another glass of fresh squeezed pomegranate juice.

Several days later…The flight home went without a problem, despite the fact that air traffic had been disrupted due to a big storm in Denver. I had another 5 hours in Atlanta to edit and then flew to Salt Lake, passing over a fully white Mt. Timpanogos, where Dan and Jill picked me up after waiting for a full 30 seconds on the curb. It was great to come home to my house, filled with family and good food and fun. Our annual family Christmas party was in process and at one point, I walked out with my full Jordanian outfit on.

Thinking back, this trip was really wonderful in many ways. I've enjoyed a spirit of hope and the scriptures (we just stared the New Testament in Sunday School) are so alive with detail. I've been through the pictures and described everything I did several times… to the point of going horse! All in all, I'm very grateful to have had the opportunity to go!