Israel Day 5: We enter Jerusalem
We started a little earlier today so that we would have more time to check out and load up on the bus.
It was a little bit more uneventful because 10 minutes out into our bus ride, the hotel reception called Eli to inform him that we had left behind 2 people in the hotel. We quickly turned around and in the meantime we discovered we had left behind uncle Bernard and aunty Angela! Haha
With everyone firmly in the bus, we headed to our first stop of the day - the original place of baptism in the Jordan River, which is just a few kilometres away from the Dead Sea. What was interesting was that if we swim halfway into this stretch of the Jordan River, we are on the border between Jordan and Israel. Eli was joking that if we want to appear in the newspaper and start an international situation, we can swim past the halfway line and try to come back into Israel. That would be interesting to see... Haha
Anyway the water was murky light brown and there were too many flies everywhere. Opposite from us we saw the guard post of the Jordanian soldiers. On our side, we took many photos with the 2 young Israeli soldiers who were standing guard as they did their national service. The 2 of them were friendly and very approachable.
Second stop was into Jericho and up a short distance to the Mount of Temptation where Jesus was tempted for 40 days and nights and satan brought him to the top of a mountain and asked Jesus to throw Himself down so God would send His angels to save Him.
We just went to a viewing point to have a look. There were camels too to milk us tourists of money to ride on them just to walk here and there and that's it. They look so cute if you try your very best to disregard the flies. I feel they're being mistreated though... I mean, this isn't what they were created for right?
We then ascended the mountain to enter Jerusalem. From Mount Scorpus, we could see to the east (arab) and west (Jewish) of Jerusalem. Eli also pointed out the old Jerusalem city and the Mount of Olives, to which we're going to tomorrow.
It was then lunch time at this small nice restaurant named The Eucalyptus. The homemade bread was really yummy.
Full and satisfied from lunch, we visited the sites known by tradition to be King David's Tomb, the upper room of the last supper, and the house of the High Priest Caiaphas where Peter denied Jesus 3 times and Jesus was kept there before He was sent to Pontius Pilate.
That was our last site visit for the day. We checked into our hotel Crowne Plaza and had a 2 hour break before we met downstairs for dinner - which is a Shabbat dinner in a Jewish family's home.
It was a FANTASTIC experience to understand the traditional Shabbat dinner. It started raining quite heavily as we left the hotel. But it is considered as great blessings on Friday nights in this arid land where every drop of water comes. The Jewish couple from America were wonderful and engaging hosts. We also sat at the same table as Eli so we got to know him a little bit better. We were expecting bland and unsatisfactory food, but we were proved very wrong. Pity that we couldn't take a photo with them as phones and cameras were not a lot. This is in line with Jewish Shabbat traditions that they shall not kindle a fire, i.e. switching on electricity, using the handphone.
The highlight of the trip is definitely tonight's Shabbat dinner. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
It was a little bit more uneventful because 10 minutes out into our bus ride, the hotel reception called Eli to inform him that we had left behind 2 people in the hotel. We quickly turned around and in the meantime we discovered we had left behind uncle Bernard and aunty Angela! Haha
With everyone firmly in the bus, we headed to our first stop of the day - the original place of baptism in the Jordan River, which is just a few kilometres away from the Dead Sea. What was interesting was that if we swim halfway into this stretch of the Jordan River, we are on the border between Jordan and Israel. Eli was joking that if we want to appear in the newspaper and start an international situation, we can swim past the halfway line and try to come back into Israel. That would be interesting to see... Haha
Anyway the water was murky light brown and there were too many flies everywhere. Opposite from us we saw the guard post of the Jordanian soldiers. On our side, we took many photos with the 2 young Israeli soldiers who were standing guard as they did their national service. The 2 of them were friendly and very approachable.
Second stop was into Jericho and up a short distance to the Mount of Temptation where Jesus was tempted for 40 days and nights and satan brought him to the top of a mountain and asked Jesus to throw Himself down so God would send His angels to save Him.
We just went to a viewing point to have a look. There were camels too to milk us tourists of money to ride on them just to walk here and there and that's it. They look so cute if you try your very best to disregard the flies. I feel they're being mistreated though... I mean, this isn't what they were created for right?
We then ascended the mountain to enter Jerusalem. From Mount Scorpus, we could see to the east (arab) and west (Jewish) of Jerusalem. Eli also pointed out the old Jerusalem city and the Mount of Olives, to which we're going to tomorrow.
It was then lunch time at this small nice restaurant named The Eucalyptus. The homemade bread was really yummy.
Full and satisfied from lunch, we visited the sites known by tradition to be King David's Tomb, the upper room of the last supper, and the house of the High Priest Caiaphas where Peter denied Jesus 3 times and Jesus was kept there before He was sent to Pontius Pilate.
That was our last site visit for the day. We checked into our hotel Crowne Plaza and had a 2 hour break before we met downstairs for dinner - which is a Shabbat dinner in a Jewish family's home.
It was a FANTASTIC experience to understand the traditional Shabbat dinner. It started raining quite heavily as we left the hotel. But it is considered as great blessings on Friday nights in this arid land where every drop of water comes. The Jewish couple from America were wonderful and engaging hosts. We also sat at the same table as Eli so we got to know him a little bit better. We were expecting bland and unsatisfactory food, but we were proved very wrong. Pity that we couldn't take a photo with them as phones and cameras were not a lot. This is in line with Jewish Shabbat traditions that they shall not kindle a fire, i.e. switching on electricity, using the handphone.
The highlight of the trip is definitely tonight's Shabbat dinner. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
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