Last Night in Israel

We had an extraordinary time in Galilee and Golan Heights but also had sort of a communications "Black-Out". We had great Wi-Fi for telephones and I-pad-like devices but the Wi-Fi had fits with my stupid laptop so everything has hinged on Tel Aviv once more.

1) There are heaps of eucalyptus in northern Israel - it felt very much like home

2) Deganya at the bottom of Sea of Galilee is the oldest kibbutz and they sure have a lot of agricultural activities. The first kibbutz-niks were very interested in self-sufficiency and much less interested in contemporary European intellectualisms - they've got big cattle/diary herds, acres of citrus, apple and bananas!

Then we went farther north to another kibbutz that specializes in apples (for cider), grapes and....they are the leading group in Israel supplying dubbing and sub-titles for movies and TV - all of this about 4 km. from the Syrian border. They are literally inches away from the noise. They also created a documentary film regarding the famous tank battle that took place in 1973 during the Yom Kippur war that turned the tide - at enormous cost. We are VERY close to the border.

And at the memorial to the casualties from the conflict, that's Syria in the background. The Israeli Army is omnipresent - we saw probably 10 tanks moving on their highway "Low Boys" carriers during our 10 days in the country - plenty of Army bases up in the Golan - and soldiers everywhere except in Nazareth. The 18 year olds walking around Jerusalem with their unloaded M4's (but magazines carried on their belts) waiting for buses or just going for coffee - everyday scenes. And the serious security guys had their gear fully loaded whether guarding entry into religious areas or at checkpoints on the roads.

3) What grows best in Israeli soil? Rocks, man - this is the #1 rockiest land in the world with a few flat spots on the coast and Galilee/Golan. These rest has a very thin layer of top soil and as much rock substance as you could wish.

Up in the Golan there are a lot of very good grapes being grown but in order to get some soil they have to clear the fields. Here's what it looks like when the field is finally cleared so you can plant apple orchards.

During our stay in Jerusalem we got a tour of King David's City including some super tight water passages - and then at the bottom of the City we got into the old storm drains. This was a 1/2 mile climb back to the surface and in places this tunnel was shoulder width wide. Totally cool!

And here's a panoramic view of Nazareth, just outside of the Church of Renunciation (why do I keep referring to it as "Denunciation"? Says more about me than it)

And that's all I've got to say about Israel - except they sure do drive a lot of automatic transmissions here. Whenever we rent in Europe auto trans are regarded as belonging to those filthy rich bloated Americans who can't use God's proper driving instruments (clutch, don't you know). Israel and Jordan clearly didn't get that memo - they're just fine with never shifting again. And Israel, since they have no domestic auto industry - imports EVERY car in the world - we even saw Chinese-made cars, big honking Ford/GMC/Dodge pick-ups - you name them and we saw them in Israel. Disclaimer: only SOME of us paid attention to cars.

Israel is like a layer cake

First layer, early Jews. Here is King David's palace, discovered under a parking lot in Jerusalem.

Second layer, Romans - those squares are siege encampments at Masada built by the Romans in order to roust the rebels.

Then comes the crusaders (sorry no photos)

Byzantine Christians who put mosaic floors everywhere.

 Muslim conquerers built mosques over all the sacred sites.

Ottoman Empire filled in all the empty spaces. Here is a train station along the Tel Aviv beach front near Jaffo.

Modern Jewish state. This cool building was built in the 20's by an American philanthropic organization  but there is heaps of building going on all over Israel.

Jerusalem is a city of contrast

Lots of different variety of Jewishness from totally non practicing to ultra conservative. We got to go gave Friday night dinner with another of Ellyn's Israeli cousins. The town closes down and is deader than dead all day Saturday which was a perfect time for us to visit Masada and the Dead Sea- the subject for another time.

The roads to the conservative neighborhoods are blocked off so cars cannot be driven through them and give of fence. Rock throwing has been known to happen.

We stayed in the city center witch had pedestrian streets and lots of interesting shops. We had a studio hotel room which was fabulous for a cup of tea in the morning. And a night market 

The Israel museum was fabulous and houses the Dead Sea scrolls. Tom wants his bones  keeped in a box like this to encourage ancestor worship. Ha! I say, he'll be dead and won't know where his remains  are.

We had a tour guide booked for old Jerusalem and we did it all, ancient history in the morning, and Jesus in the afternoon.  whew!

Kibbutz Life

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After a long and torturous drive (lots of slow traffic) from Jerusalem with a wee stop to check out the Chagall windows,

And Caesaea for lunch along the harbor with lots of archeology to look at.

We arrived at Kibbutz Moran and Tom bonded immedately with the local cat.

There is a great view and the weather has been hot, in the 80's

We had a picnic dinner OUTSIDE in the lovely warm evening with provisions purchased at the well stocked minimart. 

The morning heralded in more perfect warm temperature breakfast in the dining hall and then a little tour 

There is a bakery with a coffee machine and a brewery with a pub. That is going to see us tonight!

around. 

We can tell we are close to the border, there are are helicoptes and fighter planes doing the rounds.

And did I mention that the weather is warm? Such a treat after all the cold, windy, rainy weather we have had.

Mud and blood - Dead Sea and Masada

But first, a word from our sponsor - Pilarcitos Cyclesports

This black bag was brought empty in order to fill it to the brim with souvenirs from one of the principal reasons for this trip - World Cyclocross Championships in Belgium. See that white hat? That's the ONLY souvenir I could find! When Alec and I were here in 2002 for Worlds, same race location - they had vendors with tons of official Worlds knick knacks. Coffee mugs, T-shirts, jackets galore but this year seems like a new souvenir Sheriff in town who really wasn't interested. So, this bag gets folded flat again for it's return trip to Burlingame, virtually empty. Bummer, Dude.

OK, back to the present. Masada first

Masada, sort of like Mad Ludwig's castle in Bavaria only this was Bat Shit crazy King Herod who built himself a Superman "Fortress of Solitude" for those times when his enemies were trying to whack him - only he whacked first and eliminated threats (like his wife and 2 of his children). And then, of course, some other equally nutso Zealots took refuge 70 years later when Masada was mostly abandoned after Herod died and during the first Great Revolt the Roman Legions laid siege to the fortress and when the end was near - Jonestown. This is the view from the top of this most desolate landscape. We could have hiked up the Snake Path - probably an hour long slog but we're OLD now and entitled to the cable car ascent. We take the paths of least resistance when available.

And after lunch - time for the Dead Sea. Salt and Mud - awesome combo. We splurged on $12 flip-flops to wear in the Sea - the hardened salt deposits under the surface make for very uncomfortable walking so some sort of footgear is mandatory. And even then, salt extracts her revenge. Here's Becky's foot when the dumb flip-flops didn't maintain position.

Bouyancy - Boy, they ain't lying when they explain how easy it is to float in the huge pool of minerals that's the Dead Sea. What they DON'T tell you is how to get upright again when you've all done floating-  not easy! Some of us needed helping hands to regain footing, some of us did the turtle on our fronts and pushed off the bottom (rendering a finger "Hors de Combat"). But then, THEN it was time for fun and Dead Sea Mud. Yes, we're having fun yet.

Jerusalem, night and day

We got here Thursday afternoon and since the Israeli weekend starts on Friday afternoon when the dusk-dusk Shabbat ceremonies take place, Thursday night is last chance to party before the horn sounds. Thursday night was pretty loud. Friday night is very quiet - here's the main drag outside our apartment about 10:30 pm

And, since Shabbat continues all day Saturday, here's a look about 5:00 pm, waiting until that horn sounds again.

Hats and "The Religious"

There are any number of Ultra Religious groups in Jerusalem and they can usually be identified (like Baseball team caps) by the shape and position of their hats. Uniform is pretty similar, Black Suit with White shirt (no tie) and in different jacket lengths from regular suit coat to long frock coats to a very shiny long wool coat. But Hats, man - they establish who you are. There standard large brim fedoras worn horizontal with skull, then flat-brimmed round hats worn well back on the noggin, flat-brimmed round hats even with skull, and even the elaborate fur round hats (almost Russian look) worn by the Hasidic sect.

Tomorrow - Jerusalem and Temple Mount

Wadi Rum

 
Wadi Rum in southwestern Jordan is Big Time spectacular scenery. Oodles of exotically eroded sandstone, red sand dunes, and much, much more. They have Hyenas! I'm bringing my night vision binoculars next time

Wind has eroded all of the stone faces on the cliffs and mountains but also has delicate motions, too. This circular pattern is from the blades of grass getting swirled in 360 degrees

And there are critters out here in the vastness, too. Just like our spring trip to the dunes in Death Valley, here are the tell-tale tracks of some small rodent.

Did I say RED sand dunes!

We spent real money and  - hired a guide from Eco Tours for this event,. Ali, former Tank Battalion commander and Jordanian Special Forces soldier, now retired, drove us all over this immense reserve. Although he drives a 4WD Toyota (the current Bedoin's "Camel"), he only uses 2WD because he uses very low tire pressure. We had no problems negotiating the very sandy desert.

Bar-be-cue chicken lunch against the cliffs with roasted whole tomatoes, onions buried beneath the ash and crusty outer skins peeled off, and of course hummas and pita.

OK, besides views of a spectacular nature, footprints, chicken lunch, erosion - what else can you show me? How about scads of Petroglyphs?

Yes, I want to go back and do some camping and more exploration. Someday...

Short Story today - Wadi Rum tomorrow

I'm only partly sexist - Becky DOES have her own Bucket List, printed on the reverse on my laminated wallet card (she doesn't carry a copy in her own wallet, just relies on me to whip it out in mixed company)

Today we spent time in the Israel Museum and when I got to some ancient Canaanite exhibits I had a life-altering moment! Previously when I croaked Becky has instructions to donate my body to the CSM Anatomy Lab so the students can explore just like I did in 1974. But after seeing these really cool ceramic bone pots the Canaanites used for bone storage I am all in for Ancestor Worship! I can see it now - 4 generations hence they'll cross their arms over their chests and repeat the ritual ancestor speech "Tooooom". And I'm going to have my bone pot made to look like a French "Mille Borne" highway marker, just like Paris-Roubaix.

And for  anyone who's sat by the fireplace in our house and wondered at the funny-shaped object in the corner - LOOK! It's a museum object! This was part of an exhibit on modern design and the Eameses leg splint was prominent.

Where were we....

Last thing I remember was packing again, this time for Jordan and....PETRA! We really missed "Checkpoint Charlie" in Berlin - there were some remnants and photos and a small recreation but none of the atmosphere - but we got it recreated in spades at the Israeli/Jordan border.

We got escorted through the process by our guide from Eco Tours of Israel and brother, we needed it. First exiting Israel - examine passport, questions, check my photo to see if this was really me (take glasses off, pal), have luggage scanned and examined for security and finally a couple of stamps. Walk our luggage approx. 100 yards through the "Phantom Zone" (for all your Superman readers) to the Jordanian side. Re-examine passport, Jordanian visa, get a Jordanian X-ray of luggage and met our Jordanian relay from Eco Tours and......we're in. On to Petra!

See that dark canyon in the center of the photo? That's the entry to Petra that was a valuable stop on the twice-yearly caravans coming up from Yemen. Why valuable? When you got water in the desert, you have something precious - Petra had and still has water. But Petra is suffering these days from want of tourists - since ISIS started chopping people up in Syria tourists have stayed home - our hotel had room for hundreds more and there were a ton of empty vendor stalls all throughout Petra.

We were the first group that our guide from Eco Tours had since the first of the year when Jordan also introduced new visa requirements that just added to the grief. But ironically our hotel was staffed by a bunch of young women from the Philippines while Jordan still has 20% unemployment.

OK, OK, back to Indiana Jones. Our guide manipulated us as we got close to the entrance "Look over here at this interesting aqueduct, now turn to the left and..." Bazinga!" Surprise achieved.

Can you say "Lost Crusade?" This is Jordanian Disneyland with a town that has grown to over 50,000 supporting this UNESCO World Heritage site. Bedoins lived inside Petra until 1985 when a new village was created to better exploit the site for the thousands of world travelers - it's up on the hillside above Petra.

If you were like me and thinking all of Petra was like the most famous image at the entrance you are forgiven. Once you turn beyond the "Treasury" this very tight canyon opens up and you can see all of the tombs carved into the sandstone cliffs. And these guys did it their way - no starting at the bottom and working your way up - "Amateurs!" they would scoff. Real stone cutters begin at the top and work their way down. And do they ever cut stone.

Here's the "Monastery" at the top of 900 steps cut into the hillside. For those of you who count flights of stairs on your I-device, that's over 60 flights. They actually didn't use this as a Monastery but the Nabateans (that's the pronunciation emphasis) held religious meetings inside, then when the Romans arrived they eventually got Christianized and that became a place for Byzantine dudes to meet, ad inf.

This was one of the heights overlooking Petra but if you wanted to get the real McCoy, there was always this view......

I didn't take up the opportunity - surely some other enterprising guy would have HIS sign advertising "Best View over here, 400 meters" as soon as I got close. Petra exhausted us in our 1-day whirlwind tour but I can now say, "Dun" and cross this off my bucket list. I carry mine, laminated, in my wallet - doesn't everybody?

And Becky has her own Bucket list and she achieved one of her lifelong dreams