World In My Eyes

Today's activities have been totally different than the past couple days. We have joined a local tour to visit Masada and Dead Sea. It gave my legs a chance to rest a little. I have heard about the Dead Sea since I was a child, I knew that it is a lot more salty than any other sea, it is below the sea level and people can float on it even for big guys. All these sounded so magical that it stayed in a child's head for a long time. At last, the boy now much older have got the chance to feel it himself.


The tour picked us up at 8:45am, we started off from Jerusalem (about 800m above sea level), headed straight down to 400m below sea level by the Dead Sea. First stop was a skin product factory, yikes. Totally not interested, but you know, joining a tour group like this, they would always have some commercial things that comes with it. I am glad that we just got it over with way in the beginning. So, we could just enjoy the rest of the day. By the time we arrived Masada, it was like 10:30-11am, we took a cable car up to Masada (as opposed to hiking), which is a roughly 100m above sea level again. Masada is located in the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, we passed by some parts of the West Bank. On the road, the landscapes was dry, very dry and for a big part we can see the dead sea on the left. It was beautiful, perhaps due to the mineral, the water was in light blue from afar, it contrasted the dry brownish dirt salt, mud, dry land, or whatever that was very well. Masada was a fortress built some 2000 years ago by the Herod the Great, it sat on the hilltop. The structures have mostly been destroyed by natural cases by now, but it was somewhat interesting to learn about the history, see some artifacts and the view on the top plateau of Masada was magnificent.


Lunch at the foot of Masada, where we also got some sandals and sunblock for Dead Sea. I think I fell asleep on the way to Dead Sea, after lunch and with the desert heat, it was prefect for a nap. Think we got to Dead Sea around 2:45pm, a beach on the top of Dead Sea, near where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. It sounded kind of silly to put mud all over and float on ultra salty water and took a bunch of silly pictures. But do what the Romans do when you are Rome. Spent 1.5 hours at the beach, I think that was the right amount of time. We have enjoyed it. Aside from the snow angel, salt angel on the Utah Salt Flats, now I also did the Dead Sea angel.


Last night in Jerusalem for me. Paul will stay an extra night before he will head back to the states, while I will take off to Petra very early in the morning. Highly doubt I would have internet since I will be staying in a campsite. So, the next time I can post probably will be Saturday night when I return to Tel Aviv from Eilat. Since it is the last night we are spending together in Jerusalem, and coincidentally it is Thanksgiving though it is not necessarily our reason, we do have had a really nice meal, one of the best meals actually. We were on the rooftop restaurant above Mamilla Hotel where we were picked up by the tour group in the morning, on the rooftop, we were facing the Old City, too bad the Dome of the Rock was not lid up. The meal was simply divine, I started with a crispy sea bass salad and one the best burger I have ever had, it had goose liver instead of cheese (for kosher reasons? If that is the case, it is a great substitute). Paul started with seared red tuna and a short-rib gnocchi. Dessert was a coconut mousse. Not a single bite was bad, everything was wonderful tonight.

See the other photos from Day 7 here.

If Berlin to me is a city of reunification, Jerusalem, on the contrary, has proved to be a city of separation. Despite different religions seem to live together in this tiny city (I refer to the old city of Jerusalem here), they even share the same God, but they clearly have different way of living and the tension has never gone away. As an outsider, I don't fully understand the nitty-gritty details and the politics behind it all, nor do I take side of anything, but I just rather feel sad for the situation in such a beautiful city. With a good ol' sigh, why can't we just live together? Don't judge people with your own standard, if you are so religious, let your God be the judge. That's what I would say to all these madness going on in this city, in the Middle East, in the United States, in our neighborhoods, anywhere really. That's my 3 penny naive viewpoints on the state of the world.


I left Paul alone and snacked out to see the old city on my own early morning, because I really only have one sightseeing day in Jerusalem, there are a few sites I do not want to miss while I am in town. He is staying in Jerusalem until Saturday, while I will leave to Petra on Friday bloody early morning. Wednesday morning 7:30am, the streets of old city were pretty quiet, the shops in the market were not even open. Nonetheless, there were many many police around, every block there are a couple of them, all armed, wore bullet vests and all. I was alarmed but not was not afraid really, since there were really nobody around yet. I found my way to Western Wall or the Wailing Wall as I have thought that is what it was called. I had wanted to see that for a long time, felt that this particular has carried and delivered so much emotions over the year. I thought it might be a moving scene to see. At the end, the wall was actually much smaller than I thought, and it was divided into two sections (male section on the left and the smaller right size is for female). I was trying to be respectful and not to disturb the ones who were praying or actually wailing, so I only stood quite far away and took pictures from a distance. I was glad I have finally seen it.


With the past 2 in Tel Aviv and Haifa, I know everywhere you go one needs to have the bag checked and body scanned. So, I carried very little today, just my camera and a guidebook, so I get in and out of security points much faster. My next stop after the Wailing Wall was the Dome of the Rock, or Temple Mount, or Haram esh-Sharif... names names names so many names. Anyway, it's one of the holiest places for Islam. The exterior was simply beautiful, I did not get inside, I don't think it was allowed anyway. But I spent a good hour or so walking around the dome, took a lot of pictures and sat and watch people a bit, there were men and women praying among their own corresponding gender groups. At one point, the men all suddenly change from quietly saying prayer to yelling some Arabic phrases. I did not know what happened at first, and secretly tried to hide somewhere behind a column, watching them closely but stayed alerted. I am guessing they were saying, "Praise Allah!" or something, and the whole yelling part took a couple minutes. I felt very out of place at this point. After they quieted down, people started to leave, the mount became even quieter than I first arrived. I think it is a prefect time to visit, you can take some great pictures of the dome without people everywhere. An Arab young man came talking to me, asked me if I know God, and how many God...etc. I causally answered something, he seemed to sincere the whole time and at the end, he gave me a Quran (English version) for free. I took it reluctantly, I don't want to disrespect him, but at the same time, it has no use to me. Good that Paul is happy to adopt the Quran for me.


Meeting Paul at 10am at the Jaffa Gate of the Old City, I had some times left after the Dome, so I visited a small Greek church along the way. The tiny church had some nice painting on the wall but nothing like the next church Paul and I visited together, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, said to be where Jesus was crucified and resurrected. That was a huge church. I was commenting to Paul, we went up to the stairs, and then went down two flights. It was not beautiful as the Sistine Chapel which has Michelangelo's works on the wall, but Holy Sepulchre certainly felt like a lot more holier. There were many people praying, sobbing whatever they do over the Stone of Unction. And inside the Tomb of Christ, which only fit 4 people at a time, while I was in there, I couldn't help but knee and had my head on the rock as well (peer pressure), I didn't want to be the only standing, so I kneed and gave him a "Hey Jesus!" inside. Among the faithfuls, there were also Chinese tourists with selfie sticks in His tomb, you were in Jesus' resting places, give him a break, won't you?! I enjoyed the 3 tours I did this morning, visiting all 3 faiths that are trying so hard to co-exist behind these high walls.


As we were trying to find the Via Dolorosa, where Jesus tripped a few times carrying the cross, we also lost our ways a few times, the market inside the Old city was like a maze if you don't know it well. We bumped into a group of pilgrims re-enacting the carrying the cross to the Holy Sepulchre. It was 11:30am, the radio (literally every corner in the market) was playing the Muslim prayer/reading (whatever it was) very loudly, meanwhile, this group of pilgrims also was singing or chanting along the way with their cross. The two religions crashed in mid-air, that's when I felt the gaps between religions and people are hard to hide in this little tiny place. Almighty God, Jesus, Allah, whoever or whatever you are, would you please give some wisdom or technology to their followers, so your Muslim sons can listen to their prayer on a bluetooth earphones, or your Christian children can chant quietly inside. All kidding aside, I think something must be done to the location of those loud radios.


After lunch, we visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial. The bus driver did give us a detour, and wasted us 20 mins or so. But it all worked out at the end. The museum was free and crowded. We pretty much skimmed through it. I would have liked to spend some times to see the exhibited items actually, but it was too crowded. I did find the area peaceful, up on a hill, far from the madness near the Old City. Paul prayed in the Synagogue. It was a peaceful place. Another bus ride lately, we got to our final destination of the day, Shrine of the Book (Dead Sea Scrolls), which was part of the Israel Museums. I like the unique structure of the building, it looked like a plunger without the handle. Thanks Lester for the picture, it is funny. Exhibitions themselves were ok. That also concluded my Jerusalem sightseeing. Tomorrow, we will join a local tour to see Masada and possibly floating on the Dead Sea. Will see. Hopefully the weather is good.


Dinner at Ima, sort of Jewish dinner I guess. I had a white fish, rice with lentil and some okra. Tasted good.

See other photos from Day 6 here.

I think I still have some mild jetlag or I was just emotionally drained yesterday. I did not get up until almost 9am this morning, Paul got up before me, which is pretty unusual. We had to finish packing and head out to take a train to Haifa. We wanted to see "the" Baha'i Temple (or I really should call it the Baha'i Gardens), supposedly the holiest ground for the Baha'i faith. Aside from that, we planned to have a nice lunch by the Haifa Port, a restaurant called Nemo recommended by Misha, Paul's friend in Tel Aviv. His boyfriend Arty and Misha have been very generous to Paul, been his free guide the past few days and shared their favorite restaurants. Nice people. After Haifa, we would take the train back to Tel Aviv to pick up our bags before we change to a bus to the holy of the holiest, Jerusalem.


Train to Haifa was a beautiful ride, perhaps it rode along the Mediterranean Sea, the land was fertile, it was much greener than I expected. Beautiful blue sky, no cloud. Dry. I was wearing shorts today, which was such a big contrast to the past few days in Germany where my Kenny (heavy jacket) was out. The train was reasonably fast actually, I think it only took about an hour or so. Looking for a bus to go to Baha'i entrance was a challenge, the lookout was and the tour started at the top of the gardens, but the bus took us to the bottom. Changed to a taxi to the top. Taxi rides are still not my favorites, I did not like that many of them tried to scam you. Can we just use a freaking meter? Be civilized. I don't even mind to pay a little more, but like a helpless cat and just let you skin me, I don't think so.


The view of the gardens on top was amazing, it sat on the hillside facing the Haifa Port, it had a San Francisco feel to it. The terrace was beautifully designed, the temperature was just perfect, it remains green all year around, I imagine. The tour was a one-way down tour, and we walked 700 plus steps back down to the lower entrance. The tour was free and was very crowded. I think it is still a must if you ever get to Haifa. At one point in my life, I was looking for a religions that might be suitable for me, and I considered Bahai for a little while, since they focused on peace internally as well as externally. Until I found out about all their strict rules and the ritual part of things. I think that was what turned me off. Their temples are extravagant, I would like to visit all of them if I could, so far, I have been to the one in US, the one in Chile, and now this one in Israel.


We ate at the Nemo Restaurant for some seafood for obvious reasons, the foods was delicious and it was just nice to sit for a while after a long walk. Before we left Haifa, we also visited the Stella Maris Church, a church of Carmelit Order. I have never heard of this caramel flavor of Christians, have you? Took the cable car back down the hill and sat by the Mediterranean Sea for a while before taking a train back to Tel Aviv, and onto Jerusalem by bus.


Observations of the day: (1) Paul had also warned me about last night, we need to keep hydrated, the dry hot can suck out your energy and your last drop of moisture before you know. I felt a little light-headed in the afternoon. (2) In Israel, the ratio of the population of stray cats to human is close to 2:1. (3) There are so many people wearing black coat and the little hat with full beard in Jerusalem, it feels like a giant nunnery from my first glance of this holy city.


We did not eat at the McDonald's obviously, even though it is Kosher!

See the other photos from Day 5 here.