From the Middle East

Day 6
Tiberias view point, Dead sea, holy city of Jerusalem,
We left Nes Ammim and were heading towards the Holy City. It was a very scenic drive. This time were driving along the river Jordan the long and windy road through the plantations, olive gardens, pomegranate, mango and orange orchards, vineyards and so on. The first stop was to fulfill our wish to step into the river Jordan. It was no the place of the baptism of Jesus but a place where we wanted to get in and touch the water. It was fresh and cold. Not too deep but was swift. Washed our faces again and again to feel the freshness and spent some time just wondering about the swiftness of our life and continued the journey.
We were now driving below the sea level. Really, we were about 150 meters below sea level and still had a good view of the lake Tiberias. This is the same as the lake of Galilee also known as Lake Kinnered. We stopped at the town called Tiberias. A very lovely touristy town that gave a wide view of the lake. From the place where we stood we were able to see the spot where we were yesterday in Caparnahum. Now you can imagine where we were. The lake had many feeding points. The water came in from the mountains thorough the valleys and filled the huge lake. It could have been formed because of a crater or an earthquake.

On the platform of hotel Chick Dee Do we had a coffee and hot chocolate and witnessed the wonderful view of the place. Sea gulls and black ducks were diving into the water and coming out with fish in their beaks. Effortlessly they swallowed the small fish. There were many cats that scavenged on the hotel’s waste food and also made it up to our legs touching and purring on our foot wear. The wooden platforms provided a fair space to stand, sit or walk without being touched by the lake water.

As if that was not enough for us we went into the water and sure enough had to touch it and wet atleast some part of ourselves. With the sun out, it was warm and keeping us in high spirits.

We moved on to the southern part of the country. This time it was through the deserts. Don’t imagine the ones in Rajasthan. This was magnificent mountains that were deserts. Spectacular would be a cheap word to describe it. There were Bedouin houses that could be spotted all along the desert and guess what! We also saw an oasis. This was real. Filled with date plantations I was surprised to see that people were able to farm cabbage, and other vegetables under plastic bags in the desert. I will surely write about this separately as well.

All this was not completely happy as on one side we had these desert plantation and on the other we had a huge electronic fence. It was the border of Jordan. Meant to keep away people from entering the country. The fence ran for many kilometers.
Driving along I was constantly watching the altimeter in my watch it said -270. We were actually 270 meters below sea level. Worse still the board on the shores of the dead sea read 418 meters below sea level. It was a weird feeling. Remember we were not in a vault, tunnel, or and underground shaft. We were on the shore of the Dead sea.

The Kalia Beach provides some space for changing and relaxing. Before that we had packed some traditional Puliodarai (a trip is never complete without it), we sat and ate it and were ready for the float.

The dead sea is called so because it is too salty for anything to live in it. The shores were covered with clay that was quite slippery. The water felt soapy and oily as well. Grey in colour, it also looked a bit dirty. We saw that people were taking the clay and applying it to their body. It is believed to have a lot of healing result. Psoriasis and other skin diseases would be healed if it is used therapeutically. So all those who decided to take a plunge did the same and so did we.

Soon we were covered with the black clay and were already floating. The only safety instruction was not to get eyes in the mouth and eyes. We went to the knee deep water and laid down with our heads held up. Lo and Behold we were effortlessly floating. We could read a news paper, do a back stroke, front stroke or just lay on your back and enjoy the chill breeze. We did all that and played around like kids. I had a lot of clay on my face and wanted to wash it off. So just like I would do it at home, splashed some water on my face. A few drops of water entered my eyes and the pain was excruciating. I did not panic. Flo, ran to the
shore to fetch some clean water and helped me wash my eyes I recovered instantly. Well the experience would have never been complete without it. Again we covered ourselves with the clay and rested on the shore while Annemarie took the photos of the two clay covered Indians, while Frans watched us as he floated along. We had floated enough and it was getting cold and dark.
There was an open shower that sprayed really cold water on us. My teeth were typing as I walked to the dressing space and clothed myself. Soon we were in our warm car and on our way to the holy City.

Through the same Bedouin villages and the deserts we were now on the main road. We went through the check point entering in to the West Bank (Palestine). The road to Jerusalem was beautiful but was painful to hear the story of the road. It actually cuts across the heart of Palestine. It was seen more as a mode of control rather that a mere way to transport. Politics of land, religion identity and many more things were platted together on the road. The sight of the Bedouin homes which were resembled the slums were particularly disturbing. Even seeing them sent cold waves through my body.
Now, we were in Jerusalem. We parked our car in the Augusta Hospital Guest house and took a taxi to the town to Damascus gate.

Jerusalem has an old city. The whole city is surrounded by a very high wall. It was probably built during King Solomon, destroyed many times only to be rebuilt again. The wall envelopes the city with many entrances. The old city itself is home to several religious controversies. The Jews claim it to the temple site of Solomon and also have the wailing wall inside it. The Christians claim it to be part of the Jesus heritage since it holds the Holy Sepulchre, the birth place of Mary and many vital sites, the Muslims claim it to be a holy site where the Prophet visited and there is a Mosque of Omar. All this has resulted in generations of tensions bearing the destruction and reconstruction of the places that have been most holy. Till today the places are the cause and source of these brimming conflicts.

With this background we stepped into the holy city. The streets were laid with the pale brown (almost white) Jerusalem stone beautifully cut out from the locally available rock. The streets were filled with vendors and touristy souvenirs. The broad streets lead into narrow streets which were called souks. There were two main roads this would have been meant for transporting the horses and the army. The Roman plan was quite evident from the very outlook of the streets.

Walking along the souk we imagined the streets in the time of Jesus. Doing so we saw “Via Dolorosa” the way of the cross. This was presumably a recreated way and not the original one. The way in which it flows does not exactly match the archeological fact and hence there is enough reason to believe that the real way would have been from another direction not too far from the currently perceived one. In faith it has now become real.

The path lead us to the church of the Holy Sepulcher. Since it was late we could not get inside it but had a good view from the outside. We were sure that we would visit it the next day.

The travel had worn us out so we decided to get back. Near the Damascus gate there was a shop that sold falafel. We sat and enjoyed our meal to end our day.