Walking in Israel

There is a monumental feel to walking in a land with such a long and storied history and of such a religious significance to the world's major religions. The mix of conflict and consolidation, tension and everyday exisitence can be felt in the air. Security at a level that is hard to imagine is solidly part of everyday life in Israel, yet it is vibrant, thriving country in a beautiful land. History measured in thousands of years is part of everyone's life, personal conduct and interaction.

To walk around in this land is to walk in the footsteps of the earliest civilizations and source of beliefs that are just as strong and a part of life as they were at the beginning of religion. You can not be in Israel and not feel it and breath it in as a conscience element of existance. It may sound as if I were being overly dramatic but, I do the palpabilty little justice. It is ot just overwhelming.  It is as real and solid as a love for one's child or cool water on a hot day.

Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built over where Christ was buried.

We arrived in Haifa, the main port in Israel, neat the Lebanonese border to the north, early in the morning. Israel is about the size of New Jersey with about 9 million people.  The are more than 20 cities on earth with larger population. I left on a two excursion at 7:00 am and jmonumental ust barely made it back to the ship for a 8:00 pm departure the next day.

We went through four checkpoints before we were allowed entry. Done quickly and more common sense that in the U.S. In fact it was much quicker than going through TSA lines at an airport. An example I can offer is when we stopped at a high-secirty checkpoint coming from the Weatbank back into Israel, the borger agent looked into our van waved use through.  

We were in a new van, well-dressed, pale faces, wearing tourist type clothes, men and women, westerners, cameras, bags, not at all nervous and the door had a professional done sign with the tourist transport company name and contact information on it. They surely would have inspected more closely a beat up vehicle full of young male Palestinian males who acted nervious and excited on approaching the checkpoint. In America we have turned "profiling" into a dirty and racist word instead of a common sense method of looking at something more closely.

 We followed the Yizre'el Valley east to the Jordan River and south through the Westbank towatds the Dead Sea. Recent and ancient wars, peoples, civilizaions and concering armies encamped and settled every area we went through, especially if it had springs. There is history at every point on a scale that makes us in America look like overnight guests.

At first it looked like Arkansas

Then it was like West Texas

Then bam, it is like a California desert,

We followed highway 90 south through the Jordon valley which is the slip fault line from the collistion of the African and Asian tutonic plates. Past were Sodom and Gomora were.  The passed by the Jericho were the walls came tubbling down probabbly from an earthquake.

The came on the Dead Sea in the middle of the day. It had been falling for eons but more so since the sourse of its water has been cut off by a dam at the Sea of Galilee and irrigation  The water level drops about a meter a year from evaporation. It is the lowest point on earth at over 1400 feet below sea level.

Dead Sea came up to this road not to many years ago. Now evaporated and lowered considerably.

We first went to the Masada National Park about halfway down the Dead Sea. Masada is a mountain black that became detached from a fault escarpmet leaving it 450 meters above the surrounding desert. That's almost 1500 feet high. The plateau on top is the size of a small town and extremely defendable.  The overlooks the Dead Sea and two major ancient routes.

The first fortress on top was built Jonathon the High Priest arount 80 BC. Herord who ruled from 37 BC - 4BC build a winter palance and refuge against enemies. The reble Jews occupied it around 73 BC and it was the last stronghold against the invading Romans in Judea.

Model of Masada. See the Roman ramp on the model just to left of center. Imagine piling up dirt to over a thousand feet while rocks and arrows rain down on you. The ramp is still there.

The ramp is in the center of the picture and looks like a 45 degree angle. It's not that much but it is pretty steep to roll a multi-ton ram up, especially under fire.

The Roman 10th Legion laid seige to the mountain with 8000 troops and as many support personnel. in 8 camps around the mountain led by Flavius Silva. In about 3 months the Romans built an earthen ramp (which is still there today) and brought up a battering ram to bust through the city gate.  After a battle and a fire of both the ram and the wooden gate the Romans were sucessful.  They decided after a long day of fighting to enter the city-fort early the next morning.

They entered the city unoppsed the next day and found al  but two women and three children dead by their own hand. They knew all the men would be killed immediately or put into slavery until worked to dead.  They knew their women would be raped and murdered and their children put into slavery and dispursed from their land. From excerpts from Eleazar Ben-Yair's speech to his people he said, "...God had granted us,  that it is still in our power to die bravely, and ina state of freedom..." and "we have preferred death before slavery."

This shocked the Romans and Masada was not occupied again for centeries. There was a TV mini-series about Masada aired in 1981 starring Peter O'Tool.

An 80 passenger cable car took us to  the top of Masada and back. I can't imagine climbing a snake like path to fight and try to breach the fortress walls. It probably took them longer to build this than the 3 months it took the Roman to build a dirt ramp up there. That's the Dead Sea in the background.

The sun was so bright up there. These photos are over-exposed. I couldn't see the camera screen for the sun.

Original floor from the century before Christ.

2000+ year old plaster. Below the black line is original rock and above that is reconstructed from rock left at ruins.

We went to the southern tip of the Dead Sea tnear Ne'ot Hakikar and swan in the 39% salt saturated water.  There were steel railings going into the water so one chould hold their feet to the bottom on the sea. Falling into the water made it almost impossible to get back on your feet.

These are some pictures of the area. We traveled a few hours back to Jerusalum and spent the night after viewing the cily from the Mount of Olives.

Railing is so you could keep your feet on the bottom and walk out.

Suez Canal Transit

Spent the day going through the Suez Canal sailing the line between Asia and Africa. It is amazing how narrow the canal is most of the route except for Great Bitter Lake. Tomorrow: Isreal.

Bridge connecting Asia and Africa

Security post

El Quntarah

Passenger train passing under the bridge.

Egypt Almost a Bust

I've been in Egypt two days at the Port of Safaga on the Red Sea. It was almost a bust. 

I tried to make arrangements to fly and stay overnight in Cario to go see the pyramids. The ship's excursion was cancelled because of the bombing of a tourist bus in Giza on the way to see the pyramids. I tried to make my own arrngements but couldn't get cooperation via email or phone with four different Eygption tourist agencies.

I called the states to my ever faithful travel agent in Little Rock,  Carol Wenger Bojorek at Sue Smith Vacations. I gave her the impossible task of arranging a shuttle from Safaga to Hurghada an hour away, catch a flight to Cairo, then a tour guide to Giza, a hotel at the airport, then a flight back the next day to Hurghada and shuttle back to the ship by 9:30 pm. This call was made just the day before.

She tried but among other things she couldn't make the arrangements unless she was an Egyption travel agent. I could have taxied to the airport, maybe caught a plane, maybe get a guide in Cario and maybe make the one flight back that would ge me on the ship before it left. That and it was 100 degrees. I slept in.

Eighty percent of the ship went on the Luxor tour, a 6 1/2 bus trip each way, 110 degree weather there and no shade. Top that with a couple of hours of walking and stair climbing of monumental tombs. Again, I decided not to push my luck with on 2/3rds of my heart available for the task. Everyone that came back from that excusions a little while ago looked totally exhausted and beat up.

Top that off with watching Lawrence of Abrabia onbaord ship in the Insignia Lounge and and an hour and a half into it, something happened and the movie broke down. Nothing going right. 

Next, I had to swat flies in the Terrace Restaurant. All the servers at the buffet kept the food covered and were constainly waving large napkins over the food as well. About 20 servers all waving white cloth napkins unendingly in a slow rythmn back and forth. No place on earth had more flies than here, by far.

I took the shuttle bus into town.  We had an armed securty guard sitting up front with a H&K assault rifle strapped under his suit jacket. Then they just dropped us off in town only to be mobed by taxi drivers and street venders.

I thought I'd buy a shirt I liked at one store but, the vendor was so pushy and rude I just left. I visited the beach walking around behind the hotels for about an hour admiring the Red Sea. I was told by one passenger who'd been snorkling in Sagaga that the coral was so healthy and beautiful in many differnt bright colors. Maybe it was just pretty just under the surface. Topside it was dirty, hot, full of flies and trash.  The roads and sidewalks were treacherous and apparently never maintained.

I went to where I was dropped off to wait for the shuttle bus back to the ship. No shade. After a few minutes the shop keeper who had been so overbearing came out and waved me over.  I thought at first he was still trying to make a sale. When I stayed put he came over and said he had been rude and he was sorry.  He invited to sit in his air-conditioned shop while I waited on the bus. He offered me a cup of hot tea. The tea was a black tea with mint. Apparently everyone on earth knows what good tea is like except in Americans.

His name was Adam and he apologized several times.  He and I traded family stories and showed each other our children's pictures.  His baby was 4 and mine is 24. He told me he was a Christian and ashamed of his behavior.  I reassured him we were okay.  The bus came and I returned to the ship.

Everything on the surface is rough and not so pleasant but, underneath? Well, I'll just left feeling a lot better about Egypt.  If my plans had worked out the way I had wanted I would never have met Adam and heard him talk so lovingly about his daughter.  Things have a way of working out okay. The reason I am on this trip is for the experiences and this was a good one. 

Sky Blue Man and Sky Blue Mosque.

Watched Namma Lines ferry unload earlier, cars, trucks, people with large 4-wheel carts.
35 hour trip to and from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, closest port to Mecca.
I don't know why these two ships were tied to this man's head.

Aqaba Police

I had my usual problem of getting my cab driver to take me to the police headquarters. Aqaba, Jordon was a welcome port after four days of cruising on the Red Sea. It is a nice town of about 150,000 straight across the narrow end of the Gulf of Aqaba from the city of Eilat on the very southern tip of Isreal. In fact, with my ship docked in Jordon, my phone was connected to a cell-tower in Isreal.

Aqaba Police Headquarters
The young officer with the assualt weapon stepped back out of sight
when he saw me about to take a photograph.

My driver, Muhammad, at first told me the police headquarters was far outside of town. He told me the blue 8x8 street corner Dr. Who looking building was the police.  I did not want to stop.  I'd already checked things out as much as I could.  That was the Tourist Police which is seperate and deals only with tourists issues. Later as we were driving along, he pointed to a building and said that was the police headquarters. He'd slipped and I had him turn around and head back to it.  He relized his mistake and didn't want to go back. He ended up dropping me off in front and said he'd wait down the block for me to come out.

I was met at the door by a fierce looking 20-something dressed in black tact and holding an automatic weapon with purpose. He did not speak a word but, several uniformed officers approached me with smiles and I introduced myself. They were surprized and seemed genuinely happy to meet me. They invited me in and talked to more officers inside.  Suddenly there were 10 or 12 officers gathered around smiling and shaking my hand.

When they heard that I was a Captain, they did a collective gasp and several ran to an inner officer. They came out and then ushered me back meet their Captain. He spoke English fairly well and cordially welcomed me and offered me a seat in front of his desk.

Once settled, he sat back behind his desk, with fingers interlased and said, "What can we do for you?"  I told him I just wanted to visit and pay my respects. Two of his men sat in on the meeting to the side, leaning into the conversation.  It reminded me of Carl and Landon sitting in  my office when something interesting was going down.

It turns out the Captain had visited the U.S. on several occassions.  He was at the U.N. meeting on training police and attended John Hopkins Center for Advanced International Studies in D.C.  He had led a Jordanian Police detachment to Kosovo to train police officers there for the U.N.  Here was an seriously educated professional police officer. We talked for about 30 minutes about crime in Jordan, Ramadan, and Kosovo.  He seemed to appreciate the UP patch and I explained what the railroad police was.  He sent one of his guys off and they came back later with one of their shoulder patches.

I tried to get them to let me take a group photo but, he said it was strickly against department regulations. I could take a picture of the front of the headquarters building, which is more than some countries have allowed on this trip.

My cab driver was still waiting and I had him drive me around the old town. For the first time since leaving the states, I saw something I wasn't quick enough to get my phone out to photo: a Popeye's Chicken.  I almost had him turn around so I could get a 3 peice spicey with red beans and rice to take back on the ship.

Arab graffitti

New Section

Aqaba with a tiny sliver of Isreal on other side of inlet.

Beach

It took us a while and some pushig to get through this.  The goats wanted some of these watermellons.

International Highway, goes all the way to Iraq.

 

Many of these type alleys

Old city

I didn't just fall off a turnup truck.

Oman and Job's Tomb

We came off the high seas into the port city of Shalalah, Oman. As the Grass Roots said, "Let's Live for Today." That's been my motto all along on this trip.  Oman: what an unexpected delight of a country.  It is like West Texas except with camels and the desert runs right up to the sea.

After all the more well known places I've visited so far, I was not expecting too much. This is beautiful country, nice people and it felt like home in Texas: dry, hot and a scarcity of green. I could almost imagine the camels, that were everywhere, as longhorns roaming the range. This especially when you had to avoid stepping into the warm piles of gifts they leave behind.

It is still Ramadan so there weren't too many people out: a herder, a bus driver and a few tourist shop owners. It was a Texas pleasant 35c with a cool ocean breeze. Still, the air-conditioning of the bus was always welcome.

Apparently Oman is the frankinccense center of the world. The trees where in orcards and around older homes. I still didn't buy any. I did buy a kufi hat and a scarf each for my sister and daughter. A kufi is like a squared-off baseball cap without the bill. It seems the shading of your face by a bill would be a nice feature of a hat in the desert.  Tradition, I guess.

Oman is oil rich so the government gives every Omani a plot of land. They can, and do, build on it.  There is also free housing, which isn't bad at all but, most them opt for the land and build. Their custom is to live in large houses with multible generations of family all under the same roof, even as the younger ones marry.  I didn't see many small homes. 

New house and one under construction.

There were post-Katrina-like portable building housing complexes for foriegn workers, of which there were many. For instance there is a giant earthquake-proof oil pipeline being built into the port to load tankers.

The dersert mountains rise quickly from the sea, a thousand feet at least. The bus I was in was struggling up the hills and made some pretty severe cut-backs up and down range.  

On the beach road going toward Yeman the road and a bridge over a tidal pool were washed out from the recent cyclone.  We had to take a short detour through some mountains on sandy dirt roads.  With each sway I thought about how top-heavy our bus was and the air-conditioning probably didn't work when the bus was on its side.

On our dirt detour road.

On a hill name Jabal Al Qar some 30 miles up in the hills above Shalalah is the Tomb of Job.  It is inornate and only big enough to contain the tomb in the ground of Job. There was also a concret wall, that looked like a well, to supposedly contained a footprint in the original level of the ground that Job made walking barefoot in the area.

Putting shoes back on.

Little gifts everywhere.

Job's footprint

Job's Tomb

Some women on tour refused, on priciple, to cover their heads.

This where I bought the scarves and kufi.

This is not a place I would want to live but, it is diffilately a place I'd like to come to visit with some time to absorb more of the culture and the scenery.