Early in the morning I packed my bag and headed out on my adventure. I took the bus to the Old City, and then walked down the Via Dolorosa. The Via Dolorosa is the pathway that Jesus followed when he carried the cross to the hill. It was strange to walk the streets thinking that my beloved Jesus had been in this very city – and he was dead and resurrected by the end of his visit! I also walked by the Western wall, then exited the city gate and walked to the Mt of Olives and the garden of Gethsemane. These were places that Jesus had spent time teaching and praying before his arrest and crucifixion – in fact, he was arrested in the garden.
The garden of Gethsemane was beautiful. It was surrounded by a large wall. You walked inside and there in front of you – separated by a protective fence – was a beautiful garden of olive trees and flowers. Around the perimeter of the garden was a path that led to a church. The church was beautiful as well. It featured paintings and mosaics of Jesus' time in the garden. Mosaics of olive trees were decorated on the ceiling – it was spectacular. At the front of the church beside the alter was a large rock – apparently the one that Jesus had sat on. I am not sure how they worked out that it was that particular rock, but even for figurative value it was nice to have something tangible to touch and look at.
I really enjoyed being at the garden. I didn't want to leave! But time was pressing on, so I made my way to the Mt of Olives. I don't know how many pathways led up there, but for whatever reason, I ended up on a very steep one that had over 570 steps. It was the hottest part of the day, and I huffed and puffed my way to the top. When I reached the top I was a little disappointed because I could see nothing that resembled a “Mount of Olives” - all I could see were residential flats and a walled cemetary that had an entrance fee (and you know that I was NOT about to pay it!). I was not deflated though, and I got out the map and studied it very carefully. I saw that there was another road parallel to the one I had taken that seemed to be more 'scenic'. So I walked down that road, and was thrilled when I found a gate that led into a beautiful olive grove. It was one of the places where Jesus had spent time. It had a spectacular view of Jerusalem, and was a very quiet and peaceful place. The garden was empty apart from a talkative older man who claimed to be the garden's volunteer caretaker/security person. He told me that he worked hard to keep the garden tidy and litter free. He tried to talk me into giving him some money for his good service. As he talked, I watched him as he gathered up some rubbish and just tossed it over the wall into the empty plot next door, which was covered in litter. When I asked him why he was dumping the rubbish next door, and told him I had nothing to give him, he grew upset and stopped being friendly and talkative. I took no notice and continued looking around the garden, laughing to myself about the whole incident.
I headed back to Jerusalem – not the Old City, but rather the new city. I headed to the markets. They were jam packed full of people! What an incredible atmosphere! You could buy virtually any fruit, vegetable, bean or spice known to man – everything was fresh and smelled wonderful. I bought a delicious fruit salad from one of the stalls that consisted of fresh pomegranates, mangos, pineapple, grapes and dragonfruit (which I haven't had since being in Singapore/Malaysia!) and strolled around people watching.
Time was passing quickly, so I soon left and went to the central bus station. There, I caught a bus to Rishan LeTsiyon. Vered had asked me to come to Rishan LeTsiyon because her brother and his wife and children live there, and it happened to be her nephew's birthday. They were going to have a family get-together to celebrate, and I was invited! Vered picked me up at the bus station and we went to her brother's house just in time for dinner to be served! I met all of Vered's immediate family and we had a great night of celebration and food!
We drove back to Be'er Sheva that night and went straight to bed because we had a big day planned the next day – a trip to the Dead Sea!
Early in the morning we gathered up our things and packed lunch, then met up with one of Vered's friends who knew the area very well. We drove towards the Dead sea. Along the way, Vered's friend taught us a lot about the geography and history of the area. He drove us to remote locations inamongst the salt mountains off the main road. He took us down tiny roads carved straight into the salt. The roads were uneven and sloped in every direction, they twisted through the salt mountains at very tight angles. Then we came across a huge group of school children who were hiking through the salt mountains. The road was so narrow that it took a very long time to be able to pass the children. As we passed them, the children were begging us to take them with us so they didn't have to walk in the heat!
We finally passed the last group of children and then weaved through some very tight and difficult curves. I was very thankful that I was not driving – I still don't know how Vered's friend managed to navigate us through all of that and come out the other side in one piece! Shortly we found ourselves on the top of the salt mountains. Vered's friend explained that this was Mt Sodom – the location of Sodom and Gomorrah – the infamous cities that the Lord destroyed. The Bible says that the area had been well-watered and had vegetation, but as it was destroyed the Lord rained down burning sulphur on the cities and removed every living thing, as well as all the vegetation in the land. The only family the Lord spared was Lot's family – they were found to be honourable people and angels told them to flee. But Lot's wife looked back towards the cities, and the Bible says she was turned into a pillar of salt. Sitting there on top of that salt mountain, I looked as far as I could see, and – true to His word – even now it is still just an arid place of salt deposits. Nothing grows there.
Next, we visited some salt caves. We were technically not meant to go inside them, but when had that stopped me ever before? We squatted down and slowly creeped deeper into the cave. Soon it opened out into a large shaft of daylight. Water had slowly eroded the salt and formed a hole in the 'roof' of the cave. It was so beautiful! Near to the cave was a large pillar of salt that was standing separately from the mountain – it was the pillar of Lot's wife! It even looks like a woman.
By this time we had worked up an appetite. We drove to the coast of the Dead sea, found a picnic spot by the side of the road and laid out all the food. Vered had made some scrumptious healthy food for us, and Vered's friend whipped up a fresh salad right then and there for us! It was delicious.
It was late afternoon by the time we actually ended up at the beach. We parked easily and found a nice spot on the beach. There were quite a few people there, but it didn't feel crowded. We waded into the water. It was the perfect temperature! I was so curious to experience the effect of the salt content. At 400m below sea level, the Dead sea is the lowest point on earth, and the water has the highest salt content in the world. I knew that it made you float, but I was wondering to what extent – did you have to put in some effort too, or would the water really do it for you? At first I tried to sit down in the water, but immediately my legs flew up and bobbed on the surface of the water! It was unreal – you did not have to make any energy exertion at all – it really was like magic, one minute you were standing up, the next minute your legs would pop up in front of you and you would just bob there like a rubber duck in a bathtub. It was not very deep, so the best thing was just to lie on your back in the water and use your hands as paddles to move yourself around. I felt like one those sea otters who float around on their backs. There was even an umbrella in the water which provided some shade from the sun. The three of us made our way under the umbrella and just lay there in the water, relaxing and chatting about life. The water is thick and quite oily. It feels wonderful. Salt forms a thick layer on the floor of the sea, so you can find a nice spot and scoop up handfuls of salt to give your body a good exfoliating clean. From all my travelling – despite frequent showers – I felt so dirty, so I gave myself an intense scrubbing. My feet had been so filthy that it took two rounds of scrubbing to get them adequately clean. We took turns scrubbing each other's backs. It was wonderful to be clean again! And with the oil content in the water, you would come out with your skin feeling smooth and silky.
We left the water and sat down on beach chairs to let the salt dry on our skin. It was very restful. We people-watched all the other bathers. Every now and then you would see a child accidentally put their face in the water or rub their eyes with their salty hands, then we would watch the drama unfold as the child began to cry with the burn of the salt, and the parent would rush over and wash them off, scolding them for not listening to their instructions. It was quite amusing!
Over the course of the day, Vered had been complaining of a rash on her body, and after being in the salty water she was in a lot of pain. So we packed up and headed back the car. It had been an incredible day on the salt mountains and in the Dead Sea. I have to admit, if I had the chance, I would definitely visit the Dead sea again and stay there for a few days of pure relaxation.
The next day Vered was not feeling very well at all, so we went to see the doctor then just hung out at home talking and talking. Later on she had a rest and I packed. It was bittersweet for me – I was excited because my next stop was Uganda, but it also meant that it was the end of my 2 month backpacking trip. What an amazing journey I had been on.
The next morning Vered dropped me at the train station and I took the train to the airport. It was a long, slow process of intense security checks at the airport. I finally made it through and boarded the first of three flights to get to Uganda. I smiled as I reflected over my time in Israel, and my time travelling. All I could do was thank the Lord for everything – it was astounding to think of all the things that had happened.
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