After a late afternoon departure from Haifa and an uneventful night at sea we arrived in Ashkelon to quite a welcome party. The coastguard had their fire tender vessel out, spouting water from both hoses at full pelt just outside the harbour, and as we motored in to the marina there was a live band playing and a large bucket of cold beers to welcome us – what could be better after no sleep!
We moored up and quickly went to join the party before the beer ran out, and soon lost all of the tension that a night at sea causes! That evening was the rally dinner, and it was our groups turn to sing the rally song. Up to now this had been a fairly excruciating experience for both the group performing, and the audience alike, so Green group decided to raise the bar and put on something a bit more professional. It helped that we had Herman the German on guitar that has played in a band, and Yogi his crew who had a very strong singing voice. I’m not boasting, but I think that any impartial bystander would agree that we were by far the best group performance of the rally!
Ashkelon were very well organised, and had laid on a laundry collection service (boring, but essential by this stage of the rally), and for a minibus service to take us to a nearby supermarket (also essential as we were running out of tonic!) The next evening we had a pot luck supper on the pontoon for all of the boats in the green group, and Herman the German brought his guitar along so we had a bit of a sing-song too. It was a very pleasant evening, and especially good to get together as 2 of the green group boats had decided not to go to Egypt, and we were saying goodbye here.
Next day was another early start for a trip into the Desert to Masada, the fortress town built 2000 years ago by Herod the Great on the top of a mountain, and where the Zealots made their final stand against the Romans. The ruins were amazing, and the views down to the Dead Sea were spectacular. Eventually the fortress fell to the Romans after they had besieged it for 10 months. Rather then be captured the Zealots committed suicide, and when the Romans eventually breached the walls by building a massive ramp up the mountainside, they found the place full of corpses. Yuk! After climbing up the mountain to the fortress, we were very pleased to be able to take the cable car down, and scramble gratefully back on to the air-conditioned bus. Next stop was a spa resort for lunch and a swim in the Dead Sea, the lowest point in the world. Lunch was very disappointing, but the swimming in the Dead Sea is one of those experiences not to be missed, so we stopped grumbling and took a tractor ride down to the shores. On the way they have placed signs with the years on to mark how the shoreline is retreating, and it is quite a considerable distance. The water was very warm, and almost viscous. We floated like beached whales for a bit, and tried to swim, but you really are very buoyant, and it is tricky to say the least. We would have liked a bit longer here, but one of the downsides of doing a guided tour is that you are not in control of the schedule, so after a quick dip in the spa pool to rinse off it was back on the bus and off to the Marina.
On the way back, the tour guide tried to make us stop at a modern shop selling all sorts of rubbish so that we could buy souvenirs. We were a bit cross at this, as we had rushed to leave the Dead Sea, so we rebelled and told him we didn’t want to stop. He insisted, and when some of us refused to get off the bus and go into the shop, the driver simply turned off the air-conditioning so we couldn’t stand the heat! I don’t think anyone bought anything on principal, but the guide was obviously on a backhander from the shop to bring his tours there.
Next day was an early start for a day trip to Jerusalem. We went to the Mount of Olives, just outside the city walls, where there is a very large Jewish cemetery. The wealthiest Jews have plots near to the gate in the city wall, because that is where they believe the new Messiah will come to, and as soon as he gets there, all the dead will be resurrected; unsurprisingly, Robert Maxwell’s tomb is here!
Next we went to the Garden of Gethsemane, and through the Jaffa gate and into the Jewish quarter which is officially occupied territory. Here is the Wailing Wall now known as the Western Wall, (the Jews have stopped wailing as they now have access to it again). It is actually part of the Temple Mount on which stood the Temple built by Herod the Great, and was where Abraham sacrificed his son Isaac long before that. It is obviously very important and people from all over the world come here to pray, feel the wall, and wedge notes, requests and pleas into the cracks between the stones. We went on a Jewish holiday, so note placing was not allowed. However, we were allowed to approach the wall, appropriately dressed of course with both men and women needing to cover their heads. Men went to one side, and women to another, and there were rows of plastic garden chairs in front where you could sit and pray. Not for the first time on this trip, I felt like an imposter and wasn’t comfortable elbowing my way though a crowd of devout women to touch the wall, so I looked from a distance and came away. Justin had much the same experience in the men’s’ side, which had a room going off where a service was being held. We both came out looking slightly bemused.
Next was a lovely walk through the Jewish sector, with lots of beautiful restored old buildings, and on to the Via Dolorosa, which is the route Jesus took carrying the cross from his place of sentencing to the place of his execution. It was slightly incongruous to be walking through a cobbled street full of vibrant shops selling all sorts of Chinese tat, and then to be stopped and told that this is the site where Jesus stumbled, and placed his hand on this very stone! We followed the guide, much like the disciples following Jesus, and eventually came to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Now that was fascinating! There is 8 Christian denominations who administer the Church and each guard their own bit very jealously. The Coptic Christians have the roof, the Ethiopians the attic rooms, and as you come down through the building the final stations or the cross are maintained by the different sects. We saw the place where Jesus was placed on the cross, the place where his body bled, the stone on which he was laid out, and finally his tomb. At each place there was a general scrum, with women weeping and praying, (one was even crouched underneath the Altar) and there was very little that was spiritual about the whole experience. They could learn a thing or two from Disney about how to manage a queue efficiently!
We were actually quite pleased to escape back out into daylight and head off to the bus, but not before we had seen the room where the Last Supper was supposed to have been held (in a building built by the Crusaders!?!), and the Tomb of King David.
We returned to the marina, feeling absolutely exhausted, both by the heat and the sheer bewilderment of visiting a place like that. It makes you realise that even though we are well educated and open minded, we barely scratch the surface when it come to our knowledge and understanding of Christianity, let alone Judaism or other faiths.
No comments:
Post a Comment