Cairo

June 29 2009


We got up early this morning to go see the pyramids before it got too hot. We hired a very nice lady named Somer (Summer) to be our guide for the day. She is only a year older than me and recently married, so we already had a lot in common. We first stopped at the Great Pyramid, and it was great. The pyramid is pretty weathered, but very very large. We also saw the two next to it. We took a lot of pictures because they were very cool. The last thing to see in the area was the Spyhinx. A lot of people think it is much larger than it actually is. I still thought it was pretty big, and incredible to look at. We also saw the room where they mummified the bodies and all the older tombs before they started building huge monuments to bury their kings. We got back to our hotel around noon and set out on foot to find a place to eat. We settled on a sandwich shop called Cilantro. The drinks were good, the food was just okay. It was too hot for me to be interested in doing much else so we hung out in our hotel for the afternoon. Once it cooled down below 100 degrees we set out on foot again to see the Nile in Cairo. I am sure it was once very nice, but now it is a very dirty river. We had dinner at a Pub by the Mariot and walked back to our hotel. The city here is so large, and the sound of car horns is never ending. I like it!

June 30 2009

Today Kris and I slept in, but it actually worked out in our favor. We checked out of the hotel at noon and made our way over to the Egyptian Museum. It was a very hot walk, but I actually enjoyed it. Kris help a guy push his car over part of the bridge too, so he's done his good deed for the day. The museum was really dirty inside, just like the city. There are thousands of ancient artifacts, but the ones that we found interesting were in the room of Tutenkamun (King Tut). His death mask is made of solid gold and incredible. It is interesting to see how much stuff they would put into these tombs!! We were not allowed photos in the museum. We then headed to the Kahn Ali Bazzar. It is the most famous market in Egypt, and for good reason. The street seems to go on forever and there are so many shops! We haggled our way to a fair price on quite a few items. I had fun doing it. Kris just laughed at me spending 40 minutes in a textile store, but I got what I wanted for a good price. Sweaty and tired we have finally found our way back to our hotel to wait for a cab to take us to the airport. We are heading to Kenya for our safari, so we will see you all in two weeks time!!

Nile Cruise

June 23



We paid our taxi driver too much money to take us to the airport and we were off. (He is a nice guy, but he also did overcharge us, like all smelly cab drivers) We got to the Cruise boat with surprising ease. The flight from Sharm to Luxor was a short 30 minutes, and once we arrived at the airport a man was waiting to drive us to the boat. We boarded and were greeted with a great fruit drink. It was a mango drink mixed with Hibiscus flower juice. (It is supposed to be great for blood pressure.) A great surprise was given to us as well. We had purchased the cheapest of all the cabins on the boat, but were magically upgraded to a suite, and not just any suite. There are two suites on the boat with a balcony, and yep, we are in one of them. Good News for us!! We had lunch, met our tour guide Jamoda (Hamuda) and went to see some sites in Luxor. It was incredibly hot, and the people here harass you to no end to purchase their trinket and bobbles. I feel bad for them, but mostly I get really, really annoyed. Kris thinks it’s cute to see me show them away in my annoyed state…
Our first stop was the Colossi of Memmon. Basically the kings would build themselves a Temple and a Tomb while they reigned. Amenhotep III was the man behind this Temple that was dismantled for parts for the use of other pharaohs later on. All that remains of the once large temple after looters and flooding are the two huge statues (colossi).
Next on the list was the valley of the Queens. Here we were a little disappointed to find that Nephetari was closed for reconstruction. but we did get to see a really old mummified fetus. There are also people in the tombs that think if they point any thing out unsolicited they are deserving of a tip. We just tell them we have no money.

Our next visit was to the Temple of Hatshepsut.

She was a lady pharaoh that Kris said had serious penis envy. She wore a false beard and dressed in man garb. She apparently was not very well liked, and for good reason. Apparently she had the architect of her temple killed when it was finished so that is would be a one of a kind. Not a good person. She was married to Tutmosis II and Tutmosis the III was her stepson who eventually married her daughter. She was supposed to share rule with Tutmosis III. She was a power monger and would let Tutmosis III son Amenhotep III rule so Tutmosis III had her killed. Tutmosis was a well like pharaoh and a good ruler. Our last stop was the Valley of the Kings. Here in the barren dessert wasteland are several tombs, some of which are still being excavated. We were able to visit three tombs, Raseses IV, Rameses IX, and Ramses IV. They were all very interesting. The big thing I came to learn was that they used a lot of color in their temples and tombs. A lot of it is gone now, but where it still remains is impressive. Don’t worry; there are money-grubbing people in here as well to point out names of people for money.

June 24, 2009
Today we were awakened at 5 am to go see the Luxor Temple and the Temple of Karnak.
Karnak was first on our list, and it was very impressive. The structure is actually several temples, as different dynasties would add to it. I also enjoyed the early hour because the sun’s unbearable heat wasn’t beating down on us. There was a room of columns that Kris really enjoyed; I think our guide said there were 134 columns there.


There is also a pool created naturally by the water table there that is considered to be sacred. We next went to the Luxor Temple, which is smaller but also neat. It is a reflection of different seasons on the Nile and a festival of sorts. We also got to see some mix of religions here. A mosque had been built on the site and still stands there today, and there are some Christian painting over the Egyptian works near the back. There is also a difference between the different dynasties that carved there. Alexander the great had some input, but it isn’t quite as nice as the Egyptian Hieroglyphs. One hieroglyph really caught our eye here. ;)

Okay so back on the boat we had just been slowly making our way south to Aswan. It is really nice to cruise on the Nile and Kris has made friends with the Captain of the boat. He’s been wearing the captain’s hat he got in Eilat so they think he is a real Captain too. He had been having a good time sitting up there with them. He said the boat hit a dead bloated goat floating in the water. I didn’t feel a thing though. He also said they told him his wife was pretty. Some of these guys have more than one wife, poor guys I would only want one of me. We went through a lock earlier in the day that turned out to be very entertaining. As we slowed to enter the lock a bunch of peddlers came in boats to the side of the cruise ship to try and sell us stuff. (I told you it’s bad here) They would throw the stuff up to you in plastic bags and the yelling was intense! It was rather humorous. I once again feel bad for these people who are so poor and ill educated. We are extremely lucky and blessed in the United States. Still, I wont buy from them. I wonder how often it works?!?

The Nile is pretty crazy in that there is lush vegetation on the banks, but beyond the banks it is all sand with nothing at all growing. We also went under a bridge that gave us about a foot of clearance. Kris and I were standing on the top of the boat enjoying the sun setting and the workers came up and told us to sit. We could see the bridge ahead, but the distance above the boat was still hard to judge. As the bridge approached it became clear just how close we were going to come. Kris not only had to sit, but duck down. I leaned back to make sure I didn’t get my block knocked off. It was crazy!!! We then docked at Edfu and had the experience of hearing like 15 mosques give their call to prayer all at the same time. We saw Horus’s Temple by night, which was nice because the sun wasn’t beating down on us, and gave us another view of the Temples here. This one was pretty well preserved. Kris and I really enjoyed exploring the hieroglyphics. I must say though, that the morning is still nicer as far as cooler temps are concerned. Even with the sun down it was still mighty warm outside.



June 25
I skipped breakfast today and it seemed to do my tummy good. In the morning we went to Kom Ombo Temple. This place had a pretty cool calendar and medical symbols. It also was the home of the crocodile god and the lioness goddess of war, Sechmed. They would mummify crocodiles here because they thought they would be nice to them if they deified them. They even kept them at the temple in a pool.


We sailed up the river (south) to Aswan from this point.. This afternoon we had three locations to see.
The first was the Unfinished Obelisk; basically a granite quarry that had an obelisk that had a crack in it so they stopped cutting it out. Next we went up to the High Dam. Having come from a region where dams are all over, this was not particularly exciting, but it did make for a lot of Dam jokes.
Last on the list was the Temple of Philae. This temple was moved from its original location when the dam was built so that it wouldn’t be submerged under water. We had to take a little boat out to the island it is now on to see it. I really liked the boat ride, it was fun. Lake Nasser is clean compared to the Nile River and I was tempted to jump in on several occasions to escape the heat.

June 26, 2009
A lazy day on the Nile. We walked down to the market today in Aswan and got haggled to death by the merchants there. I didn’t buy anything. I don’t enjoy the haggling and uncertainty of the price. In the evening we went on a felucca (sailboat) ride around Elephantine Island, It was pretty and serene. There are some botanical gardens over there. It was also very hot at times. Egypt is very hot. Kris really like the sailing and was watching closely how they maneuvered and sailed there old boats around. We just got done with dinner and we are about to watch a movie from our Ipod. Tomorrow is Abu Simbel, and all I've heard is good about it so I am excited to see it.

June 27 2009

Today has been a lazy traveling day. We woke up and checked out of the cruise boat and headed toward the airport. The Movenpick took care of the cab ride, and this sweet old dude showed up to take us in a very very old car. We made it about a block away before the car quit. Kris said it was out of gas, but I think it just broke down. Anyway, he paid some other cab driver to take us with the money Movenpick had given him. Once we got into the cab the driver immediately tried to get more money out of us, telling us we needed to pay for his return trip, and that we had to pay the airport fee, and that we needed to tip him. This made Kris upset and he told him he wasn’t giving him any money. The guy dropped the return fee but still insisted on us giving him a tip and the airport fee. It is funny because the airport says on a big sign that the fee is paid by the driver. He was irate as well when we refused to tip him. Kris told him, “you don’t ask for a tip”. We especially don’t tip drivers who try and scam you, so we made a short half hour flight to Abu Simbel and a Nubian man named Mak drove us to our hotel for a high price of 50 pounds. He was nice enough though we could’ve taken the bus contrary to what he said. He also wanted us to have tea with him for some reason… I am pretty sure we are the only guests here at the Nephertari hotel, and we are in a suite because of that little factor. It is too hot outside to do much so we stayed in and watched South Park and took a nap. Kris was really nice and braved the heat to go to the store to get us some snacks to eat. Our diet today has consisted of, soda, chips and granola bars. There is not a lot here. Our hotel will have to cook special for us in the morning for breakfast, since we are the only guests. We will see the temple's light and sound show, and go again in the morning when it is not so hot, and then fly to Cairo.

The Red Sea Sharm El Sheik

We have done nothing but relax here at the Ritz Carlton on the Red Sea. We get up, eat breakfast and hang out on the beach reading books and snorkeling on the awesome reef. Not much more to say than this. We spent both Friday and Saturday this way. On Sunday we went Scuba diving since that is what this place is well known for and I was rewarded with a great variety of fish and a blue spotted Manta Ray. It was a lot of fun. We also found the Na'ama Bay is a fun place to go in the evenings. It is kind of crazy because everything there is written in English, not Arabic. I guess you must cater to your crowd. There are a lot of Europeans that Vacation here. Today we are repeating the act of being a beach bum. It is a little windy right now, so we are going to hit the spa first, get a massage, and then go to the beach. Tomorrow we catch a plane to Luxor where we will get on a river boat to cruise the Nile for four days. That should be another great adventure.

Getting from Jordan to Egypt

June 18 2009
Travel, travel, travel! This is the best way to describe today. We got in a cab in Petra and he took us to the Border in Aqaba the same one we crossed going into Jordan. He was driving really fast, making the otherwise two-hour drive in just over an hour. Next we began going through customs. Jordan was a breeze, but coming into Israel from Jordan involved and extensive search of our bags. They pulled every little thing out of Kris’s suitcase and examined it. We decided they must be training employees because they kept referring to their supervisor and policy manual, and of course those Americans wont mind…
Then we took a cab to the Taba Egypt border. The passport control people again looked in Kris’s bag, but not as extensively. He said he thought he saw a knife in the x-ray. The passport control guy really didn’t like us. I think he was upset that we already had our Visas for all of Egypt so he couldn’t charge us his price for one. He kept getting a real guttural ‘yeck’ sound from him. Out of the frying pan into the fire, catching a ride down to Sharm El Sheik was a real treat. We managed to share one with a nice young Israeli couple for part of the way, but some part of the bargain between cabbies got pretty heated and there was a serious shouting match happening between drivers as they all tried to get us to ride with them. We again “hauled ass” as Kris put it, down to Sharm in record time. These drivers are crazy!! We had to change cabs outside of Sharm because certain cars can’t go certain places, which is just crazy, but it’s not my government. Our non-English speaking driver than had quite a time of finding the Ritz Carlton. Something tells me that normally people who stay at this fancy five star hotel don’t take a cheap smelly cab down from Taba. We did though, and it was great to see the view of the desert Mosses wandered in for fourty years. We drove for under four hours and I was ready to worship a golden calf, so I completely understand the insanity those people were driven to by having to wander in that desert so long. It is a rocky, sandy desert.
Finally we are here at the Ritz, and it is incredibly beautiful. The water is so clear, the resort is very nice and we are looking forward to our R & R with in our vacation.

June 17 Petra and a Turkish Bath

Another incredible day on the books. Today Kris and I hiked into Petra again, this time going all the way up to the Monastery. This building is much larger than the treasury, but not as ornate. It is also quite a climb to get there, over 900 steps up! Well worth hiking uphill in the heat for this marvel though. As we headed back out of the Siq we stopped once again at the Treasury for one final look. I would have been happy to stay there for a long time, maybe because my feet hurt, maybe because I didn't want to hike back out of the Canyon, but I think the real reason was the awe that this place strikes in you. It is so incredible what these people did, and I was sad to no long get to see it with my own eyes. As we sat there looking at the place we also had a laugh at an ornery old camel that was there. The owner was insisting it give rides to tourists, but with each one it gave a loud complaining growl. Kris, who had been petting camels all day, went to pet it and nearly got his finger chomped off. I made a video of the noise they make. The camels are really cool.
We hike out and had a great authentic dinner in the town of Wadi Mussi at Al Arabi. I had a lamb kabob that was very good. I think Kris ate cat...(just kidding!) We then went to a Turkish Bath and I had quite the experience. While Kris was given swim trunks to wear, I was given a sheet. We sat in a steam room and got all sweaty. Occasionally a guy would come in and pour cold water on our heads. We were then led to a heated table where we laid down and put our feet up against the wall and had cool water poured on our foreheads. It felt really cool. Then back to the steam room to get all hot again before our 'Bath' I was taken to a separate room from the gents, and a lady from Cairo then proceeded to remove my sheet. Yes, I was naked as an adult woman in front of another woman for the first time in my life. Not and experience I am anxious to repeat. She gave me a good scrub and wash and massage and then I showered off and got dressed again. Kris is teasing me about my new girlfriend from Ciaro, and secretly wishing it was Jessica Alba: perve...

Dead sea, Masada and Petra

June 12 2009 Tiberius: The Sea of Galilee





Kris was pretty stressed out about a work situation today, so we didn’t do too much. Around noon we left Haifa and traveled towards Nazareth and Tiberius. We of course got lost on these crazy Israeli roads and ended up at a dump. It was pretty funny. Kris is a good navigator though and we were able to find a main road that was on our map. It was easy from then on. We drove through the mountains and enjoyed a beautiful scenic drive. We took the long way to Tiberius to drive through Nazareth. It is definitely not the city of Christ’s time anymore. It is a large city with a lot of development. A lone church serves as a reminder that he spent some of his years there. It is somewhat sad to me that a church seems to be built over every little sacred site. It makes it difficult to envision what it was like. A lot of them charge money to see as well.
We drove through Nazareth to the now popping town of Tiberius on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It is incredibly hot here, but the place is breathtaking. We are lucky enough to enjoy a little room with a balcony that affords a view of the sea and the Scottish Church next door. Kris’s ancestors would be so proud. We lucked out in getting a room here; it isn’t advertised since it is some kind of guesthouse. The Casa Nova Franciscan Guesthouse to be precise. Our guide in Jerusalem, Sam, hooked this up for us. It is very affordable too only about 60 a night. When we arrived we had trouble finding it, and the locals had never heard of it either. When we did eventually find it an Italian man who spoke no English greeted us. I was wondering if he was going to let us in when an English speaking Italian man came and helped us out. We are right on the board walks as well, so once we settled into our room we went and got dinner their overlooking the sea and took a swim. It was very refreshing. Kris had to take care of some stressful work business so we spent the rest of the evening on our balcony enjoying the pleasant view and nighttime air.

June 13 2009

We took off this morning at the early hour of 10 o’clock. ;) We head for a drive around the coast and made our first stop at the mount of the Beatitudes. It was a beautiful place and I didn’t even mind paying the 5 sheckles to get in. It has a beautiful overlook of the sea. I can understand why Jesus would want to come here to preach. It is beautiful and peaceful.
Sermon on the Mount location

We continued our trek around the coast stopping again for a fish lunch at Ein Gev. I ordered the Jordan Trout, which was very good. Kris ordered the St Peter fish, which we discovered later, is a Tilapia. We laughed about that one. Well mostly I laughed at Kris for ordering a fish that eats poo. After lunch we were eager for another swim so we found a beach that seemed to be popular among the locals and got in the water.
Kris relaxing at The Fish Restaurant on the Sea of Galilee

Jenette swimming in the Sea of Galilee

We also say the place in the Jordan River where John the Baptist is said to have baptized Christ. There was a long line of people waiting to be baptized there. I considered taking a second dunk myself... Okay not really. Now we are relaxing at our great place on the boardwalk. This is completes one week of our six week adventure. I am surprised that I am not homesick yet. It has been a relaxing, educational, insightful, and fun vacation so far. I would definitely come back.



June 14 2009 Sunday The Dead Sea and Beth Shean (Scythopolis)

We departed the city of Tiberius this morning and headed south towards the Dead Sea. We found a neat place to stop off called Beth Shean (Scythopolis). This ancient Roman town in ruins was once a thriving center point of the ten cities of the Decopolis. It also has one of the best-preserved amphitheatres of that time. Kris loved it all. I was really hot, but still found it interesting. We then entered into the west bank region of Israel and drove down to the Dead Sea following the Jordan River, and the Jordanian border. It made me a little sad to see these people in such conflict with one other.

floating in the Dead Sea

Kris as a Roman Statue in Scythopolis

The scenery gets drier and drier as you head toward the Negev Desert and the Dead Sea. It is a barren dessert wasteland. We were able to sea some antelope on the hillside which really excited Kris. For the record I was the one who spotted them! They blend in really well. We hope to see and Ibex before we leave the Desert. Finally we pulled into town and found a nice guesthouse on a ridge called Ein Gedi Kibbutz in Ein Gedi. It had botanical gardens, a spa, and a swimming pool that overlooks the Dead Sea. We are cheap so we went down to the public beach for a swim in the Dead Sea. It was incredible too! We entered the water expecting it to behave like all other bodies of water, but you don’t sink! It is very hard to submerse yourself since the salinity of the water is so great; the water is denser than you are. It was fun to float effortlessly, but also slightly painful as if you have any cuts or sensitive skin areas (which we all do!) it burns quite a bit. We hung out there for a while and then headed back to out hotel pool for a swim and relaxed by the pool reading and enjoying the view. This concluded our day over being 1300 feet below sea level, the lowest place on Earth!



June 15 2009 Monday Masada



What an incredibly HOT day! We got up and drove the short distance to Masada. Masada is a city in ruin on a plateau next to the dead sea. We hiked for just under and hour up the mountainside in the 100 degree temperatures. This made us a sweaty mess, but it was worth it. The city was built originally by King Herod and was one of the last strongholds to fall to the Roman Empire. The place gave a great view, and it was interesting to see how they developed a city there with some clever engineering. Afterwards we hiked back down and drove the 2 hours to Eilat. Eilat is a town on the gulf of Aquaba. I think it is the destination of choice for most Israelis, and while it was very hot, there were many people out and about. At night, however, the place really comes to life. We walked the boardwalk and looked at all the fun shops. Kris found a silly captians hat that he had to have,. ;) We had diner at a little burger bar and headed back to the hotel for the night.




June 16, 2009

Today we got up early and took a cab to the Jordan border. There we went through several Israeli and Jordanian checkpoints before catching another cab on the other side to Petra. We saw quite of bit of desert scenery on our drive, including the outskirts of Waddi Rum where Lawrence of Arabia was made famous. We are staying at a very nice hotel at the mouth of Petra called the Movenpick. We were too early to check into our room so we went into Petra a had an amazing look around. This place is fascinating! It amazes me how much effort these people put into carving these buildings into the canyon sides. We will do some more exploring tomorrow.
Definetly a place to come see!

Caeserea

Today was a very fun day! We took the car to Caesarea to see the ruins of the Roman town. We started at the aqua-duct that lead into the town. Today it is a beach, and a pretty one at that. We walked along it, and I collected small stones washed ashore. We then headed into the ruins which are now a national park. We saw the amphitheater, the hippodrome and the old ports. We watched a short video on it that explained the history of the place. it was funny to see how the place was conquered by different religious groups who would then tear down the temples and rebuild their own. It is all in ruins now, but still very cool to see and imagine what it used to be. Kris and I stopped at a restaurant called the Crusaders Grill in the old port of the town and had some delicious snapper. It was great to watch the people swim in the bay, sail, and even jet ski. We did our own beach bumming after dinner at a beach just south of the National Park. Beautiful Relaxing day.


We ended up eating dinner in the German Colony. Kris was a little upset that I kept feeding a kitten under our table. He thought for sure it would follow me home. The poor thing was limping because it had a hurt paw. It would just look up at me with those big sad eye (like the ones on Shrek) as if it were asking, "Are you going to eat all that roast beef or could I have just a little?" This was just too much for the girl who grew up with a small obsession with cats. Yep, that kitten saw me coming a mile away.

Haifa

Did I mention there are a lot of cats here?




The picture of the dog was just too funny to pass up. You don't need to be able to read Hebrew or Arabic to get this message.


The beautiful gardens


Overlook of the bay in Haifa
Today we took our journey outside the holy city. We took an infuriating taxi ride down to King David street to pick up our rental car. We had heard that the taxi drivers rip you off, but 50 sheckles for a ride that should have been only 30 was over the top. We told him it was way too much but he said he was charging us a pick up and bag fee. Of course you are! Oh well, we had to experience it at least once while there. Next we got in our little rental and headed northwest out of the city. We drove up the coast of the Mediterranian sea to a resort town called Haifa. Finding our hotel on the crazy streets was an adventure in and of itself, but we made it. We then went in search of food with the direction from our helpful consierge that it was only a ten minute walk. Of course, she meant if you go in the right direction... We ended up walking for a hour and by the time we made it back up the hill and considered the d Gurian irection mistake we were starving and overheated. McDonalds gave us our lunch for the day, and it was fittingly kosher. After a small nap in the hotel we headed out again into the city for a walk around. We waited until it had cooled off for this walk. It was beautiful and fun. We sat in a cafe and enjoyed drinks, and then walked around to see what shops were available. The Baha'i Shrine and Gardens will be our first stop in the morning. They look amazing from the top of the hill. FUN FUN FUN!

Jerusalem City Tour

Once we left the Temple mount we then followed the path through the city of Jerusalem of Christ's Trial and Crucifixion. They are set up in seven stations the travel first from the house of Pilot, and ending at the church of the holy Sepulcher. It was interesting to see how they view what happened. Some other interesting site along the way were the pools of Bethesda where Christ healed an invalid man (John 5: 1-15), and the prison in which he was held. It was an incredible hot day today, so Kris and I were glad we had already seen much of the city and the mount of olives the previous day. We ended at the hall of the last supper and headed back to our hotel to escape the heat and enjoy an afternoon nap. We headed into New Jerusalem for dinner. It is a much different feel here. The new city is much more modern and you can get anything here that you can find in any city. We leave Jerusalem tomorrow, and I must say, I think I will miss it. It has been a great place to experience.

Jerusalem City Tour

WOW! Another incredible day! We began today early in the morning when our tour guide Sam came and picked us up at our hotel. We traveled first to the Dome of the Rock, a sacred Muslim, and Christian, and Jewish site. The Muslims occupy the Temple Mount now which the rock is on. They believe it is where Muhammad had his night dream and ascended to heaven. It is also believed to be where Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac, the first rock on Earth, and where the holy of holies was kept in the Temple of Solomon. Needless to say it is a point of interest, and very few people get to go in who are not Muslim. Luckily our guide, Sam who works for the UN, was able to get us special permissions to go in. Our guide on the Temple Mount had me get into a long skirt and cover my hair. I looked ridiculous, and the layers of clothing caused severe overheating, but it was worth it! The inside of the Dome of the Rock is elaborately decorated with mosaics and symbols of calendar dates and times. We got to touch the rock and go beneath it into what is called the Well of Souls. This is where Muslims believe they must pass before ascending to heaven. We then walked over to the El-Aqsa Mosque. It is the third holiest site for Muslims (first being Mecca and then the Dome of the Rock). It is here that we got to see out the window and view the remains of the Temple that used to stand on the Mount. We also both stepped in Pigeon poop at the same time and got in trouble for touching when Kris put his arm around me for a pic. Touching a woman is not allowed-even if she is your wife! This was by far the highlight of the day. The view from the Temple Mount is pretty amazing and their is an interesting peace there, much like you would feel on our Temple grounds. I think for the most part, Muslims are good people.

Jerusalem and Bethlehem

This morning I woke up early which is surprising since my internal clock should have registered it to be 2 or 3 in the morning. I was anxious to begin my site-seeing of Jerusalem. Kris and I walked down the Mount of Olives and on our way down stopped at the Garden of Gethsemane. The spirit and peace of that place was inspiring. I enjoyed the grounds the most, but we did wander into The Church of all nations for a look at what is believed to be the rock upon which Jesus wept and suffered for the sins of mankind. We sat in the church for a time and offered our own prayers. We then headed down the mount further to the tomb of the Virgin Mary. It was interestingly decorated with ornately designed lamps, rugs and paintings. It also had a strong smell of incense.
Our next stop was the City of David. Here we traveled through an ancient water passage made under the rule of King Hezekiah so ensure water supply to the city while under siege. It is an impressive tunnel about a third of a mile in length with water running through the entire way. It was very fun, and a nice reprieve from the heat. On the way out we ran into a group of Morman students on tour and listened to what they were saying about the pool of Shiloam being where Christ performed many miracles. We thought we might tag along until they went into a sewer that they said the Jews hid in. When we discovered they had led us into a stinky sewer we decided we could do better on our own.
The old city was our next stop. We entered in through the Dung Gate and saw the Wailing wall. Apparently men and women aren't allowed to be together at the wall and it is partitioned off. All I have to say on that matter was that the women's side was smaller and had no chapels as the men's side did. Sexist Jews....

Everyone in the city was very friendly. I think maybe because they were hoping we would make a purchase from their pile of Sheshca pipes, rugs, jewelry, and what no they all had for sale. We never did make a cash donation there. We were able to get a feel for the city and see the division of the people there. There are the Jewish, the Armenian, the Christian, and the Muslim quadrants. I though I would feel uneasy among the Muslim people, but I didn't. I was even wearing shorts and still felt okay. Granted they are below the knee (I have a religion too). We wandered outside the city to find the Garden Tomb. It was closed from 12 to 2 (lunch?) and we showed up at 12;30. We decided to go in search of food, and ended up walking around lots of shops instead and ending at a cafe just within the Damascus Gate where we sat and enjoyed a coke. After settling on calling our favorite Taxi driver to take us to Bethlehem we went back to the Garden Tomb. I REALLY love it there. The peace that was felt there was amazing. There are certain places in the Holy Land where you feel what I would call a stillness. This was definitely one of them There is some debate on the actually crucifixion and burial place of Jesus Christ. The Church of the Holy Seplechure was built over what was believed to be the place. Kris and I are see that tomorrow, but based on my knowledge of the scriptures, what I felt at the Garden Tomb, and a helpful dose of Apostles and Prophets stating they believe the Garden Tomb to be the spot of His burial, I am going to have to say it was there.
we next went to Bethlehem. It was really interesting to learn that our driver who is a muslim living in Israel cannot get an Israeli passport because they say he is Palestinian. However, he was not allowed a Palestinian one either because they say he is Israeli. He cannot leave the country! In fact he took us to Bethlehem, but was technically not allowed to since he is Israeli. However he knew which roads would let him in and we went. We had to get another guide to take us into the church of the Nativity since there was no way the guards would let him do it. So interesting, and messed up. Churches aren't my favorite thing to tour, but this one was kind of cool. They build it over the cave (stable) where they believed Christ was born. They also had marked the exact location of his birth. This is were I think there is a lot of just speculation. I don't think we could ever know that for sure. We were diverted back to a trinkets and bobbles shop where we were persuaded to purchase a manger seen made from olive wood indigenous to the region. That will be our one souvenir from here. I like the idea of having a manger scene from Bethlehem made from their olive trees. Our driver dropped us off at Pasha's for dinner again. We were both starving at this point, and we enjoyed a variety of hummus and salads. Great food. This concluded our very full day. I loved it. Tomorrow we are doing an official tour and get to see the dome of the rock.

Jerusalem

What a journey!

Kris and I left Salt Lake Saturday morning (June 6th) and headed East. We were lucky to make our plane. We arrived at the airport an hour early, but the line to check in was the longest I've ever seen! Luckily we were told of some not so well known kiosks upstairs and made the flight. Eventually the plane landed in the middle east-Tel Aviv Israel to be precise. We were travel worn, and hungry, but very excited to be in the Holy Land. We eventually found our way to the Mount of Olives Hotel, but we had to change drivers in Jerusalem. Apparently our Israeli driver was not too keen on traveling to the East (Palestinian) side of Jerusalem. We switched cabs and made it. This would be our first, but not last, experience with the sad division among the people here. We arrived Sunday afternoon and were fortunate enough to catch a piano concert by Israeli pianist Gil Shohat at the BYU Jerusalem center. This center, on the Mount of Olives, was amazing. There was an incredible peace there, and it afforded a breath-taking view of the old city. I couldn't help but put myself back to the time of Christ and think he was seeing Jerusalem from this same prospective as He was on this same mount.
We ended the evening dining at Pasha's, a great restaurant serving delicious Mediterranean food. The Humas and flat bread here are incredible; smooth is the best way to describe it. The lamb is also very good. This is the evening is also were we met our new taxi friend, Mahrer, a friendly Israeli-Muslim who would do a lot of driving for us. He was conveniently parked outside of our hotel. I love it when things just work out like that.
There are a lot of cats here. They are everywhere you go. I think it is like an independent cat colony. They have no owners, and definetly don't pay taxes, but they roam the city non-the-less. I slept like a baby this first night.