This evening we finally made it to Jerusalem after spending the day making our way south from the Sea of Galilee. It was a bit sad to say good bye to the kibbutz as it was a lovely spot that would have been nice to explore some more. Last night we had a very interesting talk on what it means to live in a kibbutz from a British woman who had been there for about 27 years. It is a fascinating concept and is the real communism where everything is held in common and owned by the collective and you are provided everything you need (not want, but need). This particular community seems to be thriving and growing with a current population of 675. Interestingly enough I couldn’t find that there are any such communities in Canada.
This morning we got a short tour of the kibbutz (it is spread over 4000 acres) before heading off. It was another jam packed day. After saying goodbye to the Sea of Galilee we went to visit one of the many diamond cutting and polishing centres in Tiberias. As usual with these things it really was more of a shopping stop than actual learning about how diamonds are processed. There were some lovely pieces, but unfortunately I don’t have an unlimited bank account for them.
Dad at the Sea of Galilee
Entrance to the diamond centre – considering they talked a lot about the permanence of diamonds, a name like Caprice is unfortunate!
The “showroom”
Our next stop was at the river Jordan. Because so many of the tours that are here are faith based (mostly from the US and South America from what I can see) and they come in the thousands to be baptized or rededicated in the river each year the Israeli government has created a lovely spot for such groups and events. The theory is that this is the spot where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.
The river Jordan
A woman being baptised
A group taking a swim after their ceremony
Our religious journey continued as we moved from being saved to the end of the world at the site of the Apocalypse at Armageddon. The current name is Megiddo. It was inhabited for almost 4000 years and more than 20 communities were built on top of each other over times as it changed hands following the many battles. It is a lovely hilltop setting overlooking a lush valley today, but originally stood at the the strategic convergence of 4 roads communicating between Egypt and the East.
The walls built by King Solomon when he conquered the city.
The horses in the training grounds
After a very late lunch, we stopped by another kibbutz. The draw here was a 5th century mosaic floor from a synagogue that was discovered as they were building the kibbutz in the late 1940s. It was a bit humorous as the central theme is the zodiac which is not a very traditional theme for synagogues and the creators had a few issues with proportion and human anatomy.
Finally in the late afternoon we started our true journey south to Jerusalem. As we were in the central part of the country and needed to go around the Samarian desert the fastest route was straight through the West Bank along the Jordanian border. We had to pass through a checkpoint to enter the area, going past the fence Israel has erected around the entire West Bank to prevent Palestinians from illegally entering Israel. The West Bank is divided into three areas – A governed entirely by the PLO, B which they govern civilly but Israel takes care of security, and C which is entirely controlled by Israel. We were going through C. As we were driving along we passed through many Arab villages and fields. Not much different from the Jewish fields and villages! It was a bit freaky though to be so close to the border with Jordan. It is heavily guarded with frequent patrols along the electrified fence. Our guide said that there is a mine field on the other side of the fence. I would not have wanted to get out of the van!
- Border with Jordan – note the fence protecting the border with minefield just on the other side
As of tomorrow things are going to change a bit as for the past three days there have been 7 of us and our guide/driver. Tomorrow as we are being joined by 3 more people for the remainder of the trip and we are getting a new guide as ours has laryngitis. So it will be interesting to see how the group dynamic is impacted.
You are on a very similar tour to one that Andrew and I were on when we were there. From Caesarea to Haifa to the Ba’hai gardens, the Druze village, Nazareth and Tsafat, to the the 5th century synagogue. Feel like I’m reliving it through your blog!