From Amman to Israel.... An ABSOLUTELY incredible epic tale.

From Amman it was across the border into Israel. Was a bit of a tough decision to come here or not, not because of the safety stuff but for political/ethical reasons I thought I shouldn't come and contribute to the economy. But, I decided to come after all and I am really really glad I did after spending some time in the West Bank in Palestinian areas behind the outrageously illegal and inhumane 'security wall' (I'll elaborate later!). There were MANY security and military checkpoints along the roads between Amman and Jordan and a fairly long wait on the Jordan side for a bus that had security clearance to do the distance between the two borders. All up it took about 4 hours to cross, which wasn't as bad as expected given the recent flotilla issues in Israel (they have closed all flights in and out of Turkey for example!). So got in a shared taxi mini-van thing once through the Israeli immigration and headed for Jeruselem. Arrived in Jeruselem and on first appearances it looked like most middle-sized middle eastern cities - dry, dusty, rustic, old .. very very old. The cool thing about Jeruselem is that the entire old city which is pretty much were all the 'sights' are (the new city is mostly just business type district), is all within the confines of huge old fort walls (built in 1520) which are entered and exited to and from by these massive gates - the Zion gate which leads out to Mount Zion where Jesus had the Last Supper, Lion Gate, Damascus Gate, Jaffa Gate which faces Mount of Olives, Dung Gate and Herod's Gate. The gates themselves are a spectacle, huuuuge iron and wooden gates which protect the MASSIVE insides of the entire old city, which is like 220 hectares in size. The old city is sectioned (not by walls or anything) into 4 sections - The Jewish quater, the Muslim Quater, the Armenian and the Christian Quaters. You instantly get the feeling that not only are you walking through a place where 3 of the worlds main religions (Island, Judaism and Christianity) intermingle, collide, crash and intergrate, but theres a feeling of simply ..... walking through history. The cobbled stoned walk ways and alleys which make up the streets inside the walls (no cars can come in, the pathways are too narrow) are so worn with peoples feet that they are smooth, slippery and look kind of wet in the sunlight - some of these pathways have been around since Jesus was here. The hotel I am staying in as ONE THOUSAND years old ... can you imagine?! I cant. The streets a few alleys down from here is the Via Delarosa, the street where Jesus had to carry his cross to his death. Walking the 20 minute stretch of the Via Delorosa was truly amazing. People walk the stretch crying, singing praises, and some even carry a huuuuge wooden cross like Jesus did. Even me, someone with no specific faith, cant help but feel inspired, maybe a little envious too.. but mostly just really challenged by it all in the greater context of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, of the Muslims, of the Arabs. I spent a few days sight-seeing. Went to Mt Zion which houses the traditional sight of King David's Tomb and the Coenaculum, where Jesus had The Last Supper, which was really cool both in temperatue in the location! The stones of the dining room are worn so smooth now that they are shiney and slippery, I LOVE how rocks to that after millions and millions of feet have walked them. Also here is a holocaust museum .. which was as you'd imagine - moving, sad, unthinkable.. but also gave me a lot of food for thought because I predict that possibly in the next 50 or so years that the Palestinians may feel about the Jews as the Jews do about the Germans ... words like 'apartheid' and 'ethnic cleansing' have been thrown around in relation to both the Holocaust AND whats happening in Israel with the Palestinians. Interesting huh.

Also went to the Mount of Olives where christians beleive that Jesus ascended to heaven and where he spent lots of time thinking, in the bible it says he sat here to cry over the city Jeruselem, it is also the place now where over 150,000 Jewish people are buried. Also on the Mouth of Olives is the Tomb of Zachariah, Mary's Tomb (which was unfortunately closed the day I went so could only see it from the outside), The Church of Mary Magdalene (which is the one with the gold roof) and also The Church of All Nations - also called the Church or Basilica of Agony, its a Roman Catholic dig and is said to be the place where Jesus came to pray before his arrest. The church itself is really really beautiful but the most impressive part is the Olive Trees outside and around the church, which are as old as Jesus. SO COOL! Olives trees as old as Jesus. I love it. From inside the walls of the old city - went to Temple Mount - a place which is important to both Jews, Christians and Muslims and a very contentious place as a result.. Temple Mount is beleived by all 3 religions to be where the first building block of the world started - this is possibly the CENTRE OF THE WORLD! Soooo AMAZING. Within this area, there is the Wailing Wall which is a 20 metre high wall which is the only remnant of the 2nd Jewish temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E - it is now the most holy place in the world for Jewish people. The wall, which was re-named the wailing wall by non-jews due to the amount of crying and sincerity of prayer, has thousands of little bits of paper stuffed into all of the little cracks and crevices - prayers and wishes to God. Watching people pray here is a pretty full on experience, people are crying and wailing and rocking as they recite the Torah... its kind of spooky to watch. Right behind the Wailing Wall is the Shrine called the Dome of the Rock (which Ive got photos of on here) and the al-Aksa Mosque - both built in 7th century. The Dome of the Rock is built on the rock that Abraham began to sacrifise his oldest son Isaac in the ultimate test of faith (God intervened luckily), it is a very sacred place for Muslims... and a really beautiful building. This is also the place where Mohammed ascended to Heaven, making this place the 2nd most holy to Muslims after Mecca. Around the rock is called the Well of Souls, where all souls are beleived to congragate after death. I couldnt go inside the Dome of the Rock because it is only open to Muslims, I beleive this rule was imposed after a psychotic orthodox Jewish man opened fire in the grounds in opposition to any Muslim ownership over .. well anything really it seems. The orthodox Jews want to rebuild a temple off the Western (Wailing) Wall and hence dont want the Muslims to have jack shit of this very mutli-denominational spiritual land. Went also to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is revered by Christians as the site of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. In the 4th century, Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine and a convert to Christianity, traveled to Palestine and identified the location of the crucifixion; her son then built a magnificent church. The church was destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries. The building standing today dates from the 12th century. It was a very VERY lavish church, lots of gold and silver, was all very grand.. ofcourse. I think Jesus must have left a large sum of money in his will for someone to use gold and silver for all his buildings! So, after spending a few days in Jeruselem, I decided to head into the West Bank to Bethlehem. Which will be my next blog!

So pics ... from the top - the first one is the courtyard where Jesus was actually nailed to the cross, and the next 3 after it are from the inside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Jesus was impailed and also houses the tomb where his body was kept ... many religious groups beleive that this is also where Jesus rose from the dead (not on the Mount of Olives where most Christian groups believe it happened).

The next shot is of the Church of All Nations, the 2 after that are of the view over Jeruselum (including the huge amount of Jewish graves) from the top of the Mount of Olives. The next two of the golden domes is looking over the top of the Church of Mary Magdelene. Next shot is of the inside of the Holocaust Museum, some of the memorial plaques for the 6 million Jews killed aroud 1934. The next shot is of King David's tomb (who is actually inside it). Next one (12th down) is of the place where the Last Supper took place. Next three are of the Dome of the Rock, one of them is a little boy washing in the huge communal wash area for Muslims to use before they pray. Next 3 are of the Wailing Wall - note the little notes (prayers) stuffed into the cracks and the Jewish woman crying and literally wailing her prayers ... The last 3 are of the Via Delarosa, the path that Jesus walked carrying the cross that he was to be nailed to.

Jordan - Amman (to all those who are 'pro-American military' - read with caution!!!)

Amman - The Capital of Jordan .. where its hot and expensive and its where Christian, Jewish and Islamic history starts to blend into each other .. where bible stories begin to come to life ... I have flash backs to reading "My Book of Bible Stories", a Jehovah's Witness publication for children, which I have read many many times in my childhood. In Amman, I did a day trip to take in lots of the surrounding areas of Amman - Madaba where the oldest map in the world lies in mosiac form of Palestine on the floor of a church, to the Dead Sea to float very atop the very salty water, to Mt Nebo where Moses saw the Promised Land and then died, and then finally to Bethany beyond the Jordan .. where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. I find all this stuff so hard to get my head around - my upbringing as a Jehovah's Witness combined with my current non-beleif, and somewhat hatred for organised religions and their contribution to the political arena, throw in my fascination at 'faith', my perhaps envy of it, and my interest in historical figures that change the world (like Jesus) and the people in it .. all together it makes for one very full head with lots of ideas, problems, issues and challenges. I cant help but think how much my dad would really love this place, the history is just so deep and in every crevis of this region that its actually really hard to get your head around. I didnt realise how much I remember from the Bible - Im able to answer some of people's questions about who was what and where .. I'm confronted by that.

Madaba, which is the top picture I've put up, has the oldest surviving map in existance of this region - a mosaic map of Palestine, dated back to 527A.D, it is suggested to have been about 50x20feet in size but now all that is left is a peice about 35x16ft .. so still quite big. Most of the places shown on the map (which extends from what is now the top of Egypt all the way up to the bottom of Turkey) are of a biblical nature, with Jeruselum being the central focus of the map. Its really beautiful .. and amazingly a roll of carpet is put over it ever afternoon and then people come in to the church for service and they're allowed to stand and sit and pray right on top of it!

After this, it was off to Mt Nebo, where Moses is said to have been shown the Promised Land and also where he died age 120 years, it is also the place where the Arc of the Covenant is said to have been buried, but has not been found. The actual location of his body is disputed, but this is definitly where he died. The shots I have taken (the top 5 after the map one) are of the Promised Land sight .. one of the sign as you walk in which most people blantantly ignore and wear what they like, the other shots looking out over 'The Promised Land'. Ive taken a shot of the marble sign there which shows the direction of the Dead Sea, of Jericho, Jeruselem, Bethlehem etc ... also included a shot of me pointing out to the Promised Land .. perhaps a little Moses like do you think??? Perhaps a little too much lippy for Moses' liking. Was very very hot up here and INCREDIBLY dry and dusty, but was a real mind fuck to think that I standing where Moses had stood and died. Its really a lot to get your head around - particuarlly when white history in Australia is so young, its hard to imagine it all. From Mt Nebo, it was a drive down the mountain to the lowest point on earth .. THE LOWEST POINT ON EARTH! how cool is THAT - The Dead Sea. Took a dip in the very smelly and polluted Dead Sea (with 27%% salinity!!) of course, as you do, the level of which is dropping at 6 metres per YEAR .. pretty scary. Jordanians are talking about building a canal between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea to help the Dead Sea to survive the dropping water levels. The shot just after me pointing out to the Promised Land is on the way down to the Dead Sea and is where the water used to come up to. The following 6 shots are of the Dead Sea and the pool resort they've built just above the ocean ... a little oasis in the desert which I certainly had no issue with cause it was COLD in the water .. soooo good! The last 5 shots are taken at Bethany beyong the Jordan, where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist .. before he lost his head obviously! The picture that has the little gazibo in it is where Jesus dropped his robe and he was actually baptized. There is a shot of me dipping my hand into the River Jordan and the 2nd last shot is of the church on the sight of the baptism location. The last shot is of me .. not only am I exceptionally hot looking (not of the sexy variety thats for sure) but I am listening in to a bunch of American Majors in the Army serving in the invaded Iraq praying and using the Bible as "proof" that they should be in the military ... shall I elaborate??!! Of course I will .... on this part of my little day trip (the Baptism sight only thank god, pardon pun), we were joined by a group of around 10 or so 40ish year old American men .. as though their accent didnt piss me off enough on its own, one of them gets on the back of the jeep which was taking us out to the sight and the tour guide compliments his ugly looking cotton acubra (like a cowboy hat), the yank says "yeah its what we all wear in Australia" in his thick southern accent .. I cant resist ... "I dont think so mate" I say in my best Aussie twang. Every one of his 10 or so colleagues erupts into laughter - they didnt realise an Aussie was sitting there and this guy who tried to palm himself off as Australian got totally NAILED and busted tryin! So I'd set the tone for a bit of banter ... it wasnt half obvious what they were there doing and that they were likely on a break from Iraq for a couple days - they all wore similar clothes and wore silver chains around their necks which I have no doubt also had little tags on the end of them, they all had short back and side hair cuts and looked pretty fit and stocky, wore army-issue oakleigh wrap around sunnes AND they were all Americans chewing gum (actual!). So I ask them (as you do to 'fellow travellers') where they were all from and what brought them over to the Middle East ... one of them pipes up "business trip" and the one who Id busted pretending to be Australian says he wasnt over in the region for work like these guys were but was here on a pilgrimage .. life's pilgrimage he reckoned .. what a tosser. So off we all went, them thinking that I thought that 10 middle aged buff American men with matching best friend hair cuts were just here on 'business' ... and me thinking how I could best get them to talk about what they were ACTUALLY doing here. I couldnt resist the temptation. As we gathered around the actual baptism sight, one of them passes his DSLR camera to another Sergeant and says 'are you a good shooter?', the one receiving the camera cant miss the opportunity 'well im a brilliant shooter actually, but not such a good photograper' .. I butt in 'wwwwaaaayyyy look out, no one saw gun jokes coming did they' .. one of them, the most senior I think, was very nice actually and thought I was amusing, none of the others did I dont think. So, as we finished around the baptism sight, one of them decides to give a prayer. They all gather around in a circle (see last picture of me listening to the prayer) and start resiting a heap of stuff from the Bible. Most of which they have managed to twist into saying that God is happy for military to exist and that the work they are doing in the Middle East is in fact blessed by god ... UMM SORRRRRY??? THE BIBLE SAYS YOU SHOULD GO TO WAR, INVADE SOMEONES COUNTRY, TAKE AWAY THEIR CULTURE AND RELIGION, KILL WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND INNOCENT OTHERS??? wow .. I dont recall that part at all??? This bull shit hypocritical prayer goes on for fuckin ages, hence my face ... we pile back in the jeep truck and I cant resist any longer - "umm can I ask you guys a question, dont answer if you dont feel it's appropriate ... but why if you are sooo proud of the fact that you in the military and 'working' in Iraq would you not admit to a couple aussie girls what you're ACTUALLY doing in this region? .. it just doesnt make much sense to me how you can say youre so proud and its actually god's work, but you wont tell anyone what youre doing, even when theres no security risk here????" .. his answer was as honest as possible, one of them rolls his eyes and says nothing but the other guy says its because they are trained to for security purposes ... hmm if you are THAT welcomed in this region as you suggest you are in your shit prayer, then why would it be such a threat to tell civilians who you are and what youre doing here? I smell a rat .. about 10 of them on that day actually.

Anyway, American murders aside ... It was absolutely amazing to see these sights, to imagine the history and the feeling in the area as something like Jesus' baptism took place. Whether you believe Jesus was God's son or not, the history is undeniably and absolutely fascinating.

Oh note the picture of the sign at the Dead Sea - you cant swim out too far because the other side of the water is ISRAEL! See the shot of the beach with the umbrella in it - that bank in the background is Israel's shore.

Damascus

Arrived in Damascus, the capital of Syria. Legend has it that Damascus is the place that the Prophet Mohammed on a journey from Mecca, cast his gaze upon Damascus but refused to enter because he wanted to enter paradise only once - when he died. I'm not sure I see exactly what the Prophet Mohammed saw in Damascus, but I did think it was a pretty city, but a middle eastern 'city' nonetheless. Not necessarily my favourite places. I decided I wanted to fit in a little trip to Israel (shhhh dont tell Syria or Lebanon) so I decided to only spend a couple nights here before heading into Jordan. Checked into Hotel Gazlan in the old city, everyone here is world cup CRAZY and many of the hotel had lazy backpackers gathered around smoking sheesha (water pipes) and watching soccer, runs, re-runs and re-re-runs (for the record I support Garna). Filled a whole day in the scorching heat seeing all the sights of Damascus - the huuuge Souq (bazaar strip) that was constructed in the early 1800's, the Souq has lots of little holes in the roof left from overhead machine gun fire from French planes during the nationalist rebellion in 1925. The souqs, which are all over the middle east, are an amazing way to see people, culture and tradition at its most raw - everything from Bedouin people in from the desert to get supplies to take back, fully clothed Iranian and Iraqi pilgrims, and people from all walks of middle eastern life - the rich, the poor, the in between, the juice makers, the tea makers, the bacalava sellers and the scarf wearers ... I just love the souqs, for all their smells, tastes and sights.

At the end of the rather long souq is the Umayyad Mosque - said to be the most beautiful in Syria and one of the most holy in the world to Muslims. It was converted from a Byzantine cathedral and was built in 705 A.D. The most outstanding feature is the gold mosaics, which adorn the facade of the prayer hall and the 37 metre stretch of it along the outside courtyard wall. From there, went past the spice bazaar, which are always a keen photographer's heaven and a scensory overload! Then to Khan As'ad Pasha, arguable the best peice of architecture in the old city - build in 1752 it uses like grey and white marble in striped formation which looks so beautiful, see the bottom 2 shots. From there it was a visit to the Azem Palace, built in 1749 - is pretty cool because its all on one level, which is apparantly very rare for Palaces and the like! It was a blessing to walk around without 40,000 stairs to climb up and down. After being ripped off several times, becomming exceedingly unimpressed with the VERY unhappy, miserable staff at the hotel, it was off to Amman, Jordan.

Question - WHY AM I IN THE MIDDLE EAST IN IT'S SUMMER??!!! ... what a ROOKIE!

Pictures - The top 7 are taken from the Umayyad Mosque, both inside it and in the outside courtyard area, which truly was beautiful - I really love the shot of the couple walking across the courtyard, woman covered in black and man covered in white, both outifts are very commonly seen here (if you ask me the men get a MUCH greater deal in this heat, being able to wear long white flowing outfits). Note the 'putting on special outfits' sign - for tourists who must wear a long dress with a hood, covering top to toe. I thought the sign was really cute!

The next 3 shots are from within the Souqs, an old fella having a nap in the middle of the day, and a shot I really love of some pigeons flying. This guy who I referred to as the pigeon nazi has roped off a part of the courtyard near the souqs and was charging to feed seed to the pigeons .. what was really amusing and it kept me particularlly amused for ages, was that some of the cheekier kids couldnt resist the temptation to stomp their feet or run into the congregation of feeding pigeons and make them fly up in the air all at once ... the pigeon nazi saw this as potentially losing him money so he would tell the kids off .. and whip around as soon as there was a noise behind him to try and catch one of the cheekier older kids setting the pigeons a-flight .. I REALLY wanted a shot of the pigeons flying so was eagerly awaiting the next kid who dared to go up against the pigeon nazi and run into the flock the moment he turned his back .. sure enough, about 5 mins later a young boy (about 10 years old) noticed me waiting to take a shot and without speaking a single word, he gave me a knowing look and indicated for me to get ready ... sure enough .. as soon as pigeon nazi attending to some seed for another ripped off child, this young fella stomped his feet and set the pigeons aflight! He was very impressed that I got my shot and was quite proud of himself too! He got a smack around the ears from the pigeon nazi, but he didnt care ... he was stoked with himself! The last three shots are from within the Kham As'ad Pasha .. some of the architecture which was really beautiful, and one of a group of young Muslim girls havin a photo shoot.