Wow. What a last few days we've had! I believe the last time I wrote was in anticipation of soon arriving in Haifa, Israel. We had decided not to take a tour here, since we were doing two back to back full day tours the next two days, but more on those later. We got up fairly early in the morning in order to collect our passports from the ship, then disembarked with the intent on somehow or another finding the Bahai Gardens and Shrine I had read of. (No map.) As soon as we got off the ship, we were met with a group of men all imploring us to use their taxi service. We tried to politely tell them that we didn't need a taxi, that we were just fine walking on our own- but they continued to insist that we needed them to get anywhere we wanted to go. After a back and forth for a few minutes, they rolled their eyes and waved their hands at us, trying in vain for a final time to demonstrate how “helpful” they were being. After five or so minutes and following a couple who looked far more knowledgable about the port that we were, we made it through the gate (guarded by a passport-checking armed guard) between the port and downtown Haifa.
From our balcony that morning we were able to see the tiered Bahai Gardens, so we continued in their general direction- staying on as many main streets as possible. We were immediately surprised as to the contrast between main streets and backroads/alleys as far as litter is concerned. We commented later in the day it was as if the town had told the residents they are never, ever to leave garbage on a main road, but as soon as you were off of it, toss it wherever you felt. To get a good comparison of Haifa, think San Francisco. It is completely built on a hill, so in order for us to reach the upper levels of the gardens (the walkways inside are open only to guided tours groups) we had to meander back and forth along the hairpin-turn streets and up any hidden staircases we could find. We eventually made it to the Shrine's level and were able to explore in and around the gardens surrounding the building. After 45 minutes or so of wandering around the gardens and quickly visiting inside the shrine, we caught a taxi to take us up to the top of the mountain where the gardens started. The views were simply stunning from the top of the mountain- overlooking the sea, our ship, and the rest of the city. We spent another half hour or so at the top of the hill, then began our walk back downtown, meeting group of lost Germans and a handful of cats and kittens wandering the streets.
This was the first night of open seating for dinner (where we are not obligated to attend our regularly scheduled 8:15 dinner), so we went in early then headed to bed, knowing we would have to be up bright and early for the first of what were sure to be two very long days of tours.
The ship docked in Ashdod, a city in south Israel (but not as far south as the Gaza Strip), early the next morning and after waking up around 6:30, we headed to the lounge to meet our group for our guided tour of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The drive from Ashdod to Jerusalem was only about an hour and 15 minutes, and all of which was filled with interesting stories and information about the nation and its people from our bus' guide. Our first stop was at a scenic lookout over the walled city of Jerusalem, with King Solomon's Temple shining like a beacon to be seen from miles away. Our guide pointed out the various spots we would be seeing up close and personal later in the afternoon, plus other interesting locations like the now-sealed gates that Jesus passed through during his entrance to the city.
Our second stop was at the Garden of Gethsemane, which is now roped off, but filled with olive trees and mulch and stone paths. Our guide let us know that as much as everyone wants to believe, the trees are not actually the trees that were there in Jesus' time. Although they do look thousands of years old, the oldest was just 1,600 years (Just 1,600 years. Ha. The idea of what qualifies as “old” in this part of the world blows me away, coming from a nation where we think 300 years qualifies as ancient. We even have a word for things so old as to have been from before the civil war, 'antebellum'. They do too. 'Yesterday'.) Even though the trees are not quite so old that Jesus could have sat beneath their shade, we were told to take solace, if we wanted, in the idea that they may have grown from the seed that an olive from a tree he sat under dropped. Next to the garden stands The Church of The Agony, which inshrines inside the rock where Jesus prayed before he was arrested.
We entered Jerusalem through the Dung Gate, and our first stop was at the Wailing Wall. There are two sections of it, one for men, one for women. It was quite an experience standing before it- and very interesting watching the armed soldiers walk up to it, lay their foreheads against the wall and weap. We proceeded to walk through the Muslim quarter and along Via Dolorosa and stop at each station of the cross we passed. For those unaware, Via Dolorosa is the path Jesus walked along with the cross after being sentenced to crucifixion. We ended our walk at the church which was built upon the rock where Jesus was crucified. The church is actually owned in parts by 6 different churches. Which originally struck me as very cool that they could live in harmony with one another, until our guide told us the meaningless disputes that arose between the 6, such as not agreeing who is allowed to move the ladder that had been used to fix part of one of the windows. 155 years ago. The church also holds the tomb that Jesus was buried in. Again, a very cool thing to see.
We left Jerusalem on our bus and headed for Bethlehem. For those of you who don't know- Bethlehem is inside the Palestinian controlled West Bank. Approaching the giant concrete wall that separates the two was intimidating to say the least. The wall is roughly 40-50 feet high, topped with cyclone razor wire and was stationed by armed guards who boarded each bus and searched each car entering the territory. There was also a sign that made clear the relationship between Israel and Palestine, saying “No Israelis Permitted to Enter”. When our bus arrived, we were given a Palestinian tour guide, since ours was Israeli. Because of time restrictions, we visited only one site in Bethlehem, which was the church that was built above the cave (yes, 'cave'- not wooden stable) where Jesus was born. The line to go into the cave was long- but how many people can say they've touched the ground where Jesus was born? We boarded our bus to head home, but took a route that may not have been the most direct- but it kept us out of 5 o'clock Jerusalem traffic and we were able to see sights along the way. We saw the field from where the shepherds came to visit Jesus' birth and the field where David fought Goliath. We arrived back at the ship about an hour and a half later and went straight to dinner, then straight to bed. Hoping to catch enough sleep so we weren't running on empty at the Pyramids the next day.
We awoke the next morning to an alarm going off at 5am, since our bus was to leave at 6:30. The bus ride from Port Said to Cairo and Giza? 4 hours. We were given the history of Egypt along the ride to the Pyramids from our guide who... was not nearly as good as our Israeli guide. We realized quickly that there is a difference between a tour guide who does it because it pays the bills, and a guide who does it because it is what he is passionate about and wants to share that passion. Egypt, unfortunately- was not the latter. He knew the broad history of Egypt seemingly well. At least, he had the dates of different dynasties and kings memorized. I'm still not sure I believe him in saying that the pyramids were built by farmers in the summer who had nothing else to do though... I'm pretty sure everything else says it was slavery. But no matter who built them- they were incredible. We stopped first at Sakkara (the oldest stone building in Egypt at just over 3,500 years, I believe). Then we continued on to the great Pyramids and the Sphinx, all of which were beyond words. The individual blocks were taller than I. Incredible. To give some slight idea as to the size, the Great Pyramid covers 13 acres, and Napoleon calculated that it contains enough stone to build a 10 foot wall around all of France.
The first thing in Cairo and Giza that I noticed, however, was not the pyramids- but the absolute poverty. I have never seen anything close to the conditions that people were living in. The houses (I use that term loosely) along the major highways were what looked like clay walls and palm tree branch roofs. Horses or donkeys pulling carts down the road was completely normal, as was walking down the middle of the street. As far as their style of driving goes... I lived in Rome for 5 months and Cairo makes Rome look like lazy sunday morning drivers. I was told that the rule to drive in Egypt is this: fill in the gaps. A two lane road? Not a chance. It may have only two lanes, but they could fit 6 across, no problem. The constant honking makes downtown Manhattan sound like New Hampshire. We were also informed that the 30 foot canal that split northbound and southbound lanes was for public water. If you needed more water for your crops, take it. If your house doesn't have running water- carry it back and use it. The color? A putrid mix of green, brown, and black. At times, I'm sure I could have walked across the river because of all the trash. Front loaders would pick up as much trash from the banks and push it it, or dump it in. When the mounds became too high? They would light fires and burn the trash down. Paper, plastic, styrofoam, anything. However these toxic rivers were not only a dumping grounds for trash, they were also used by youth as a fishing spot, or even worse- a place to swim. We got back to the ship around 7:15, certainly the last passengers aboard before we set sail for the next port of Alexandria, Egypt. Again, we went straight to dinner and to pass out back in our room. Although slightly more content that we could out-sleep the sun for the first time in a few days.
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