As I believe I've said over and over, this was an amazing trip. First and foremost it was great to have this opportunity to travel with my Dad. Second, what an extraordinary location of the world to visit. Walking on roads built over 2,000 years ago that are still in use today and seeing ruins of the same age was an incredible experience.
I thought EO Travel did an outstanding job. They have been offering this trip for a long time and it showed throughout. They were very well organized, employed knowledgeable guides,and seemed to have everything under control. Further, I never felt like there were any safety concerns. For several in our group, this was at least a second trip to the Holy Land. For some like Pastor John and his wife, this was way beyond a second trip. EO is definitely doing something right.
The pace of the trip was good as well. Daily itineraries were full but not overloaded. We had time each day to relax a bit before dinner then spend most evenings finding our own things to do (like update the blog with some text of the day's activities combined with some pictures).
The hotels were both very nice, although the Olive Tree, in Jerusalem, was superior to the Royal Plaza in Tiberias in nearly every way. Amenities and services were fine with no complaints, except for the lousy internet service. The Royal Plaza had no service available in the rooms and the lobby service seemed to be the equivalent of dial up. Having to pay for service that slow was irritating. The free Olive Tree service in the lobby was a nice idea but wasn't able to deal with the volume of traffic. What that meant to this blog writer was getting disconnected halfway through just about every picture upload, forcing me to start over. The last few posts from Israel were done from our room, where I paid for the connection but at least it was consistent and reasonably fast.
Regarding Israel itself, aside from the Holy Land literally coming to life, the things that were most striking to me were the topology of the land and the barren nature of the "wilderness." Except for the flat areas near the Dead Sea, the terrain is constantly undulating. "Uphill both ways" became a common theme heard among our group walking throughout all of the cities we toured. Hearing about this place most of my life, I never pictured it like this. Others visiting for the first time agreed as well.
I've lived in Arizona for the last 25 years and have driven through, hiked in, and camped in different parts of the great American southwest. It's a very harsh environment that only becomes worse during the summer. However, there is also an amazing beauty to behold in what's officially called the Sonoran Desert; that is, after you start to look past the various types of cactus and their thorns, snakes, poisonous lizards, scorpions, and other assorted flora and fauna that have various protection schemes to keep them from being some other critter's dinner. I can tell you that the desert in springtime when everything is in bloom or a desert sunset behind a field of saguaro cactus are hard views to beat.
However, as I looked out on the Israeli desert/wilderness, I tried to see the beauty. I didn't see the different types of cactus, or the mesquite trees, or the scrub brush that is almost everywhere in the southwest and gives it what I believe is some character and helps create that rugged beauty. Instead, I saw dirt, little bits of grass for the goats and sheep to eat, and mountains. That's not to say there's no beauty there. Maybe, just like I mentioned in the previous paragraph, it takes some time to look past the barren landscape to see the beauty of this wilderness.
Ultimately, I sure am glad we were visiting in February. A surprise to no one, it gets hot here in Arizona during the summer. Temperatures in the 110-115 range are not uncommon. It's generally not all that humid though, usually less than 20%, though we do have higher percentages in July and August. Our guide, Mic, indicated that their desert can reach temperatures in the 125-130 range with 80% humidity. Heat like that is more than unbearable, it seems like it would be deadly. It's amazing to think that the Bedouin people have continued to live off the land in this environment for thousands of years. And they want to live in the desert by choice.
Now getting back to the sites we saw, it really is hard to put into words. I still can't get over that our hotel in Tiberias looked out over the Sea of Galilee. It really seemed a bit surreal. The Galilee area was, for the most part, beautiful, very peaceful, and serene. It was also much less populated than the Jerusalem area where we spent most of our time. Jerusalem was also amazing. A modern city with intertwined religious and historical paths going back nearly as far as the close by Tigris and Euphrates rivers, what's been called the "cradle of civilization."
It is very interesting that Christians, Jews, and Muslims can live pretty well together in such a small space as Israel and even more so in crowded Jerusalem yet there is so much unrest in other parts of the Middle East from what I would call the more radical adherents to Islam. Although I have my suspicions as to why, I'm not sure it matters. In my eyes, Israel appeared to be a shining example of civility and progress in an otherwise primitive, factious part of the world that has always seemed backwards.
Another facet of the complexities of life in Israel that we didn't really talk about all that much are the Palestinians. Although I believe I mentioned this as we traveled in and out of Bethlehem (the city is part of the Palestinian Authority), Israeli citizens are not currently permitted in the city. I think that's disappointing and sad. The wall and security to get into and out of the city detracts quite a bit from initial impressions of the city where Jesus was born. The security doesn't seem to be present anywhere else in the city but is certainly eye opening and would have been very unexpected if I hadn't read about it prior to traveling. That was the only place during our trip where the Palestinian situation was really apparent. Although they and the Israelis seem to peaceful with each other right now, certainly that can change very quickly (as it has throughout recent history).
Finally, I want to tell all my new friends from Harrison City how much I enjoyed traveling with them and getting to know them. What a great experience to be able to share with wonderful people. Thanks for being so welcoming to me.
This last post took much longer than I expected. I had a bit of writer's block in addition to getting over jet lag, figuring out what I was doing at work, etc. Anyway, I don't think there's much more to say other than thanks for reading and thanks for the nice comments about the blog both in person since I've been back and through email with family and friends. A lot of people have read my words and that really makes me happy. I've come to enjoy writing as I've gotten older and this was another excellent experience; as well as an excellent adventure.
Until we meet again (and that's either electronically through the internet or actually in person),
Tim
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