Israel is an eye opener! (Other locations...)

Member Name: jayjolynn

Product:	Other locations...
Date:	02/11/06 (82 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: seeing some of the World's beliefs

Disadvantages: seeing the bad side of the conflicts within in a religious country

My small trip to Israel, was a 3 day mini cruise from Cyprus (which is easy enough to book while in Cyprus), where we spent an overnight journey on the boat, then in Haifa, boarded our tour bus for the journey to Jerusalem & Bethlehem.

It was quite a long bus journey, but was so exciting to travel along the coast line and see the beautiful beaches, out of this world!
We passed through Tel Aviv which looks so cosmopolitan, now bearing in mind this was 15 years back, and not long after Tel Aviv was bombed, but it was so immaculate, and so vibrant!

The only thing that was really noticeable, and rather uncomfortable for tourists witnessing this, was young men and women in army uniform carrying weapons in the streets.
Anyway, it looked so exciting, even though we were sitting on a bus......would like to see it properly!

We passed through remote places where our guide pointed out old army vehicles that had been bombed or shot at. They leave them at the side of the roads as a monument to those who died! Quite upsetting to see these, as it blatantly reminds you that this really is a country so full of conflict.

Jerusalem, well it is like no other city on earth. It is holy to the world's three major religions, and it amazed me how in this country of so much conflict, they all live together under one roof. You can walk through the old town, and see where the stone was uncovered, the crucifixition ( but about 3 different sites according to each religion?)

Walking through old Jerusalem is amazing, and the vendors try to buy you for 3 camels, or whatever (jokingly, I hope!)....haha..... then trying to coax you to buy something from their stalls. It is a bustling place with all sorts of pilgrims, tourists and vendors weaving through these narrow streets.
Then when you enter one of these sacred buildings, you are swept into another world! The laughing & joking stops when you view these sacred historic buildings! All quite awesome!

All I can say is if you are a believer when you visit here, it must put some doubt into your mind, who is right with their religion........if you are a sceptic, it may confim your thoughts! If you are an aethiest, it may cause you to think further.....so confusing, but oh so interesting......I would advise going there with an open mind!

Where Jesus was crucified, inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, there are 3 different sites as to which religion believed what!

The Site of the Holy Sepulchre of Jesus lies in between the buildings of the Old City of Jerusalem, and here, you can see where Jesus was buried and the stone that was unrolled.

It is all very commercialized now, and there are queues everywhere, but you must respect the real pilgrims who take this very seriously !

Step outside these churches again, and you are back to your bizarres, street sellers etc...... and of course the Wailing Wall....which you have to cover up your shoulders, and nowadays armed guards will not let you through till you are covered up and check your bag etc....and all within the stone walls of the old Jerusalem.

Again, you really must respect everyones' religious beliefs in this City that has many different religions, and the Wailing Wall is a very sacred wall to the Jews.
It was amazing watching the people praying and reading their bibles at this wall, and tradition is that you can write down a wish and poke it into one of the many cracks in the wall, and hopefully that wish will come true! Can't tell you if it works though, as I can't remember what I had wished for!!

Go outside the walls, and wow! It is like going into another world! We looked over Jerusalem and it was massess of solar heated houses, all a pinkish creamish colour and so modern! It was so hard to comprehend that these two different sides of Jerusalem could be within half a mile of each other!

Now, one word of caution....the heat is unbearable when doing this tour..... cover up! Plenty of water is on hand, and you must drink plenty of it....I think we were there and it was 40!

Onto Bethlehem.....well, what can I say? Close your eyes till you reach the Church which has been built over the place where Jesus was born!
Bethlehem is a dump! There is graffiti on the walls, it is a small non significant dump, until you get up to the top where the large church is....and even there, you have people selling rosaries, souvenirs, so tacky........and trying to get them off your tour bus is a nightmare!

Anyway, when we got inside the church....again, like you are passing through to a different world......there are 3 main religions,Roman Catholics, Greek Ortohodox, and the Armenian Monk....all practising under the same roof.

You can go down some steep steps, at the side of the alter.....and there you are, where Jesus was born!
It is a small cave , and a star implanted into the floor depicts where Jesus was born (this! It is quite surreal what you look at! Unless you are a total believer you will find it incredible and humbling, if you are a non believer, you will find it so interesting and maybe have you thinking again, whatever, this place is a must to see!

Shame in recent day the country is not safe to visit, that is why I find Israel so saddening, because of the conflicts there, it is not able to enjoy tourism as it should be, because they have such a wonderful history.

It should be shared by everyone!

Summary: Shame about Israel!