This is my “report” about the trip I made in the spring of 1998 (march 15 until April 5th 1998) in Israel an Egypt after staying 6 months in a Kibbutz in Israel. I hope you enjoy it.
Some parts may consist of strong and/or offending language (for some people). Please keep in mind that it’s not my goal to offend any people, religion or (religious) event what so ever.
Most of the “sarcastic” comments on Biblical events are based on the fact that you can call me a religious person, but that I’m not a firm believer in what the different world churches (Roman-Catholic/Muslim/Judaism etc.) are teaching/preaching.
This “report” is based on a letter I wrote to my younger Sister Maartje about this trip and who was in Italy at that moment for a job-training exchange program.
After all formalities of checking in to the hostel where finished, we started walking around the Old City. We started in the Church of Holy Sepulchre (= the place where He [The-Weirdo-With-The-Beard] hanged on the cross and was buried for 3 days {while licking his wounds) before He started wondering around again until His Ascension to heaven.).
Afterwards we went to look at the wailing-wall (of course we couldn’t resist the temptation of wailing ourselves) and the Temple Mount. Also we walked the Old City-walls. To close of the day we went to the Mountain of Olives and 1 of the 3 Gardens of Getsemane (where He was kissed by Judas) which are situated on that Mountain (what is the “real” Garden of Getsemane is not known). On the mountain we enjoyed the view on the Old City. This was the end of the first of 3 days Jerusalem.
On our 2nd day (Monday 16 march 1998) we went to Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity (please guess once what happened there and who played a leading role there).
Personally I found the Nativity church/Bethlehem not as impressive as my first time in the Sepulchre church (a reason for this might be the in current days Bethlehem is an obscure little place on the West Bank which (off course) can’t be compared to Jerusalem, but certainly it was nice to walk around in Bethlehem. The 3 of us also have taken part in a Procession (in the Nativity church) organised/lead by Franciscan-monks who have such a Procession once every day. When we where back in Jerusalem we had lunch the 2 other volunteers left me to go back to the Kibbutz because they wanted to be back in the Kibbutz in time for “Monday, laundry day”.
After we said our goodbye’s at Jaffa-gate I went to visit the Citadel/City of David which is situated at Jaffa-Gate just inside the Old City. Afterwards I went to the Sheep’s-gate to walk the Via Delarosa (The Way of the Cross for that Weirdo-with-the-cross which that Weirdo supposedly walked so many years ago at Easter Friday è it’s supposedly, because it’s not certain that He walked that particular route. The only thing in Jerusalem that’s pretty historically accurate is the site of His crucifixion) and finally I arrived (again) at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre so that in 1 day I visited the place’s of His birth and death (he did it in 33 years and did it in 1 day).
But this day didn’t crack up to be as planned. What happened? It was snowing in Jerusalem!!!!!!!! At 6 o’clock that morning I was walking through an empty and white Old City, which is an weird experience on its one (not just because it was an empty Old City [which in day time is very busy], but mostly because it was covered in snow), but when the bells of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Redeemer started ringing it became really freaky. It sent sparks down my spine (in a good way). To make it really weird is, while I was walking in a snow covered Jerusalem [which is such an important city for so many (religious and non-religious) people] with it’s Church bells ringing I had to think about a small place in the mountains of Switzerland called Saas Almagell where my family and me went on skiing-holidays for many years. To recap: its very impressive to walk through a empty Old City Jerusalem. But when its snowing upon that Old City and that city is covered in snow that makes it more impressive. Certainly when the damned church bells start ringing it’s and experience I will NEVER Forget!!!!!!!!!
With my stupid head I didn’t make any pictures, because I wanted to catch the early bus. On reflection I had plenty of time, because due to the snow bus-services where a mess. I arrived at Jerusalem’s central bus-station at 6.45, with cold and wet feet, I had to wait until 11 o’clock until I could catch the bus to Tiberias. When I arrived in Tiberias at 2 o’clock it was raining there and that’s not really motivating weather to go cycling for a few hours. So instead I walked through Tiberias and arranged my excursion to the Golan-Heights for the next day.
My tour-day through the Golan-Heights also consisted of loads of snow. Rain, fog, low hanging clouds, seeing shit due to the weather etc. But still it was a very nice day, and I didn’t wanted to miss it.
All that snow and rain made it a special day, which not much people/tourists have had. We (= the tour-group and me) started at the place (Tabgha) where He fucked around with those fishes and loafs of bread. After this we went to Capernaum where He lived (supposedly in the house of Sint Peter and his mother) when he was in this area. In this city he supposedly stupefied his apostles with his stories and in this town are some remains of an old Roman city.
After Capernaum we went to Katzarin (the first place in the Golan) to visit a museum about the Golan and a small coffee-break. On our way to Katzarin we passed the place where The Big Story Teller (supposedly) served his Sermon on the Mount (also this place is not certain the be the right place). When we where finished with our coffee-break we went to the Syrian/Israeli border to look at the ruins of Kuneitra which is just at the Syrian side of the Border in the demilitarised zone. But due to the fog/low hanging clouds be couldn’t see shit of Kuneitra. AL we could see of Syria was further down the road towards our next destination (lunch in a kibbutz) when the clouds broke. What we could see where Syrian pastures.
Our next stop was a Israeli kibbutz for lunch, because the tour organisation was of the opinion that its a good experience for us tourists to look around/have lunch in a real Israeli kibbutz. For me it was a really nice experience, which I didn’t had already in the last 6 months before that tour.
After lunch we went further through the Golan to visit Banias (a waterfall and old Jewish shrines from the Jewish tribal times) and Metulla and the Israeli/Lebanon-bordercrossing (“the good fence”). So at the end of the day I stood about 5 meters of Lebanon. After our visit to this border we returned to Tiberias and the Golan tour was at an end. All in all it was a nice and interesting day.
I was in Egypt only 4 months after a terrorist attack in Luxor on the Hatsepshut temple where a number of tourists where killed.
What was a bit of a put off for me in Cairo was how busy it was there (but what do you expect in a city of 15 million inhabitants) and the numbers of persons who try to sell you allot of different kinds of shit, mostly papyrus.
A “highlight” (besides visiting the sights) for me was buying an illegal ISIC-card (International Student Card which gives you al sorts of discounts) in a papyrus-shop in a small ally in downtown Cairo.
This was my visit to Cairo and my next stop on my Egypt trip was Luxor for Luxor & Karnak temples and the Valley of the Kings.
I asked a guard how busy it normally was there, ands he said that depending of the time of day and season there could be up to 1000 tourists there at any moment.
At the moment that I asked (at noon in normally the busy season) there where about 20 tourists there (maximum).
Later that day (actually at night) I enjoyed a sound and light there about the history of the temple-complex and a bit about the history of Egypt.. It was very nice.
Beforehand I decided for myself that I would be biking al day, but when I left my Hostel at 8 o’clock in the morning it was already 28 degrees Celsius, so I changed plans and decided to take a taxi instead for only 35 Egyptian pounds (about 13 euro’s) for the whole day (try and find 1 taxi in a western country to drive you around al day for just 13 euro’s it would be impossible, and what helped was that the bike I was riding broke down beyond repair).
After all these temples and graves (on both sides of the Nile) it was time for me to go further south into Egypt and take a train to Aswan to be able to visit the Abu Simbel Temple even further south from Aswan.
Abu Simbel is a temple which Ramses II (“Ramses the Great”) had build in his honour to impress the Nubic inhabitants who lived in that area (about 50 kilometres from the Egyptian/Sudan border). He didn’t fail to just impress the Nubians! Besides the temple in his honour Ramses had a (smaller) temple build in his wife Nefertiti’s honour. Normally that would mean that on the face of the temple the most (4 out of 6) of the statues there would be of Nefertiti.
But that’s not the case. While he loved his wife very much, there was 1 person who he loved more, himself!!!!! So most (4 out of 6) of the statues are statues of him. Both temples where very beautiful on the inside and outside, so the expensive ticket was worth the expenditure!
After enjoying Aswan/Abu Simbel it was time for me to go, by bus, to Suez and the end of the Suez-Canal (for a stopover for 1 night) and Dahab the Amsterdam of the Sinai.
I spent a short night (5 hours) in Suez and went further by bus onwards to Dahab (6 hours). In Dahab I spent two wonderful days sitting on my ass and have me waited on hand and foot.
Unfortunately only 2 days because I had to go back to my kibbutz to be able to catch my plane back home to Holland.
This concludes my trip in Israel and Egypt. I hope you enjoyed reading my report about it.!
put on my page on: 25 june 2002 15.45 hours
last edited: 16 februayr 2008 20.30 hours