My Brief Trip to Israel (Jerusalem)

by Ben Best

1. Background
2. First-Hand Impressions
3. Photo Gallery

I. Background

I stayed in the Ecce Homo Convent which is between Station II and III on the Via Dolorosa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Dolorosa , which marks the route of Jesus from trial to crucifixion and "burial" with 14 Stations. Station XIV is in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where I got a photo of the Franciscans in their daily procession (I was roughly shoved aside).

There are lots of heavily-armed Israeli soldiers in the Old City, especially on Friday. (On a train ride I sat next to a female Israeli soldier who carried a machine-gun on her lap.) I saw mostly Christian sites, a few Jewish, and almost nothing of Islamic religious significance (non-Muslims are not permitted inside the Dome of the Rock). I did see the Western Wall, which had a security check for access, much like airports. At least one Roman ruin remains in the Old City.

Outside the Old City I saw the Chapel of the Ascension on the top of the Mount of Olives, where Ascension rock is said to have the footprint of Jesus. Also on the Mount of Olives is the Jewish cemetery, which many Jews believe is where resurrections will begin. Jews can still buy a tomb there for $100,000 if they want to be among the first who are resurrected. At the bottom of the Mount of Olives is the Garden of Gethsemane, which is mainly olive trees. At the time of Jesus it was an olive tree orchard.

I took a number of tours of Jerusalem, including one on a Segway. One woman thought I looked so good on a Segway that she wanted to marry me.

(return to contents)

II. First-Hand Impressions

(return to contents)

VI. Photo Gallery

Ben Best speaks with Aubrey de Grey

But a desert with (dormant) volcanoes

A desert with lots of lava rock

A desert with lots of lava rock and lava ash

Lichen turning lava-rock into soil

A desert with lots of lava rock and sagebrush

A desert with lots of lava rock, ash and sagebrush

A road has been cut through the lava-rock

Tourists are shown how sagebrush in a hole close to hot lava will burn

Tourists are shown how water poured into a hole close to hot lava will make a geyser

Tourists are shown how a grill near hot lava can cook chicken

Tourist entrance to lava-tube caves

Tourist areas in the lava-tube caves have electric light illumination

Cave ceilings can be high

Our tour-group in the lava-tube caves

Lava-tube cave appears to have a deep gorge

What looked like a gorge was revealed to be reflections of the ceiling when a rock was thrown into the pond

Another lava-tube cave serves as a restaurant

Adjacent to the restaruant is an underground lake

Tourists are entertained with camel-rides

Tourists are entertained with camel-rides

What I see when riding on a camel

  HOME PAGE