GARGANTUAN steps

Monday, January 04, 2010

the battle for God

I am back in London after a wonderful winter break, traveling the Holy Land and then spending the New Year's back home in Singapore! I must say I quite enjoyed the heat back home, and the sunshine, and being back in London again has just removed any memories I had of the sunshine I was just experiencing yesterday. It's back to school tomorrow again, with an entire day of lectures, and much studying to catch up with again. The thought of having to hit the ground running as soon as possible is dreadful, but it has to be done. Hopefully I'll be able to recover from my jet-lag fast and my holiday-lag even faster, and get up to speed with things. Many things happened back in Singapore, including attending my first chinese orchestra concert as well as even having time to play for Hock's team, the Weekend Warriors, just before flying off. Anyway, I've put the details of my recent trip to Jordan and Israel for far too long, and so here it goes, together with the pictures to tell this absolutely historical trip.

Days 1 and 2 - Doha and Petra: Family and Petra

The day before flying off to meet my family in Doha, I had to miss the last lecture of the day so that I could catch my flight out of London. I was pretty afraid that I would be snowed in, as heavy snow was predicted to fall in London around the time that I was meant to take off, and my fears almost seemed to be confirmed when my flight was delayed and the snow starting falling fast! Thankfully, the flight was able to lift off an hour later than expected, and we still managed to reach Doha in good time too! It felt really good meeting up with my family and it really seemed like a long time since I've seen them. It was good that they were around too, as the connecting flight to Amman was six hours away, which really seemed like eternity.

After landing in Jordan, we spent another three hours traveling to our hotel in the city of Petra itself, and everyone was really tired at the end of the day, besides me who wasn't sufficiently jet lagged. We stayed at this really fascinating hotel resort which is more like a village filled with my alley-ways leading to your room! More like a chalet than a hotel.



Lynette, Bro and Mom at Doha International Airport



Lynette, Bro and the Sheikh



Family dinner at the Taybet Zaman Hotel



Me and my brother's room, which seemed more like a cave!

The next day, after taking pictures of the wonderful scenery around the hotel, it was time to head to the lost city of Petra, which I have recently gained quite a bit of interest, none more so than the fact that it had been voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World! After missing out on the horse ride taken from the ticket office to the entrance of the Siq, it was time to start the 1.2km long walk through the Siq. The Siq is the narrow gorge that was the original entrance to the city, and at the end of it is the most splendid building of Petra, the Treasury (or more fondly known in Arabic as the Al Khazneh). Most of the buildings were carved out of the rocks by the Nabataeans and that's what makes them so special. After taking countless pictures of the main building that typifies Petra, it was time to head deeper into the city centre, which would be another 2km walk in, before we stopped for lunch. Following lunch, we were given another two hours to explore the sites, but in truth, I would have taken at least two days to see everything that there was to see! My brother, Lynette and myself gamely decided to climb the 900 steps up to see the Monastery (El Deir), which was just a larger but plainer version of the Treasury, but still worth the trip up to see it, though we were hot and perspiring at the end of the climb! Some people even sat on donkeys up through the steep and narrow paths! I really pity those animals.



Me and the Taybet Zaman Hotel



One big family



A peak of the Treasury through the walls of the Siq
(possibly my most favourite picture of the trip, or at least the most stylized)



The Treasury



Family photo



Bro and Lynette at the base of the Treasury



The exit of the Siq



Azziz our Jordanian tour-guide and a donkey



Dad and Mom along the Colonnaded Street



Me at the city centre with the Royal Tombs far in the background



Me and the Monastery

After our impressive record time of thirty minutes up to see the Monastery, it was now time for us to head back down back to our tour bus, and it was back out the same way, which meant nearly 4km out! It was an impressive work out for the first proper day of our holiday, but I will be back here one day again!

Day 3: Crossing the border into Israel, Qumran, the Dead Sea and Jericho

One can say that having 35 people on a guided tour guide is definitely not one of the highlights of the trip, especially when you have the Israeli border. It took three hours to ge the whole lot of us across and it was quite a painful affair, along with one of the tour members having her passport confiscated for a good 20 minutes for no rhyme or reason before having it handed back to her. Anyway, this posed a major disruption to our itinerary for the day and we were to miss out on visiting Masada, which I was really looking forward to. A really good reason to come back to Israel one day.

Having a delayed crossing at the border also meant that our original plan to go back to the hotel to change into our swim suits for the iconic dip in the Dead Sea had to be changed to doing it at the beach itself! Before that, we had lunch at Qumran where we look from the bottom to where the Dead Sea Scrolls were originally located decades back by a shepherd boy looking for a lost sheep. We then headed to a private beach along the Dead Sea and I was initially not keen on testing out its fabled unsinkable waters, but after taking photos of my family out having fun in the sea (besides my brother), I decided to join in the fun. In fact, the sea was so shallow it was barely up to my knees, but one really can't sink in it.



The Dead Sea caves at Qumran



Changing at the base of the tour bus



Martim a.k.a The Incredible Hulk



Dad and Mom

We then made our way to Jericho (which was across the Palestinian border and hence our Jewish tour guide was unable to follow us), and on the way, we stopped by a sycamore tree which claims to be more than 2000 years old, and might have even been the tree that Zechariah once climbed up to call upon Jesus. We then took a cable car up to take in the splendid sights of Jericho, and along the mountain cliff was the Monastery of the Temptation, which was where apparently Jesus was tempted by the Devil after spending forty days in the desert. We made our way back down again and headed to our hotel, in Jerusalem.



Lynette, Bro and myself



Lynette and my brother



Family photo

Day 4: Jerusalem - The City of the Three Monotheistic Faiths

If there's any one word to describe Jerusalem, it has to be 'conflicted'. The three different monotheistic faiths fighting for space within the city walls, and various Christian denominations fighting for space within a church! It's just amazing and fascinating, yet sad. After making a special request to the tour guide, Ronan, the evening before to visit the Dome of the Rock (fondly known as Tomb of the Rock by Raymond our tour guide), he did a swap of our itinerary and gamely brought us up to the Harem esh-Sharif to see one of the most picturesque buildings in the world, and it sure didn't disappoint. Built near the end of 600 A.D., this mosque used to stand on the site of the Second Jewish Temple which had been razed to the ground by the Romans around 70 A.D.. Jews were also henceforth forbidden to worship on this ground, and thus, the nearby Western Wall (or more fondly known as the Wailing Wall) became their most sacred ground. Only Muslims are allowed to enter the Dome of the Rock, which also houses the rock that Abraham was supposed to have almost sacrificed Isaac, as well as being the same rock that the prophet Muhammed ascended into heaven from.



The Western Wall



Our entire tour group



Our family and the Dome of the Rock

We made our way the Church of All Nations which was built beside the Garden of Gethsamane, and within the church itself contained the rock on which Jesus prayed till he was perspiring blood. We then headed on to the Mount of Olives where there were spectacular views of the Old City of Jerusalem before heading back into the Old City to have a closer view of the Western Wall (which one must wear a kippah if you are male to go near as well as to any important Jewish sites), as well as visiting the supposed site of King David's tomb. The afternoon was spent visiting two museums - the Israel Museum where we saw the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Yad Vashem which commemorates the thousands of Jews who died in the Holocaust.



The Garden of Gethsamane with its many olive trees

The Church of All Nations
Built from the contributions of twelve various nations



The rock on which Christ prayed upon before his arrest



Jerusalem - The Old City
The Jewish cemetry in the foreground denotes where the Jewish people believe where they will rise up again with the restoration of the Third Jewish Temple



Dad at the Western Wall



Prayer offerings at the Western Wall



The Second Jewish Temple
Construction of Jerusalem as it would appear in 70 A.D before its destruction by the Romans



The Shrine of the Book housing the Dead Sea Scrolls

Day 5: Bethlehem and Jerusalem - The Via Dolorasa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The next morning was spent in Bethlehem, which was where Jesus was born over 2000 years ago. We first did some shopping before heading out to the Shepherd's Field where the shepherd's were the first to hear the good news about a saviour being born. We then headed to the Church of the Nativity which is built upon the site where Jesus was supposed to have been born. This church was made up of three Christian denominations - the Greek Orthodox, Armenians and the Roman Catholics, and a tiny 14-pointed star marked the spot where Jesus supposedly was born at, in a manger. We had mass celebrated for us by a Polish priest (but our non-Catholic members didn't join us and were made to spend their time outside the church wandering around aimlessly, much to their annoyance and irritance mostly directed at our incompetent tour guide) We had crossed into the Palestinian territory again and Ronan wasn't able to follow us. After mass, we had lunch before heading back to Jerusalem to walk the Via Dolorasa (Way of the Cross), which was the way that Jesus took from receiving his cross to Golgatha and finally to his burial site. Golgotha and his burial site are now located within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is made up of seven Christian denominations. With many people going about trying to get close to these sites sacred to Christendom, it was hard to explore the church properly, and I do want to go back again, not only to this church but to Jerusalem, to properly explore the place myself.



The Shepherd's Cave converted into a small chapel



Stars & Bucks Cafe in Bethlehem

The Humility Door - the entrance into the Church of the Nativity



The star marking the site where Jesus was born



Mass celebrated for the Catholics on the trip



My brother and I - European and Chinaman



The Via Dolorosa

 

The Third Station - Where Jesus falls the first time



Me and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre



Me and the Stone of Unction - where Jesus' body was annointed following his death



Golgotha



Entrance into the structure containing the tomb of Jesus



Lynette within the small compound of the tomb



Photo of the trip by Lynette, with my head as a lightbulb
She was catching Raymond in his religious state 

Day 6: Caesarea, Haifa and Acre, the three ports

We left Jerusalem the next day and headed along the coast of the Mediterranean sea where we visited three ports. Caesarea was an old Roman port where most of the Roman officials used to live at. At Haifa, the only attraction we saw before having our lunch at the Yan-Yan Restaurant was the magnificent Baha'i Gardens, which was paid for by this new religion, the Baha'i, that was only recently formed. Finally, we made our way to Acre (pronounced Akko) which is the old Crusader town.



My brother and I at the Roman Theatre at Caesarea

 

Dad and Mom and the Mediterranean Sea



The Baha'i Gardens at Haifa



Lunch at Yan-Yan Chinese Restaurant



The Crusader port of Acre



Templar Tunnel at Acre

Day 7: Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee

On our final day of the trip, we spent the morning traveling to Nazareth, which was the hometown of Jesus. We stop by the River Jordan on the way there, which was where Jesus was baptised in the river by John the Baptist. In Nazareth, we visited the Basilica of the Annunciation, which was where Mary's house was situated upon, and there were three churches that were built on that site! This was the place where Mary was told the news by the archangel Gabriel that she would conceive Jesus.



Mom and Dad by the River Jordan



Basilica of the Annunciation



Grotto of the Annunciation



Family photo in the basilica

The rest of the morning consisted of seeing this 2000 year old fishing boat that was extracted from the waters of the Sea of Galilee (which is actually a lake, and the main fresh water supply for the entire nation of Israel), as well as a nice comfortable boat ride across the Sea of Galilee where we were promised our luxurious lunch, a taste of St. Peter's Fish (which was actually a Tilapia!). Unfortunately, my uncle Francis and aunt Teresa were unable to join us as my uncle Francis had gone down with a bout of food poisoning. We spent the afternoon visiting other sites around the Sea of Galilee, including where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, and where Jesus handed Peter the Primacy of the Church. Other sites, including where Jesus multiplied the fish and loaves of bread were closed because it was the eve of Christmas, and we ended up heading back to the hotel early for a good night's rest before flying off the next day.



2000 year old fishing boat



Bro and Lynette on our boat ride



St. Peter's Fish



Me at the site of the Sermon on the Mount



The ladies in pink



Family photo



Sunset along the shores of the Sea of Galilee

Day 8: Amman and back to Singapore

The final day consisted of crossing the border back into Jordan to catch our flight back to Singapore. Initially, we had a bit of sight-seeing planned for the day for the capital of Jordan, Amman, but we were once again delayed, slightly at the border, but more so by a bus that threatened to break down on the way up the mountain slopes! It was a terribly arduous journey and we wondered how were even going to reach the airport in time! In the end, we had a bit of time for lunch before saying farewell to this trip and made our way back to Doha, celebrating Christmas at the airport for a good six hours and then catching our connecting flight back to Singapore.



The last lunch

It has been a wonderful and historical trip for me, although some parts of it were too short for my liking. I look forward to going back there again, and I know I will have an even deeper appreciation of this conflicted land. Jerusalem now ranks as my number one city just for its sheer audacity. Meanwhile, it is back to my studies and exams! I had a wonderful time in Singapore after the trip, and wish I never had to leave.

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posted by Gabriel Yan at 1:14 PM

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