Day 6 - 4 Apr 08

Course proper was only for the morning today. The course organisers had arranged for a social visit in the afternoon - a trip to the holy city of Jerusalem. Even though this would be the third time I'd visited the place, I was still pretty excited about it. Firstly, because Jerusalem is a very intriguing place, and secondly because a tour certainly beats having lessons in class anytime, hands down!


Here I was again, gazing upon the magnificent view of the old city of Jerusalem. The architecture, some of them thousands of years old, were truly wonderful sights to behold. To hear about how this city had been attacked, destroyed, conquered and rebuilt repeatedly (by everyone it seemed - the Arabs, the Turks, the Crusaders, the Jews) throughout its history reminder us of the importance of peace and sovereignity.




I didn't do this during the previous visits, so I decided to capture the panoramic view of the Jersalem skyline this time, now that I have the image stitching application. Click on the image above too view it in full-size.



I think I met this Ah-Lao with his white donkey the last time too. He seemed happy to see us today and even posed for us to take pictures. :)



This bloke here was our tour guide, Noam Porat. He was very friendly and really knowledgeable, never failing to answer our questions and always throwing in extra interesting titbits of information throughout the tour. If you intend to visit Jerusalem, I'd recommend you to contact Noam (tour guide license no. 6441). His email is Poratnoa@012.net.il.



Before entering the Old City area, Noam brought us to this spot on Mount Scopus, which was just adjacent to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In this picture, to the left is the Judea Desert which apparently was where many biblical characters have fled to when they were prosecuted (I won't make a good tour guide since I can't recall who and why). To the right, beyond the mountains lies the Dea Sea, the lowest spot on Earth, at 400+m (forgotten the exact figure. See, hopeless tour guide I'd make) beneath sea-level.



Within the Old City walls, upon entering the Gates of Jaffa, Noam brought us to this church (I think it is called Church of the Holy Sepulchre), which was built over the location where Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and later resurrected.



Noam told us that this church is now considered the holiest of places among the majority of Christians (except the Protestant Christians), and is now presided over by the 6 sects of Christianity (the Armanians, the Greek Orthodox, the Catholic and the other 3 I've forgotten. Yup, definitely bad tour guide!). Because the 6 sects didn't see eye to eye on most things almost all the time, they had decided to agree on one thing, which was that nobody could change any parts of this church unless everyone agreed to the change, which was never. Noam said that was why this ladder which had been at its present location, untouched, for over two hundred years, since the aforementioned agreement. Quite funny.



Dated at 1389, this here is one really ancient graffitti~!




Here's where Christ's body was cleansed prior to burial. After the religious ceremony (chanting and singing), the tourists and visitors went forward to touch the stone slab that Christ's body had been laid upon 20 centuries ago.



The President of the US found out that the PM of France has got a telephone that can be used to call God. He hurriedly went and asked how much it would cost to make a call. "$10 million" was the reply. "Hey, it's a call to God, you know?". The President then approached the PM of UK. "$20 million." Wow, that's too ex, thought the President. And then he went to Israel and met the PM there. "How much to use you special phone to call God?", he asked. "It's only 10 cents" came the reply. "Why so cheap" the President asked. "Cos it's a local call." said the Israeli PM.

So, this is it. The West Wall, or the Wailing Wall. This is the holiest of places for all the Jews. It is said to be where they can be closest to God. Noam gave each of us a pen and a slip of paper to make our wishes. I wished for health and happiness for my family. If you receive this note, God, I hope you'd grant it. I will surely be grateful.

And pardon my bad handwriting.