Today is my last day in Jerusalem. I will meet with Dorit, visit her friend in town and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem – very excited since this is always something I enjoy: to visit the local homes instead of just being a normal tourist going to the touristy spots. I was delayed at the hotel reception for a while because the lady there tried to charge me US$3 per stamp for the postcard stamp that is printed only 3.80 local currency (which is around 90 cents) – this is something Ive never experienced traveling to so many countries. Finally got to Kind Davids hotel almost 30 minutes later than planned because I was not familiar with the roads in Jerusalem.
It was very nice seeing Dorit again, especially in Israel, her hometown instead of Germany. Dorit is probably one of the sweetest and most graceful ladies Ive met. Although we havent known each other long, I really like her. She is also passionate about the far East since her parents used to live there. We drove to her friend Shushanas home on the Ethiopia street – one of the oldest street in Jerusalem. Suddenly left the crowds and noise of the Old city, I found myself in a Jerusalem that I didnt discover before: small streets, beautiful old stone houses, green gardens, peaceful and elegant. Standing in Shushanas beautiful garden and the elegant old house, I felt being in a different world. All the heat, noise, conflicts seem to be so far away. We had a nice breakfast in a beautiful backyard and I really enjoyed the conversation with the two interesting local ladies – both are wise, intelligent, and traveled around the world.
Next step is the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This is the biggest university in the Middle East. There I met Sabena, a German lady who has been in Israel for many years and working for the university. She introduced to me the history of this legendary university and a great tour of the beautiful campus. The architecture is again amazing, just like any others in Israel. And the view from many spots on campus to Jerusalem is also breathtaking. Unfortunately I was not able to take any pictures of the campus because of security – after last years bombing at the university cafe, they are much tighter now, which is really sad. Honestly I have never been to a place in the world with such rigorous conflicts between religions as it is in Israel and Jerusalem is again the extreme of Israel – it is the holiest city for Judaism and the spiritual center for Jews since 10th century B.C, holy place for Christianity and the third holiest city for Islam (it is believed by many Muslims that Muhammad ascended to heaven from there). Guess everybody, every religion and every believer wants to claim this is THEIR place, therefore Jerusalem is never peaceful.
I was really shocked by the difference of the peoples lives on two sides of the wall the day before, but didnt realize how soon and how much it would impact me: after lunch (had the famous St. Peter fish which was really delicious) with Dorit and Shusanna, I wanted to drive to Ein Karem, where John was baptized and raised at, and then go to my next destination Dead Sea. However, after I input the hotel address at Ein Bokek, the GPS kept asking me to take Route 1 West towards Tel Aviv, but Dead Sea is on the east of Jerusalem. I was completely confused and because of the bad traffic in Jerusalem, I was back and forth, stuck on different roads until I finally completely forgot about the GPS and just followed the map. But since I didnt have a detailed map of Jerusalem and the it was really difficult to drive back in many streets, I wasted almost 3 hours until I got on the Interstate 90 towards Dead Sea. GPS still has no signal. Suddenly a thought hit me: There must be part of the roads belong to West Bank which was why GPS was leading me a huge detour just within Israel – 2.5 hours for 45-min drive!!! But how would I know as a foreigner!!! It is really amazing how much the political situation can impact a persons life, even me, as a visitor….While driving out of Jerusalem, there was sign on the rocks next to the highway showing Sealevel, then -150 meter, -300 meter and my ears can really feel it. It was an interesting experience driving below the sea level. By the time I arrived at the Dead Sea, it was already – 400 meter – the lowest place on earth. It was getting darker and darker and dead sea was on my left hand side and desert cliff was on my right. There was fog on the water because of the low altitude – I saw the most amazing scenery in my life: its hard to describe by words and the photos can only capture 1/10 of the beauty! Have you ever seen sea with reflection? Thats the Dead Sea!!The landscape was just breathtaking! I had to stop so many times by the highway just to look and take pictures…