Bethlehem, Bethany and Jericho

The adventure went into high gear on Thursday when I visited Bethlehem, Bethany and Jericho - all in the West Bank. No worries really, but in strange set of events we had a few complications to the day. Here's what happened just before we went:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/world/middleeast/13mideast.html


-I got picked up by Ribeyah, the taxi driver, and Sami, the guide and picked up my travel buddy, Jim. We took the Beit Jalla entrance to Bethlehem, since they thought the main entrance would be closed off. Which was true; no one was even there at the border crossing. Bethlehem is just outside of Jerusalem.

We went to Manager Square to see the main sights - which included the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus was born. This is the entrance to the church, called the door of humility. The door was very large, then made smaller by the Crusaders (the arch - maybe to thwart incoming soldiers) and then made even smaller later - probably to keep the cows out.
-The mosaics under the boards of the floor of the church. Kind of gritty church, managed by three different church groups so not too much work getting done, which I kind of liked.
-The main altar.
-Below the altar - the grotto of the Nativity.
-Right next door is St. Catherine's, where they broadcast the Christmas Eve mass.

-Below is the cave where St. Jerome lived.
-The crowd gathering outside in Manger Square. We decided to go to the Milk Grotto, but couldn't get there because of the funerals. More info is at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/world/middleeast/14mideast.html?bl&ex=1205640000&en=941ef54c0cc557cd&ei=5087%0A
-We got out of town, which was closed with a strike because of the murders. Shepherds' Field was just out of town, very peaceful, where the shepherds were to have seen to the angel and the star.





-From Shepherds' Field, you can see the Church of the Nativity on the opposite hill (look closely).












-All the shops were closed from the strike for the murders. It was a bit strange.
-Parts of the wall near the front entrance to the city. Gives a feeling of what people feel about the wall and the situation.















-Near Rachel's Tomb, which is in the wall. A fire was nearby, so we decided to get out of there. We couldn't get throught the main entrance, so went back out the way we came.










-Because of the shortened, but exciting trip to Bethlehem, Sami suggested stopping through to Bethany (on the other side of the Mount of Olives). Here is the Church of St. Lazarus, commemorating the story of Mary and Martha and the raising of Lazarus.
-Here's the tomb of Lazarus, which you need to climb into.
-Looking down to it.













-Hmmmm.

Bethany was a working town, which was cool to see.










-A Bedouin settlement near the Dead Sea.













Me, on a camel, at Sea Level. In Israel.













-Me, on a camel, in front of the Judean desert. In Israel (I could write for Go Dog, Go!)
-Then we got to Jericho (oldest city and lowest city[1200 ft. below] in the world). Much easier to enter/exit. This is the tree of Zacchaeus, the publican who climbed a tree to greet Jesus.
-The high land around Jericho. Jericho is the winter playground (or was) since it's so low. Citrus grows well, it stays warmer, etc. Because of the wall it's been pretty bare since it's much harder to get to.
-The cable car to get to the Mount of Temptation.
-The Monastery of the Qurantul and caves next to it.












-Jericho with the Dead Sea in the background.

-Sami and I in front of Jericho on the Mount of Temptation. The monastery was closed. But the view was amazing.

-The spring of Elijah. He added salt to make the water drinkable for the people.

-Old City of Jericho - Tel Es-Sultan. The walls come tumblin' down?

-Hisham's Palace & Khirbet Na'aran. The winter retreat (things don't change) of Caliph Hisham Ibn Abd al-Malik in the 8th century. Huge palace and bathhouse.










-Part of the second story window.

-Beautiful mosaic in the bathhouse.
-What the bathhouse would have looked like.

-Downtown Jericho. Very small now - it doesn't have as many people coming to it.

Both places I can honestly say I did not feel threatened in, even with the goings on. You understand a lot more though.