Holy Land-Day 6-Jerusalem-Bethany-Jericho-Dead Sea

 Check out day from Grand Hotel, Bethlehem. We crossed the borders and drove to Ein Karem, a small village near Jerusalem. This place is believed to be the birthplace of John the Baptist. St. John the Baptist Catholic Church is said to be the place where John was born.



Birthplace of John the Baptist

Across the village, a good 15-20 mins walk from here is the Church of Visitation. On the way uphill is Mary's spring. The Bible says that Mary went to the hill country to visit Elizabeth. Must have been quite e trek for Mary. This is where she sang the Magnificat and it is inscribed in different languages on the outside walls of the church. There is also an upper part to the church(built by Antonio Berluzzi) that has beautiful paintings and a lovely pipe organ.

Church of Visitation

We came back to Jerusalem and went to the Garden of Gethsemene. We saw the Damascus gate of Jerusalem that is under renovation. We also saw the East gate which is sealed now and is opposite Gethsemene. Jesus had passed through this gate (aka Golden gate) many times.It is believed that when Jesus comes again, He will enter Jerusalem through this gate This is why this was sealed by the Muslims.(Ezekiel 44:1-3; Zechariah 14:4) Infront of it and opposite Gethsemene is the Kedron valley.

East gate

Read more on http://focusonjerusalem.com/easterngateinprophecy.html



We entered the Garden of Gethssemene and saw a lot of really old olive trees there. The church here is also known as the Basilica of Agony. The stone where Jesus wept and prayed before the night of His crucifixion is found at the altar.

Basilica of Agony

After that we visited the tomb of Virgin Mary nearby. The majority believe that she died a natural death but angels came and took her to heaven. The church where the 'tomb'is believed to be in looks like a dungeon and one has to descend 47 stairs inside the church. We were told not to buy anything from people in that area. Not only will we be cheated on quality but we will be stolen of our money too.

We then drove towards Bethany. The hometown of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. We went to the tomb of Lazarus. We were warned before hand that the way inside the tomb was a little steep with low levels of oxygen. So there were only a handful of people who went in. The entrance is from the road. We had to hold the railings and climb down narrow, slippery stone steps. There is a catholic church near the tomb and some people attended the mass there. We shopped at a souvenir store in Bethany.

We then headed towards Jericho. On either sides of the road was dry land and mountains. This was probably the road that the man in the Good Samaritan story took. We entered the dry lands of Jericho in about 45 mins. It did not look like a very exciting place though they say it is the oldest city.

Jericho mountains

Lunch was at Temptation Centre. They have a shopping complex on the ground floor and a restaurant on the next one. Lunch was a huge spread that ended with some exotic fruits. After lunch we went shopping (and window-shopping!!). There was a big section selling dead sea products-one of the major exports of Israel. Outside the restaurant, they were selling sycamores and they were also feeding some peacocks the same. We left from there and stopped at an old sycamore tree near by. Not the one that Zacheus climbed though. We got off for a few pictures and then drove through Jericho and then proceeded towards the Dead Sea.

Old Sycamore tree

 Soon we reached Kalia beach on the Dead Sea and went to change into "beach clothes". The Dead sea or Salt sea is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel to the west. It is 423m below sea level and is the lowest point on earth. because of its high salt content, living creatures find it difficult to survive in there.The density of the water is quite high and therefore one can float on the water surface. The mud and the salt of the sea is rich in minerals and are made into cosmetics and for used for other cosmetic purposes.

Dead Sea

Some people took to the water like fishes. I had my lens on and so was quite apprehensive. We applied the mud on our bodies and very soon it started to feel itchy all over. Changing clothes was a public affair and quite uncomfortable. Therefore, till we got to the hotel and had a proper decent bath, I was feeling very uneasy.

From there, it was a long drive to Eilat, where we were to spend the night. We stopped on the way for a short break. We finally reached Nova hotel in Eilat at 9 30 pm. All of us were dead tired and hungry. My 1st aim was a bath and so I had to skip dinner. Had a fun night helping uncles and aunties find their room,etc. Slept really late. I liked this hotel a lot but hardly got to see it.

View from our room in Nova hotel,Eilat

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Pilgrimage-Day6-Jerusalem-Bethany-Jericho-Dead Sea