"Holy Land Tour-Day 6"- Mt Zion, ,Mt of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane,,arrival Tiberias.(Friday 31-10-2008)

World's largest "Jewish Cemetery" on Mt of Olives hillside.

Woke up early, suffering from partial insomnia, a normal occurrence when on tours and in new surroundings and after showering, packing our luggage went for breakfast. There was a huge tourist crowd and buffet style of breakfast after which we went to our rooms and checked out of the hotel as our next stay would be in the city of Tiberias near the sea of Galilee.
Visited the room in which the “Last supper” was supposed to have been held and later the Dormition abbey. Strange, but true, the mystique of any historical, religious or tourist vacation site diminishes once a person visits that particular place or tourist spot. Agreed, a person might return for revisits if they find that particular location , religious or historical site enchanting but definitely, a bit of the literature or biblical suspense diminishes and the hence my personal opinion on various religious subjects and controversies changed tremendously once I personally visited the “Holy land”.We visited the “Garden of Gethsemane” where the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariat was supposed to have occurred and was really in wonder of the centuries old olive trees existing in the garden. Later visited the “Church of All Nations” situated next to the “Garden of Gethsemane” which had all country’s flags that had contributed towards its construction installed on its internal roof dome.The “Mount Of Olives” is the highest point in Jerusalem from where one can get a beautiful view of the entire “Old Jerusalem” fortified city.The largest Jewish cemetery is also situated on the sloping foothills of Mt of Olives with a Muslim cemetery situated just at the foothill of the mount near the entrance gate to the fortified “Old City of Jerusalem”. Today the tour was an entire religious visit of Churches and we began by visiting Mount Zion a holy place for Jews and visited King David’s tomb.As a backpacker and also during my sea-faring voyages I always made a detailed study of the port or country that we would visit., hence I am proud to brag about my geographical and historical knowledge of most country’s, a hobby converted into a passion. Prior to the “Internet” I would visit libraries in Mumbai and brush up my knowledge and later at sea while sailing would seek information from the “Deck Port guide”, a navigational encyclopedia for “Navigation Officers” consisting of all the World’s shipping ports and regularly updated. Before embarking on the “Holy Land tour” I had done my “Religious Homework” on the “Internet” of the various religious sites and churches to be visited, a real boon to modern travelers as it saves the trouble of going to a library and referring “Travel Encyclopedia’s”, a tedious search task amongst hundreds of “Travel Guides” books at any public library .The invention of the “Internet” has made information on any subject available at home or a cybercafe by just pressing the “search engine” icon, a time-saving as well as convenient form of self-education on any topic and not requiring any specialized knowledge of computer operations. Prior to departure we were given a complete “Tour Itinerary” and learning as well as brushing up my religious knowledge through the “Internet” made me capable enough to enroll into a “Theology school”. I had read the “Holy blood and the Holy grail”, a commercially flop controversial religious book from which Dan Brown is supposed to have derived the idea for his controversial million dollar bestseller “Da Vinci Code” but the “Copy right laws” pilferage filed by the authors of “Holy Blood and Holy Grail” couldn't be proved against author Dan brown in a “Court of Law”, credentials of my reading knowledge of Christianity theology and its controversies. Lunch was at a local “Kibbutzim” and we were explained the typical functioning and maintenance of “Kibbutz culture” and way of living. And as they say “Travel is the best teacher”, learnt about the mysterious and highly admired Israeli way of living by just visiting the country, although, as tourists we were never exposed to the negative aspects which was left to our own individual interpretation. I had visited Egyptian ports as well as the port of Aqaba in Jordan on more than one occasion during my “shipping Career”, but never Israel, hence, I was absolutely baffled by their “average” living standards despite having minuscule “Natural Resources” and now “Religious Tourism” after truce in this hostile region.

"GREEN HOUSE" cultivation in the arid Dead Sea area of Israel.

After lunch at the “Kibbutzim” we proceeded towards the ancient city of Tiberias driving through “Highway 90”, the lowest motorized roadway in the World, on the same level as the “Dead Sea”, the lowest sea below sea-level in the World.
The “Sabbath(Shabbath in Yiddish)” begins before sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday, the holiest day for Jews and is a “Public Holiday” akin to “Sunday” in the Western World and most Asian Country’s including India. Orthodox Jews consider the “sabbath Day”, a day of total abstinence from any form of work, even cooking and all shops are closed with towns looking deserted.We entered Tiberias at approximately 1745 hrs on the beginning of the “Sabbath day” and the entire city resembled a “Ghost Town”, absolutely quiet with no humans in sight, just a few walking on the footpaths unlike the crowded streets of Cairo . Checked in at the “Eden Hotel” in Tiberias, a small storied building with an excellent “fish Tank” at its reception lobby and was an exact replica of its “Internet advertisement” for tourists, proving the efficiency and accuracy of the “Internet” in shrinking as well as educating tourists in “world travel”.Stephen and myself were accommodated in “Room Nos 339”, spacious accommodation but with a rickety 14’’ television. After refreshing ourselves we went into the lobby and were joined by Mr Domingo.Perreira who was traveling with his wife enjoying and completing the entire “Holy land tour itinerary”, having also trekked “Mt Sinai”, the toughest part of the exhausting “Holy land tour” .Dinner was served at approximately 2000hrs, buffet style and delicious(continental style food) and after dinner I inquired about “Internet browsing” at the lobby kiosk and was shocked at the exorbitant charges of Us$’s 5 for 1/2 hr(Rs 250 for ½ hr), hence realized the reasons for India being a “First world Internet country”. Met a few young Indian and Pakistani origin British tourists at the hotel who had also come on a religious tour and inquired about the “Night-Life” in Tiberias which was almost non-existent, barring a few “pubs”. Later Domingo.Stephen and myself went for a walk to “Downtown Tiberias” , a city that resembled a typical “European city”, reminding me of Belgium and Holland, absolutely clean with small buildings and no sky-scrapers and a beautiful water-front in the form of the “Sea of Galilee”.All shops were closed being the beginning of the “Sabbath day” and hence we just walked up-to the pier end and returned to our hotel.

View of Jerusalem   from "Mt of Olives" with "Jewish Cemetery" along the hillside..