A Taste of travel to the land of the Bible.
You are travelling on plane from Hong Kong to Tel Aviv on El Al airlines. Aboard the plane there are Jewish people going home.
It is just before Passover when they will clean out their houses. In the hotels the whole building is cleaned including the kitchen and all the food is cleaned out and restocked.
For us there is apprehension. We are going to a new land. Our flight has been delayed and we hope that we can have enough sleep to catch with our tour group in Tel Aviv.
When we land what do we see? We see a land of contrasts. From the beach such as that at Joppa or the Jordan River, the sea of Galilee, the wilderness region which is now been able to produce food such as the sweetest tomatoes, or the Dead Sea.
Israel has 3 main religions; Judaism, Muslim and Christian.
Modern day Israel began on May 14, 1948, the building which had since become the Tel Aviv Museum, was chosen as the venue for the declaration of independence of the State of Israel, and the signing of the Independence Scroll.
There are still reminders of conflicts both current and past. You can travel in Tel Aviv to the street where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. Or you can travel to the Golan Heights and stand close to the border of Israel and Syria. You can see the bullet holes in the city walls in Jerusalem or travel to the trenches of the six day war.
Israel is a place of history and contains many ruins which have been uncovered by archaeologists. Statues can be found in prominent areas such as Mt Carmel and you can travel up Masada which is Herod’s desert fortress.
The people are known for famous inventions such as solar energy, flash drives for computers, drip irrigation, desalination and the epilady to name a few.
The capital of Israel is Jerusalem which stands strong and firm. Apart from being a political capital it is also the heart of the nation from a religious view.
So as the sun sets on the Mediterranean Sea and Lake of Galilee we leave our journey to Israel.
As a result of this experience we are changed. we have a deeper understanding of its people and the land and there will always be a yearning to go back.
Judy thanked Daryll and Diane for a very interesting and informative talk on the Land of the Bible.