Day 6 - Bethlehem and Jericho

So today we did a tour that was actually a tour!

We started the day off getting up at 6:30 (well 6:45 for Samantha) to meet the bus in the lobby of our hotel at 7:30. Today’s tour was visiting the sites of Bethlehem and Jericho. Our guide, Amir, was fantastic and has a wealth of knowledge about everything in Israel and certainly about what we were going to see today.

We left the hotel in bus # 1, which took us to bus #2, which took us to the Elvis American Diner (ok maybe this tour does cater to Americans) where we had coffee and a pastry.

We then left for Jerusalem where we boarded bus #3 (hope you’re keeping track). During this one hour drive our guide #1 (Amir) kept us entertained by telling us everything that Israel has done for the world. Initially, I thought that some of it was made up but after Googling a few claims, came to realize I had a lot to learn. So in no particular order, did you know that…

• Israel is the second largest Silicon Valley next to San Fransisco
• The SD card that goes into your camera was invented in Israel
• Computer firewalls were invented in Israel
• Instant Messaging was invented in Israel
• VOIP telephones were invented in Israel
• Drones were invented in Israel
• Cherry tomatoes were invented in Israel (we’re moving away from technology now)
• 70% of all the worlds diamonds go through Israel and they don’t even have one mine
• Prisoners get vacations if they are good (weekends away)
• Prisoners can also get a free university education while incarcerated
• In 1925 (23 years before Israel got their independence) Hebrew University was formed
• The first lecture was made by Albert Einstein who gave the copyrights to all his works to the university

Hey,  I could go on but let’s leave it at that for now.

So back to the story, we're on bus #3, leaving Jerusalem and heading to Bethlehem which is in the Palestine sector in Israel. So just to confuse this story a bit more, Israel is shared between the Israelis and the Palestinians with two governments and various regions that they govern. Now this is not to say that Israelis are in one sector and Palestinians in an other. In most cases these regions are co-inhabited by both Israelis and Palestinians with some people living in one sector and working in another. But they do have border crossings and you have to have your passport with you in case they ask for it. So Jerusalem is in an Israeli sector and Bethlehem is in a Palestine sector which means we say goodbye to Amir (guide #1) and hello to George (guide #2) as we cross the border.

So let’s talk about Bethlehem. Our guide focused on the Christian influence here of course but also gave some history about the Jewish influence as well. I won’t go into religious details here but feel free to invite me over for a drink and I’ll be glad to go over that part then. What we did get to see was...

The shepherds fields. This dig unearthed the fields and shepherds caves where the bible says Angels came to the shepherds and sang the glory of the birth of Christ.

Then, surprise, surprise, we had to switch to smaller buses (# 4, 5 and 6) in order to drive up the narrow streets to Manger Square where of course Christmas is celebrated every year.

And finally we toured the Church of Nativity which sits above where Jesus was born. The original church was built in 325 – 329 but was destroyed and a second church built later. The current church is going through renovations but this photo shows the original floor of the original first church.

And here is where Jesus was born.

Back onto bus #3 and then across the border back to the Israeli sector where we said goodbye to George (guide # 2) and hello again to Amir (guide # 1).

Next was Jericho, which is also in a Palestine sector and does have a border crossing but no border guards, so we got to keep the same bus and the same guide. So Jericho is the oldest city in the world dating back over 10,000 years. The highlight of this city was a visit to a dig that uncovered a portion of the original Walls of Jericho 3,000 years ago. In the photos below you will see what is left of these walls as well as an original guard tower.

So from there we returned home, changing buses a few times but winding up back at our hotel at 7:30, a full 12 hour tour. A quick shower, dinner at a Falafel stand, a beer for me and lights out at 10:00.