pictures speak

Still jetlagged, I was awake for sunrise over Haifa.  The university where Sarika was studying was on a peak that overlooked the city.

Below: Out with Sarika’s ulpan friends at Massada street in Haifa.  It was their last day of class

The Ba’hai temple in Haifa from the lookout point.  Its extensive gardens employ 100 full time gardeners.  It was a beautiful view.

We stayed with Sarika’s parents at an amazing bed and breakfast in Sefat.

Sarika’s best friend pony. By the water, just outside Uri Buri, where we ate at the best restaurant in Israel (according to Lonely Planet). It was delicious. 

The Jordan River. Felt nice on a hot day.  Lots and lots of people rafting down it.

The Israeli-Syrian demilitarized buffer zone, just past the farms in the foreground.  The Syrian capital would be visible down the road to the right of the photo if the air were clearer.

Susan Adina and myself watching Jim (below, setting up his stage) perform music at the artist’s colony, while drinking homebrewed beers bottled in Coca-Cola and Corona bottles and eating pizza.

This picture is ready for its debut (with a tongue-in-cheek caption, of course) in The Economist.    Some Israeli settlements can be seen on the tops of the hills in the distance.  We got a fantastic tour from a family care physician who treats patients in Israeli West Bank settlements.

Old City Jerusalem was in interesting city where every brick in the walls has thousands of years old history.

The western wall (above).  I slipped a note in.

A vivid mural of Jesus

Protesters marching through Ben Yehuda street in Jerusalem.  In every city we had visited, we saw “tent cities” set up in parks and protesters in the streets like the one below.  The Israelis I spoke to said they havent seen any protests of this scale for as long as they have been alive.  They are mostly protesting inflation of food staples and lack of affordable housing and they are trying to focus the government’s attention on the plight of the Israeli middle class.  Even the Israeli doctor I spent time with could not afford to buy a home, all he could afford was to rent.

Another incredible place.  Herod’s palace built in the first century BCE ontop a peak near the Dead Sea (see it in the distance).  We hiked our way up at about 10am (we had to wake up in Jerusalem at 5:30am) and it was still 100 deg F that early in the morning.  I dont know if ive ever drank so much water in a day.  This is also where I almost dropped my SD card down the cliffside, but it landed on a wood beam an inch wide (i am very lucky to still have these pictures).

This place can be appreciated with an understanding of a few numbers:

• 500m below sea level
• 10x the salt content of the ocean, and thus a density 25% higher than pure water
• 110 deg F in the surrounding desert

It is up near the top of my list for coolest natural places that I’ve ever been to.  You can me floating in one of the pictures (it feels incredibly strange to be so very bouyant).  The ground is covered in a thick layer of precipitated salt.  As my body moved through the sea, I could see all the salt gradients rippling through the water.  I was warned that open cuts or bruises in the water would burn – I didnt have any cuts, but even some chafing around my shorts area from hiking and walking so much from the previous days stung pretty bad!

Above is the free beach we went to in Ein Bokek with free showers, chairs, shade, and even shade in the sea.

Thats me!

No need for floaties…

This was the highest of a series of waterfalls and natural pools along the trail.  This one was the largest, but was roped off for good reason – we saw a number of fist sized rocks pouring down with the water.  It was so beautiful and the water was great to cool off on a 45 deg C (120F) day in the desert.