Travel Biography - Week 128.

A Review of the whole Trip to Israel 2000.

Our two-week trip to Israel in 2000 was more adventurous than expected because we arrived just before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Unlike in the West when New Year's Day always falls on the first day of January, in Israel, the date is movable, as with our Easter corresponding with their Passover.

Therefore, our first few days were difficult. We were stranded in Haifa without cash to pay for transport to our destination, Stella Carmel Christian Conference Centre in Isfya, a village about ten miles or 16 km from Haifa. Yet, at the summit of the Carmel Ridge, a kind taxi driver who was also a church minister offered us a free lift to the Centre. We then returned to the city a couple of days later with the erroneous idea that the holiday was over and all shops reopened.

In a city of closed shops, it was also next to a miracle that we found just one shop open for trading during the holiday, a pharmacy that with caution, cashed a traveller's cheque, enabling us to pay another taxi driver to take us safely back to the Centre.

We then took an Egged Bus south to Jerusalem where we booked into the New Swedish Backpacker's hostel where we were allocated a hotel-type private bedroom with a double bed.

The Jewish Sukkot, or the Festival of Booths, was ongoing by the time we arrived at the Jewish capital. Although this was a special week in the Jewish calendar, all shops and public institutions were open for trading and administration. The number of coloured booths temporarily installed on the streets of New City not only created a spectacular sight but also brought Biblical life to a first-hand experience.

It was while we were staying in Jerusalem that we went out on two separate day trips. The first one included a four-hour bus journey to Eilat. There was a resort that seemed so far away from any unrest taking place around Jerusalem, and it was here on the west coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, the natural home of a fringe coral reef which made the four-hour journey worthwhile.

On another morning, we took another bus to En Gedi, in the desert bordering the west coast of the Dead Sea. It was in this dramatic mountainous oasis at the Rift Valley where we followed the Nahal David, a freshwater stream flowing down several waterfalls from a spring, and flowing towards the Dead Sea. One of the waterfalls fed a shallow pool where public bathing was allowed. We took advantage and managed to swim in the natural setting.

Our Last Day was spent in Tel Aviv.

At Tel Aviv Beach.

Tel Aviv coastline, looking north.

As my Travel Biography has always testified, every good thing must come to an end, and the morning of take-off back home in the UK was only 24 hours away. So on our final morning in Jerusalem Old City, we vacated our hostel room and with a rucksack on my back, we completed our final walk through Jaffa Street to arrive at the Egged Bus station to board a bus for Tel Aviv.

This was to be the very last time we walked the streets of Jerusalem for the rest of my life, as I hadn't returned since 2000, and there was little chance of ever returning in our present lifetimes. One reason is my age and declining health. Another reason was the construction of the West Bank Barrier along the Green Line. It was first proposed as far back as 1992 by then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. 

Began in 1994 with a short 2 km stretch between Bat Hefer and Tulkarm, the latter just over 61 km or 38 miles north of Jerusalem as the crow flies, construction along the Green Line bordering the West Bank with Israel is still ongoing as I write. It's an ugly concrete monstrosity blemishing the Beautiful Land, but Israel felt the need for extra security following a spate of Palestinian terrorist attacks. However, if I wanted to walk through the streets of the Old City and stand on the Mount of Olives, I wouldn't see much of the barrier or any of it at all, as its nearest point from the city wall is around two kilometres away. However, at present (2024), if I wanted to take a bus out of Jerusalem to Bethlehem, Hebron, En Gedi, Masada, or Eilat, we would need to pass through the checkpoint at least once, probably twice for the southernmost regions in the future. 

All that is a deterrent from ever visiting the Holy Land again. It's such a tragedy for humanity - especially for Christian and Jewish believers!

However, there shouldn't be any checkpoints for Journeys from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, Haifa, and other coastal points north. Such was the case in 2000, when Alex and I boarded the express bus to Tel Aviv. After leaving Jerusalem, the hilly terrain on which the city is built recedes into the distance and the land flattens out as we headed towards the Mediterranean. This flat strip of land is the Plain of Sharon.

Facing south towards Jaffa (Joppa)

Modern hotels line the seafront.

We arrive at the Tel Aviv bus station after about an hour's journey. This city, once the capital of Israel before the status was handed over to Jerusalem in July 1980, saw Tel Aviv as a modern Western city bustling with life. Although a Jewish settlement, it was almost entirely secular with little religious influence, unlike Jerusalem Old City, instead with its coast lined with hotels, not unlike the shoreline of Eilat. Rather, I would rate Tel Aviv as brash, very much like Brighton in the UK.

South of Tel Aviv is Jaffa or the Biblical Joppa. It's the site where Peter lodged at a tanner's home before the servants of Cornelius arrived to escort a reluctant Peter to the home of the first Gentile, a non-Jewish Roman Centurian, to be converted to the Christian faith. Unfortunately, we didn't get around to visiting Joppa, even if we were able to see it from where we were on the beach. A monastery dominates the city, as it's built on a hill. It's part of St Peter's Church, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's on the site of the former tannery.

But with the heavy rucksack on my back, and also realising that we had no bed for the coming night, I wanted just to wind down, to spend the last full day in Israel relaxing on the sandy beach.

A beach holiday? Why not? It's only for one day and there will be no nightclubs or alcohol consumption. Funny that. Back in 1976, I also spent the last day in Israel on the beach at Tel Aviv and I had the same thoughts. The dreadful experience in 1972 with excess alcohol consumption in Spain apparently had lasting effects, perhaps even stretching over 28 years (or 52 years now).

The respite included having a swim in the sea under warm sunshine in a cloudless sky. However, if I wanted to make a comparison between the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, the latter would win hands down. Not only do the corals thrive in the Gulf where snorkelling with an underwater camera would result in spectacular photos, but the sea is backed by the mountains of Jordan, with the colour of a pink hue during the late afternoon and early evening, therefore, giving a true otherworldly perspective of foreign travel. By contrast, the Mediterranean is seen, especially by the British but probably by the Germans as well, as a sunseeker's paradise, an ideal location to spend a two-week escape from the harsh realities of life, especially under cool grey skies and chilly winds characteristic of a temperate climate.

I even read in one travel magazine (an issue of Wanderlust) some years ago that there are more interesting places to visit rather than the boring Mediterranean - and then proceeded to give a list of faraway places around the world. At this point, I disagree. The lands surrounding the Med offer plenty of historical sites, ancient - even predating the Roman period - and more recent such as Medieval. Adding to all that, there are many spectacular geological sites of natural beauty. I could conclude that the Med is either a paradise for the hiker, photographer or historian, or a sunseeker's haven where sun, sand, sea, and alcohol dominate. Or worst of all, before my Christian conversion in 1972, spending what was left of the night sleeping in a Spanish bathtub, wet with my own vomit.

But I also understand where Wanderlust was coming from. For someone who fell in love with corals making up a reef teeming with marine life, the average Briton would need to travel further away than the Med. Indeed, aquariums housing coral in an artificial environment would make it ideal for a family's day out, but the aquarium would never equal the sheer joy of actually diving or snorkelling along the reef and experiencing marine life firsthand.

Preparing for the Flight Home.

Beach life with our luggage.

Sunset at Tel Aviv,

Alex and I spent most of the day at the beach in Tel Aviv right until sundown. Afterwards, it was time to head for the airport and spend the night in the check-in lounge. However, I was concerned about security. They will ask us where we stayed whilst we were in Israel, and I have to answer that we stayed in a Palestinian-owned hostel. That alone would step up security.

The bus to Ben Gurion Airport was slow, passing through the residential estates. But we eventually arrived. We were checked at the main entrance security (like at Tel Aviv Bus Station) and we were free to wander around the check-in terminal, as our flight to London was one of the first take-offs of the day. We both sat down and tried unsuccessfully to sleep as we tried to pass that long night.

About halfway through the night, a female security officer approached and offered us to pass through security. We were led to the security room and we had our luggage thoroughly examined. When they were satisfied that we posed no threat, our luggage had a zillion stickers plastered over them, eliminating any further security searches.

Hence, when the check-in desk opened, we passed through easily with no ado. We then proceeded to the upstairs departure lounge.

However, the plane we were in remained at the terminal for a long time. The announcement came through the tannoy. A passenger has changed his mind about flying to London and refusing to board, the luggage hold had to be opened and his property retrieved before the plane could take off.

As I looked out of the window at the scene below, I recognised Rhodes straight away. The walls of Rhodos Old City stood out in the sunshine amidst the rich blue Mediterranean. Afterwards, as we landed at London Gatwick to be met by the chill of Autumn, I knew that one chapter of my life was about to close and another open.

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Next Week: The one event which ends this Biography.

Oh, To Fly Like A Bird...

A very close friend of mine recently flew to New York to visit for a week and to explore the city.   After he had returned, I called round to his home and asked him what was the U.S. border control like. He replied that this time he found it easier to get through than at previous times, but he still had to have his fingerprints scanned, along with his eyes scanned as well. He was then interrogated on what was his purpose for the visit and where he would be staying. Pretty intrusive stuff! If this was one of the easier occasions, I hate to think what he would have had to go through on a particular difficult one.

This is the Passport Security one now faces ever since 9/11. In my day, I did not have such a level of interrogation when I entered the USA. That was because I travelled during my bachelor days, before I married in 1999, two years before the World Trade Center was hit. But nevertheless, I have been randomly picked out by Border Control in 1997, when I arrived at Los Angeles Airport from Sydney. At Customs my rucksack was emptied out. When my Bible fell out with all the other items, the female officer became rather apologetic, and told me to re-pack and move on.

Perhaps a long haired, unshaven male in casual clothing, who had spent a sleepless night flying over the Pacific Ocean, would raise greater suspicion among immigration officers than a clean-shaven businessman in suit and tie. The same happened when I entered Australia at Cairns six weeks earlier. The only difference was that my baggage passed through a scanner, while everyone else on that flight from Singapore passed through Arrivals easily and I was alone at the small airport with two officers who, surprisingly enough, apologised for messing me about. I replied that if the Government paid me to do their job, I would have done the same.

Then there's that almost frightening moment when the Passport officer took my document, but instead of stamping the entry visa on a blank page, he starts to play around with it, flicking the pages back and forth and looking casually on. Then, as if on an afterthought, gives the passport to his companion who stamps the entry visa before handing the document back to me. Although I did not realise it then, it was a tactic to see how I would have reacted. If I had something to hide, they would suspect and escort me to the interrogation room. But a look of anxiety, wondering if I was about to be put on a flight home was enough for them to clear me through. They were highly trained for this sort of thing.

So goes the world of international travel, of which I'm still a fanatic. But as I ponder on these things, I find it rather ironic that we, the human species whom God created to be the pinnacle of all his creation, should suffer such intrusion from the authorities whenever we decide to step on to foreign soil. Then I think of the Artic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) - a rather small bird but with the amazing capacity to fly annually from Pole to Pole to stay with the ever-moving summer season.

The feet of the bird can land on any foreign soil as it pleases, and not a single human would approach to ask of proof of identity! No passports for them, no expensive air tickets, check-in queues, immune jabs, customs, currency exchange and all else which seem to be deviously designed to deter, demotivate or kill any desire for travel. Perhaps not for nothing had God made us without wings.

And our desire for travel isn't confined to the present generation. Some three thousand years ago, King David had just that desire. In Psalm 55 he wrote:

Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and to be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.
Verses 6-8 KJV.

Although David was only expressing his desires, through him the Holy Spirit was making an accurate prophecy. We today do fly away to be at rest, far from home, away from the "windy storm and tempest" which comes with our daily responsibilities. Although we don't have wings of our own, we are willing to pay a large sum of money to "put on" so to speak, wings in the form of modern aviation. In this way, we are a far better off generation than those of our fathers.

Indeed we are! For me, nothing is so exhilarating than to sit by the window of an airline, soaring high above the clouds and looking down at the striking beauty of the landscape, the mountains, the contrast of coastline against the sea as the latter reflects the sunlight back to the sky, and the diverse forms of civilisation. By his loving grace, God has given me such opportunities, particularly in my bachelor days.

The Coastline of Kent, UK, after take off from London Gatwick Airport, 2011.

After the chat with my friend at his house, I got round to reading the 15th chapter of Paul's first letter to the Church in Corinth. Here Paul was settling the question the church as asking - will there be a resurrection of the body? There were some in the church who were following the teaching of the Sadducees, that there is no resurrection. In reply, Paul stressed that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Jesus Christ wasn't resurrected either. If that had been the case, then they are still in their sins and their faith is futile. This has got me to ponder, what is the body resurrected like? And where is the connection between this and international travel?

The connection lies with the ability of our new bodies having the freedom to travel anywhere without any intrusion or restrictions imposed. In I John 3:2 we are told that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. If our future spiritual bodies will have all the properties of that of the risen Lord, then to get an idea of what we would be like, we only need to look at what Jesus was capable of doing after his resurrection.

One of his abilities was to pass through a closed door, John 20:19, 26. John made it clear that when the disciples had locked themselves in a room due to fear of the Jews, Jesus suddenly appeared to them twice, the second time to convince Thomas. In Luke's version, the disciples were first afraid of a ghost making an appearance, Luke 24:36-43. Not only did the Lord identify himself by the nail marks on his body, but he also demonstrated his ability to eat solid food. This is also backed up in John's version when the disciples had returned to their former occupations up north along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. After a big catch, all sat for breakfast on the beach with a campfire in their midst. No doubt, Jesus was eating his share as he reinstated Peter and instructed them to return to Jerusalem to await the power of the Holy Spirit (John 21).

Finally, the new body of Jesus was able to defy gravity. This is demonstrated in Acts 1, where Jesus was taken up to Heaven in full view of his disciples. No propulsion there, he just floated up until caught in a cloud. This is how we will be like, the ability to fly without gravity or aerodynamic resistance. As a fan of Superman, I always have been intrigued on how this comic character was able to take off and fly with absolutely no air or jet propulsion, in complete defiance of all known physics. But our spiritual bodies will be able to defy gravity, and this is endorsed in both 1 Corinthians 15: 51-55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Both sets of verses indicate a sudden transformation of the body - those who have already died in Christ to rise first, then those who are still alive will be instantly transformed to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be escorted to Heaven to face first, the Judgement seat, a rostrum for dishing out rewards for Christian living, followed by the Holy Communion in Heaven - a demonstration that it was the death of Christ crucified that had saved us all in the first place, and not any works we have done ourselves.

Our eternal home, I believe, will be the New Jerusalem, a city some 1,500 miles square, giving us an area 2,250,000 square miles (Revelation 21, 22:1-6.) In our new bodies, it looks apparent that we can get to one side of the city to the other instantly. There will be no gravity or aerodynamic resistance, neither the need for the sun or the moon to shine, as God Almighty will be its light. The city will sit upon a new Earth, to anywhere we can travel and arrive at our destination instantly. Within the city will flow a river, which on each side will be trees bearing fruit on a monthly basis. This looks like if we will be able to eat the fruit, as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden, but whether this is more for pleasure than nutritional subsistence - we can't be sure unless the spiritual body does need a level of nutritional intake. Was the resurrected Jesus really hungry when his disciples gave him a piece of cooked fish?

What a wonderful demonstration of the love and grace of God! We were born with a sinful nature within us, which separated us from God, who is pure and holy. God cannot abide with sin. But in his love he sent his Son to die to atone for our sins. All of us who truly believe will spend eternity in that fabulous city for ever.

No passports, no check-in queues, no heavy baggage, no security checks, no expensive air tickets, no threat of industrial action, no delays, no headaches. Just unlimited travel with the euphoric pleasure of praising God for all eternity.