Israel and a Bit of Turkey - The End of the Trip

After a depressing adventure in Egypt, Israel was a breath of fresh air. Silver Wind docked at Ashdod, the commercial port for Jerusalem, and again at Haifa for access to northern Israel.  We took a tour to Masada and the Dead Sea from Ashdod.  Both Michael and I have been to Jerusalem on past visits. Most of our fellow passengers were headed there to see the sacred sights. Instead, we joined about fifteen other passengers  and went cross-country to the Judean Hills and the famous fortress of Masada.  Not only was the history of Masada fascinating, the bus trip through the Negev and Judean deserts gave us a new perspective on Israel’s Muslim and Christian Arab citizens.

An Arab Town in the Negev

There are many Arab towns and individual houses in the northern Negev.  At its northern end, the desert landscape looks a lot like the plains of southeast Colorado.  There is enough grass cover for the local inhabitants to raise sheep, horses and even camels. Our excellent tour guide told us that the Israeli government is trying to convince the Bedouin Arabs living in isolated areas to move to towns where electricity and modern sanitation can be provided.  There is a lot of resistance because the Arabs fear that they will lose their land if they move to towns.  Nonetheless, we did pass a number of fairly large towns with one or two minarets and Arab style buildings.  We also saw other large tracts of lush cropland irrigated by a complex network of piping.  The government is encouraging Jewish city dwellers to move to new towns in the desert to reduce crowding in the cities The contrast to the scrubland around the Arab towns was striking. The government may be trying to reduce congestion in the cities but where are they getting the land to build the new Jewish towns? I think the Bedouins have legitimate concerns.

While we were on the Way to Masada Rain fell in the Desert
Our Bus was diverted Further into the Desert to Avoid Flooding

Michael and I had read about Masada before our trip.  It was a mountaintop fortress and palace complex built by Herod the Great around 37 BC.  It is famous because according to the historian Josephus who wrote in the first century AD, it was the place to which near the end of the first Jewish-Roman war a group of rebels from Jerusalem fled after the fall of the capital. The Roman army laid siege to Masada and built an earthen ramp up the mountainside enabling them to breach the walls on the mountaintop.  The Romans supposedly found that more than 900 defenders had all committed mass suicide rather than be captured. Whether the tale is true or not, Masada has become the symbol of Jewish resistance and determination. In the past fifty years the site has been extensively excavated and the whole mountain is a national park and world heritage site.

Bedouins Herding Sheep

Resort Hotels on the Very Salty Dead Sea
They Worry that Further Shrinkage of the Waters
Will Leave Them With No Beaches

View of Masada From the Tram on the Way Up

Layout of Masada's Summit

The actual archeological site turned out to be much more complex than we had imagined and far more interesting to explore.  We reached the mountaintop by scenic tram.  There are also two hiking paths popular with visitors that require an arduous climb.  Our tour guide lead us through about one third of the ruins and showed us Herod’s palace, the royal baths, the cistern system, an early synagogue and the spot where the walls were breached at the end of the siege.  No one really knows whether the defenders really committed suicide.  Archaeologists have found only the remains of twenty-four bodies.  The only account was by Josephus Flavius, a Jew working for the Romans.  He wasn’t there and heard the story secondhand.  None the less, the site was moving.

Most of the 2000 Year Old Roman Ramp Remains Today

View From Masada Toward the Dead Sea

Masada sits on an escarpment overlooking what remains of the Dead Sea. Masada is at sea level, while the dead sea is 1200 feet below. Because of water diversion from the Jordan River and continuing drought, the Dead Sea is shrinking every year.  The sea is so reduced in size that there are two parts.  The northern part is the extremely saline true remnant of the sea.  Separated by marshy land and kept alive by a channel from the northern portion of the sea, the south portion is very shallow and has salt ponds from which a number of companies are harvesting salt and other minerals.  There are a number of hotels on this southern end of the Dead Sea.  Their popular beaches are kept viable with the water drawn from the northern portion of the sea via the channel.  We had lunch at one of the hotels after visiting Masada and were given the opportunity to take I dip in the Dead Sea that afternoon. 

Bathers Floating in the Dead Sea

I Waded into the Dead Sea But Did Not Go Swimming
The Water Felt Oily and Really Clung to the Skin 

The trip to Masada and the Dead Sea (I did wade into it) was worthwhile.  I heartily recommend it to anyone visiting Israel after going to Jerusalem.

View of Haifa From Mt Carmel

The following day we took an excursion to the northern Israeli city of Acre.  This proved a great contrast to Masada and ancient Israeli history.  Although we were there to see relatively modern history (only six to seven hundred years old), Acre has been around since about 2000 BC and during the centuries has been an important seaport for many nations.  The city has been a crossroads for trade between the Mediterranean and the Near and Far East. 

The Courtyard of the Crusader Castle

In the twelfth and thirteenth century AD, it was famous as a Crusader foothold in the region. Acre served as a fortress of the Knights Hospitaller. While European Christians were trying to “liberate” the Holy Land, Acre was the de facto capital of the “Kingdom of Jerusalem.  Acre finally fell to the Muslims in 1291 AD. Today its inhabitants are Jews, Arab Christians and Muslims.  The Crusader era fortifications have been excavated and the city has become an interesting tourist attraction. 

Map of 13th Century Acre

 Our tour guide, not as good as the one the day before, led us through the Crusader fortress and through the Arab souk to the old port, now a marina for pleasure boats.  Newer structures have been built with the stones from the original city wall.  

Fish and Spices For Sale in the Market

The Ancient Harbor is Now a Small Boat Basin

We saw a dilapidated but well proportioned caravanserai that some investors are planning to turn into a luxury hotel.  We even visited the once secret tunnels from the shore under the city to the fortress.

A Several Centuries Old Caravansary Where Traders Bargained and Slept
 Is Awaiting Transformation to a Modern Luxury Hotel 

The "Secret" Tunnel From the Sea to the Crusader Fortress

Michael and I returned to the Silver Wind to relax and watch the Ship set out for Kusadasi, Turkey.  This would be our last port before the ship docked at Athens and we would fly home.

View From the Pier at Kusadasi, Turkey

Silver Wind is Tiny Compared to the Medium Sized Azamara Journey

The Castle on "Pigeon Island" Next to the Port

Michael and I chose to stay close to the pier and forgo the usual trip to Ephesus that is the principal reason cruise ships stop at the bustling resort town of Kusadashi.

Michael and I Enjoyed a Turkish Coffee at this
Seaside Cafe

Monument to Freedom

 We took two long walks and spent the afternoon packing our suitcases for our disembarkation the following morning at Piraeus, the port for Athens  It was good to have a pleasant, relaxing day before the thirty-hour, three-flight trip back to Denver.

Leaving Turkey for Athens and Home

When we landed at Denver International airport, Michael and I had traveled completely around the world in a westerly direction.  About eight thousand of those miles were by ship making about 20 mph.  

It was a truly wonderful trip. I saw parts of the world totally new to me.  Michael revisited places he had not seen in over twenty years.  We both concluded that there is no ”third world” in the sense we used to think of it.  Everyone seems to have access to cell phones.  Everyone wears shoes, or at least flip-flops.  The third world in the twenty-first century is still poor but a different kind of poor than formerly.  Many of the countries we visited appear to have a growing middle class and aspirations for a better life.  

Our greatest concern is for the Middle East, Egypt in particular. Oman and Jordan are essentially stable monarchies.  What will happen when the current rulers are gone is a anyone's guess.  I suspect  a great deal turmoil at the least.  Egypt, in actuality a military dictatorship, is the least stable nation we visited.  We avoided Yemen with its religious wars which appear to be strengthening the radical factions including El Qaeda.