Greencaviar Travel

The Holy Land:  The Little Town of Bethlehem As we passed the Kidron Valley to cross the West Bank, our guide mentioned two things relevant to our going through a checkpoint to cross the West Bank:  the illegal residents in the West Bank, and Israel not wanting Palestine to control the border with Jordan, Egypt and the Sinai desert. After the checkpoint, the scenery changed to a sad picture: a sleepy town, rather scruffy town – pile of garbage on vacant lots and open ditches. Our guide told us that that part of the West Bank has no government because they wanted autonomy. He did not talk much about the area's political history. I thought it ironic to see a rather neglected place leading to Bethlehem considering that Bethlehem, which means “House of Bread” in Hebrew, is depicted in the Bible as a tranquil and pastoral place.  It was known for its fertile and cultivated fields in biblical times; It was referred to in the Old Testament as Ephrat , which...

The Holy Land:  Jericho, The Oldest City in the World Our next stop was Jericho, a few miles away from the Dead Sea. Bounded by the mountainous Judean desert on one side and a plain with cultivated fruit trees (mostly Palm trees), it is 850 feet below sea level. The Palm trees gave Jericho the title, “The City of Palm Trees” or “The Fragrant City” from Canaanite word “reah” that means “fragrant’. Our guide, a Botany professor, was throwing metaphor about the palm trees like ‘it takes fifteen years for the bone to dry,” and rambled on about the plants. Since we were on a pilgrimage, the focus of our trip was on ‘Jesus Jericho’ as opposed to “Anthony and Cleopatra Jericho” (term coined by our guide). We saw the natural landscapes – the Mount of Temptation where Jesus Christ was tempted by the devil during his 40-day fast, and the “Valley of the Shadow of Death” in the Psalm of David. The Gospel also stated that Jesus passed through Jericho where he healed one or two blin...