Welcome to Israel

Today Kara and I had to fend for ourselves (barely). Leon dropped us off at the bus station to take the earliest bus from Amman to the border crossing, where the plan was to meet Danny on the other side. Riding to the crossing, it was fascinating to look out the window but I also hatched a plan. I’d heard horror stories about border crossings into Israel, and the internet confirmed that we should expect to wait several hours and for it to be an ordeal. Praying for patience and the ability to hold my tongue, I’d intentionally worn my nicest outfit. Using the bus ride to look as presentable and non-backpacker as possible (while carrying backpacks on my back and in front), I busted out the earrings and lipstick.

As we arrived at the Jordanian side of the crossing, the bus arrived at a small and plain building and we went inside to begin the process. We had a funny moment when after waiting for quite some time by the first window with no signs of progress, I noticed an employee sitting in another booth with no line. I approached it, thinking she could also help process us, and was informed “this is window 2” (in case the “2” above her didn’t tell me that). That was all. What she didn’t tell me was whether everyone regardless of citizenship had to go through window 1 (they did) to pay at window 3. Eventually we boarded the crossing shuttle to drive across the no-man’s land between the two countries to the Israeli side. This included several stops to have the vehicle inspected (including mirrors underneath), the passports of all passengers inspected, etc.. At the Israeli building, we had to stay on the bus until we were granted permission to get off, grab our bags, place them on a trolley, and begin waiting in line to be processed at the windows outside the building. This gave me time to admire the landscaping and the nicer building than their neighbor’s. Despite the linear appearance of the line, once you made it to the front it was a chaotic jumble of people going up to the multiple windows, and I swear some people figured out a way to bypass this step altogether. Once we did, we then had to traverse the chaos with all of our luggage to drop them off at another window and go inside the building, where we were greeted with an airport-style security check, and another window. This was the one where I sprang my plan into action. The one thing these countries shared were grumpy border staff, and this woman looked determinedly surly. Forcing my biggest smile, I gave her an enthusiastic “Shalom!” in the most obnoxious American accent I could muster and acted like this window was the highlight of my day. When she asked the purpose of our visit, I happily told her about our plan to visit the Christian sites. In a matter of minutes, our interview was over and we were through! Total time to traverse the crossings: about 3.5 hours. Picking up our bags and heading outside, I was so relieved to see Danny. Apparently he was just as relieved to see us, as they wouldn’t let him drive the rental car to the building, and assuming he meant to make the crossing himself, they kept trying to make him enter Jordan. Eventually we made it to the car and were on our way, driving due north to the Sea of Galilee.

The Israeli side of the Jordan River valley was much greener than the Jordanian side with all the agriculture, which aside from the banana plants reminded me a lot of driving through central California. We also saw several Israelis trying to hitchhike, which Danny explained is a fairly common practice. It wasn’t long before we encountered a checkpoint, and I decided to use my “trick” again. A friendly “Shalom” goes a long way, but we were surprised when they didn’t even ask to see Kara’s passport. Soon we arrived at the Sea of Galilee and after a quick lunch in Tiberius, started our “tour de churches.” There’s a church built to commemorate the possible site of everything Christ did there, including the Sermon on the Mount, the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, and telling Peter to “feed my sheep”. 

Church of the Loaves and Fishes

On the shore of the Sea of Galilee

Attempting to walk on water at the Sea of Galilee

 

We also saw the remains of Capernaum, with a large church built over what was thought to be Peter’s house. The outlines of the houses were all small and nearly identical to me, so I’m not sure how they decided which was “the” house. The gardens at the Mount of Beattitudes church were lovely, with young olive groves surrounding the property, but I had to smile at contradictory signs.

Signs at the Mount of Beattitudes: on the left, "Let anyone who thirst come to me and drink...." but on the right "water not for drink"

Garden at the Mount of Beattitudes

Almost all the other tourists were there with a tour group, and at each site at least one group was either holding a devotional or a worship service in their language. Not doing either, we got through them much faster than I would have expected. With this extra time, we headed north to Nimrod Fortress in the Golan Heights. I’d never heard of this crusader fortress, but was impressed with the view and the effort it must have taken to haul the stone up to it. We practically had it to ourselves, and stayed until the park closed.

Nimrod Fortress

Water storage at Nimorod Fortress--it can still hold water!

As we drove through the hilly countryside of forest and cherry orchards afterward, Danny explained what he knew of the history of that area and the Druze he researched in grad school. With the exception of a small village of pockmarked buildings that was abandoned, you’d never guess how recently this area had seen conflict. The years of conflict and moving borders have created a bit of a conundrum/limbo for some of the residents here, though—they ended up in a country that doesn’t want them, and they in turn don’t want to acknowledge that country’s potential legitimacy. Not sure how long I could live like that. There was a scenic lookout overlooking the border with Lebanon, and a machine played a recording explaining the Israeli perspective of the war and the UN-run demilitarization zone we were seeing while enjoying the cherries we’d purchased roadside.

Driving back to Tiberius, our long weekend and Danny’s jetlag started to set in. After checking into our hotel and finding a nearby pizza place for dinner, we called it an early night.

(kk update: just a few weeks after our visit, a radical Israeli group attacked “The Loaves and Fishes Church.”)