Har HaZikkaron

Whenever we holiday, we always like to go out with a bang rather than a whimper and today was a good example of that.
The weather was fine but slightly cooler and we revisited some familiar places. We also stumbled across a great new way to do Hezekiah’s tunnel if you’re on a budget.

We commenced by trying out the light rail system in preparation for tomorrow when we hope to catch the light rail to Jerusalem central station then catch the fast train direct to BenGurion airport. We knew we needed to buy physical tickets for the light rail and we didn’t want to be stumbling around tomorrow with a full complement of luggage trying to work out the unfamiliar ticketing system.
It was just as well we did.
After several attempts to purchase a ticket at 3 different machines on Jaffa street we eventually got a physical card (a bit like an Opal Card for Sydney people) loaded with two single fares. We thought we had read that 2 people could share one card (and simply debit it twice when boarding) but when we did board the next tram to Damascus Gate station we found that it would only debit one fare . . . .so one of us was riding ticketless . . . again. Later re-reading the fine print we discovered that you can indeed share a single ticket on all forms of public transport EXCEPT the light rail.

We got off at Damascus Gate and thankfully no ticket inspectors ‘detained us for further questioning’. We endeavoured to purchase another card at Damascus Gate station but none of the machines would cooperate. Eventually we surmised that they had run out of the physical cards in the machine so it was impossible to buy a valid fare by this method.
We walked into the old city through the Damascus Gate, through the market street where we bought some delicious looking baklava at a fraction of the price it is in a ‘regular’ shop and then turned left on Via Dolorosa to get to the Lion Gate. The purpose of this was because Loss hadn’t been to the Lion Gate before and it had of course featured prominently in our ‘Ammunition Hill’ experience yesterday as being the gate through which the Old City was taken in 1967.
We stood outside the gate and discussed this, noting that most of the gunfire damage inflicted on the gate in 1967 has now been repaired.
We then took a few steps back inside the gate to visit St. Anne’s Church in the grounds of which are the remains of the Pool of Bethesda. We had visited this before but it was good to see some new information and signage which made the layout of the site much easier to understand.
We continued back along Via Dolorosa with the sole intention of enjoying coffee and apple strudel at the Austrian Hospice. However, a sign on the side of the Ecce Homo Pilgrim House caught my eye indicating that parts of the Strouthion Pool and the rockscarp of the Antonia fortress could be observed inside. I had heard about such a site but wasn’t sure of its location - now I knew.
Entry required a few shekels in cash which I didn’t have, but the Australian lady on the reception area kindly let us go in anyway. The archaeological aspects were surprisingly good and quite well placarded and we enjoyed piecing this together with our understanding of Herod’s Temple and its associated structures. We had seen the Antonia Fortress rockscarp from the Temple Mount a few days ago and part of the Strouthion Pool on the Western Wall Tunnels tour from a few years ago. Now we were seeing the opposite side of these same features.
Caffeine and strudel were calling and we were not to be sidetracked again. The Austrian Hospice is a wonderfully tranquil haven just a few metres away from the noise and bustle of the streets below and we rested here for a while, taking the opportunity to do our Bible readings in a most enjoyable location. The rooftop view from the Hospice is also quite good and we enjoyed picking out many of the features that we had visited over the past 5 days from this vantage point.

Next up was a retracing of steps down the Via Dolorosa, back through the Lion’s Gate, down across the Kidron Valley and up the Mount of Olives. We accidentally discovered a new stairway adjacent to the Garden of Gethsemane site that leads right up to the crest of the Mount which was much safer and somewhat easier than dodging cars flying up the narrow, winding road.

We lingered here for a while taking in that view of which you never tire. We decided we would head down and walk the Kidron Valley as they have installed a new path that runs down its length. As we made our way down we noted some excellent signage with Bible references to events that had taken place in the Kidron.

Unexpectedly, we came across a structure that looked like a large open Bedouin tent with seats, couches and refreshments. We initially didn’t have any intention of engaging with the proprietors but the young Israeli man told us it was a new feature of the City of David company. Looking about, it did have appropriate signage so we let him speak on.
For a small fee of 15 shekels (equivalent to just over AUD$6) we would be taken on a tour down the rest of the Kidron and then given access to a ‘side entrance’ into Hezekiah’s tunnel to either do the Wet or Dry tunnel as we chose. Additionally they would provide a courtesy shuttle ride for us back up the valley if we wished - and the absolute clincher was that they made us a free cup of mint tea in the pleasantly cool tent while I paid via the online facility!
Loss got to ride in a sidesaddle sort of arrangement on the gopher driven by our ‘guide’ who hailed from Silwan and spoke not a word of English - but no matter, because he had a magic phone that opened locked gates in our path and then a magic key that opened the ‘secret’ gates where Hezekiah’s tunnel can be accessed from the side of the Kidron Valley.
It was quite disorienting to approach Hezekiah’s tunnel in this way.
We stood there for a few minutes getting our bearings, said goodbye to our Arab guide, allowed some groups to pass and then we found that the normally packed Gihon spring fortifications area was completely empty!
We spent about half an hour going back around all this area, taking photos and watching the excellent audiovisual demonstration that helps make it all very understandable. Being able to move around this area freely with no one else there except 2 Israeli information people who also answered a few of our questions was just amazing.
Now we started to hear voices coming down from above so it was time to go.
As we had not come with shoes or clothing to do the ‘wet’ tunnel, we opted for the dry (Canaanite) tunnel which neither of us had done before.
This was also a bonus, as right with us was a knowledgeable guide and his sole client who filled in some background information on this tunnel and how it was used for irrigation during David’s time.
Once exiting the ‘dry’ tunnel and as we were still within the bounds of the City of David facility we were able to go and investigate some more of the archeological features in this lower area of the site, including walls from the first temple period.
We decided to walk back up to the starting point of the City of David rather than right down to the Siloam Pool, so as it turned out we did a full City of David experience starting in the Kidron Valley for exactly half the cost of a ‘regular’ City of David ticket.

So, there’s a tip for anyone travelling on a budget! This operation has only been going for five months and as far as we were concerned, it was a winner.

Our final activity for the day was to visit ‘The Time Elevator’ which is a motion-ride experience that takes you through the history of Jerusalem in a novel way. It had moved from its previous location up near Jerusalem Tower hotel and is now down in the Mamilla Centre. We got there just in time for the last show of the day at 5.20pm - and as we were literally the only ones in the theatre they played the English soundtrack for us over the theatre speakers rather than having to listen to the translation through headphones.
It was pretty much the same as we had remembered with a few added touches at the conclusion but I particularly enjoy the way they portray the scenes that involve Jeremiah and Zedekiah.
We made our way back towards our unit with a detour to try to buy another Light Rail ticket in preparation for tomorrow’s trip. After 2 more unsuccessful attempts we finally got a machine to spit out a ticket.

And the Damascus Gate baklava was very much enjoyed after dinner.

So ends our Jerusalem visit. We didn’t visit many of the ‘classic’ sites because we had been to them before and were well familiar with them. What we did this time was to seek out new points of interest (e.g. Annas’ tomb) and to also spend more time at places that we had not had sufficient time to explore properly in past visits, at the same time enjoying the new archeological finds that have taken place since we last visited.

It has been a wonderful 7 weeks. We have suffered no illness or injuries. The weather has been remarkably good and the experiences diverse and enriching. We have been truly blessed.

It’s now time to head home to our ‘real’ life. May it be that we will be in Jerusalem again very soon when it is ‘made a praise in all the earth’.

And thank you to all those who have followed this blog and for those who have contributed (and helped correct some entries) along the way over the past 50 days.
Hopefully it has been informative and entertaining in equal measures.
May God bless you all.Read more