Jerusalem III

The last day in Jerusalem was supposed to be a solemn one, I planned on doing nothing but stay inside the hostel room until night time when the sherut would pick me up to go to the airport. I ate breakfast and was approached by Fergus as he was asking me about how to get to Tel Aviv. It was Shabbat again and that meant public transportation was going to be nil later in the day. I advised him to visit the old city of Jaffa and taught him how to get there and come back via sherut. He made some kind comments about how he thinks I'm a very kind person which made me feel happy though I never did do any kindness to him whatsoever. I went back to our room and took a shower and just relaxed a bit, I was talking with Oscar and asking about his plans for the day. Seemed like he was going back to the Old City again. I really didn't have anything better to do and I asked him if I could tag along. Little did we know, we were in for an adventure of a lifetime today.

The walk towards the Old City was always a pleasant one as we slowly transitioned from an advanced civilization back to the ancient periods as we entered Jaffa Gate. Oscar praised me for my ingenious usage of the umbrella, it really did help me survive getting heat stroke in the Middle East. We passed by the Tower of David, one that I had ignored previously on the first day because I thought it required payment but it was actually free so Oscar and I went inside to check the place out. I can't believe they were hiding ruins this huge back here. It took a lot of time for us to go around the first floor only to find out there were still hidden corridors, an underground portion and several floors above leading to the roof. The views of Jerusalem were exquisite. We got lost halfway and had to find our way back to where we started while avoiding the blistering heat. Fresh and free water was a great find along the way. I was also able to visit the now open, Cathedral of Saint James in the Armenian Quarter. This place was where James the Less was buried, one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus. I was already quite satisfied with how the day was going because we managed to hit several places that I wouldn't have otherwise have been able to see had I just stayed back.

We went to the Jewish quarter where we had brunch, the usual falafels and what not. I had the idea to go visit the City of David which I remember reading about. We went out via the Dung Gate to get our tickets. I was also thinking of visiting this other ruined area near the Temple Mount but we opted not to as it didn't look like it was worth it. Oscar and I went to the ticket booth which was gratiously air-conditioned.

The main sight to see in the City of David was the Hezekiah's Tunnel which was this super long and narrow man-made cavern that ran for more than 500 meters with fresh spring water that could go all the way up to your knees. I was quite keen on going for it while Oscar was having second thoughts about his shoes and just going barefoot which wasn't advised by the staff. In the end, I managed to convince him to just go for it and off we went downwards first and then into the void. It was dark and only the sound of rushing water flooded the caverns. We had our phone's flash on as we waddled through the tight spaces. The cold water felt really good and the air smelled pleasantly fragrant perhaps because it was natural spring water. There were times where I would just take off my slippers since it was easier and times where I would put them back on because the ground was quite rough as well. Oscar on the other hand was having the time of his life, he kept exclaiming how this was the best part of his whole trip in Israel. I found myself agreeing with him as the experience was super exhilirating and unique. I was definitely laughing and smiling all the way, laughing at Oscar as well as he was often hitting his head and suffering a lot by hunching all the way since he was so tall. This went on endlessly, we somehow lost track of how long we have been walking and the only thing that was changing was the water level, it was already past my knees at one point. There wasn't anyone else as well so doing it alone would have been very nerve-wracking for sure. The experience would have been entirely different altogether. It was great Oscar didn't back out and went with me. After for what seemed like forever, we soon saw light at the end of the tunnel. It led us to a clearing to the Siloan Pond. There was a family gathering water there and some Ultra Orthodox Jews who were waiting for them to go away so that they could bathe in the water. They told us that the water could purify them before they set foot into holy ground.

Our journey wasn't over yet as we had to go through a different ancient route in the form of another tunnel heading back to Jerusalem. This time it wasn't submerged in water so it was much easier albeit less fun. It was still cooler than walking above under the sun. This tunnel was much greener with all the moss but also not too natural anymore as there were a lot of man-made structures within. We found ourselves back near the Old City as we exited the tunnel and made our way back in, ready to go back to the hostel for a bit of a rest.

On our way back, the effects of Shabbat was soon becoming apparent as shops left and right started to close even before the Shabbat alarm rang. I managed to snag a burger for lunch and ate it back at the hostel. Relaxing a bit with Oscar, Fergus soon joined us. I was quite surprised to see him back early as I thought he wanted to see the sunset back in Tel Aviv. Turns out he finished Old Jaffa quite early and found his way back here to avoid the Shabbat complications. Instead, he wanted to challenge himself in going up the Mount of Olives to take a photo of the sunset from there instead. Well, we cheered him on and helped him with the routes but off he went. Oscar and I continued to just talk about various stuff, his life in Sweden, the town he lived in, his work as a teacher and he shared with me a lot of interesting tidbits about Israeli culture and history as well. We talked about spirituality, religion, history and politics of other countries amongst other things.

For dinner, we once again made our way back to the Old City, this time at the Muslim Quarter since they were the only ones left unaffected by Shabbat. We took a peek inside Damascus Gate to see if there would be any interesting activities happening in the Muslim Quarter in the Old City but seems like most of the shops here were closed as well. We had an amazing dinner at the King of Shawarma, the title rightly so as I couldn't even finish the blasted thing. It was packed and full of so much food, I tried giving as much as I can to the cats hanging around. They weren't so keen on eating it as well but it looked like beggars can't be choosers as they still swallowed it with a grimace. Oscar and I shared a lot of laughs and stories while eating and on the way back. This time it truly was the end of the journey in Israel. I took another shower and just hanged about on my now nude mattress until one of the staff called me that my sherut was now there to pick me up. I said my goodbyes to Oscar and Fergus and set off for the airport.

We arrived early and my flight was even much later so after going through all the usual airport procedures, I found a place for me to sleep until my flight which ended up being delayed by more than an hour. I was already a bit anxious as I know this means I'd miss my other flights as well. I played the Hare Krishna mantra to calm me down but in the end, I really did miss my flight and was stuck in Athens airport for a long time with no one there to help me. It was a horrible experience and I knew I only had to rely on myself. There was a girl named Nina there from Vietnam who became my friend for a shortwhile. We were both stranded and she shared with me some of her food while we consoled each other. She went ahead before me and I decided to bite the bullet and just buy a new flight via Emirates. I was able to go inside the departure terminal after that and from there to Dubai back to Tokyo. I would say the tickets were well worth it as the airplane was an amazing experience on its own and it made for a very pleasant journey back to Japan.Read more