Jordan and Israel Trip- Part 14

Jericho- 21/11/2019

Jericho was my first stop after passing into Palestine. Jericho was very similar to many places I have visited with developing economies. Many near-empty shops, taxi drivers hungry for fares, bins present but rubbish on the streets, friendly but idle locals. For a place my goverment thinks I shouldn’t visit, everything seemed quite calm.

After I settled into my hostel, I took short walk to Ein Al Sultan, apparently the oldest known settlement in the world.

However after Jeresh and Petra, it was a tad underwhelming . The nearby spring, which supplied water to much of ancient Jericho, was more picturesque.

My next step was Mount Temptation . I could of taken a cable car to the top, but of course I walked, which granted some incredible views.

The Mount Temptation Monastery was impressive, and conceals the cave where it is said that Jesus spent forty days and nights, while fasting and being tempted by Satan.

Due to claustrophobia and the legions of the devout, I didn’t get any closer. Also, the monastery featured a church, but there was a long queue to enter, and I felt uncomfortable around so much beating of breast style piety, so I departed.

There were also some excellent views from balconies.

The next morning I took a walk to Herrod’s Palace, a good two kilometres from my hostel, but wonderfully flat after yesterday. Following roadsigns, I left the barely sealed road for a dirt track and was soon stopped by Israeli soldiers. I had previously waved at a pair of soldiers on a side road they seemed to be blocking, who barely acknowledged me. This time was different. Where are you going? What are you doing? Where are you from? Do you know you are in the Palestinian Territories? it physically pained me not to answer with no, I thought I was in Disneyland, however armed soldiers, even ones with painted fingernails and lipstick, are not the best recipients of my retail and travel tuned sarcasm. Once it was clear they had no further need to hinder me, I continued on my way.

I walked through alongside a small farm, and jumped a half-broken down fence, and arrived. I spotted half a dozen more soldiers, chatting to themselves and taking selfies. After taking a few photos, I realised that the only other people there were a large tour group, and I got closer on the pretense of reading some signs, I realised they were speaking Hebrew, marking them as Israelis. The plot thickens.

Later, when discussing  my escapade with some other travellers at the hostel, I learned that many Israelis are told that the whole of the West Bank is a war zone, and the chances of being a victim of a terrorist attack is incredibly high, hence the perceived need of ludicrous levels of security. meanwhil, I found Palestine to be much safer than other places I have traveled to, and apart from some children who viewed me as an ATM, every Palestinian I met was friendly and welcoming.