30th

Rhys and i woke early and went out into the street to a grocery store to get some breakfast (soup). While eating the girls emerged and we headed out into the snow. Rhys ad i wore bags over our socks to keep our feet dry, but they only worked for the first little while, before long we were stepping into puddles of icey slush without caring, our feet coldn't get any wetter or colder. The alley ways in old jeruselam created a maze that we got lost in frequently, but we finally found the Western wall - the most holy site in Judaism and the Dome of the Rock - one of the most holy sites in Islam. Both looked quite spectacular draped in snow. At the wall we all had a pray and then headed back through the ubiquitous security checks to have some lunch, and take off our shoes to warm up our feet. Then we met up with the girls' guide mate who took us around to some other places like the entrance to Hell before we went back to the hostel to warm up. Rhys and i couldn't get right into the warming up with too much vigor as the hot water in the showers wouldn't come on until four (an hour away) and there were no heaters to warm up next to or dry our stuff. As we didn't have any dry shoes or in my case pants (i was wearing my towel) we just stayed inside for the rest of the evening and night and didn't even get tea.

There haven't been many other times in my life when i have been this cold, but it was well worth it - there haven't been many other times in my life when i have been walking around old Jeruselam in the snow either!

29th

This morning i walked to the showers in my boxers, right passed a sign that said residents must always wear shirts when walking to and from showers...The bathroom here was sweet as, it had a mirror right near the toilet that opened up as a window and offered someone who was having a long sit a very pleasent view of the city scape. For breakfast we had cold pizza and mandarins and then realised that we had missed the only bus to Jeruselam and would hav eto catch one via Tel aviv. We waited for quite a while in a bus shelter while it rained then jumped on a bus for two or so hours. Talking to Rhys along the way made the time pass well. While in Tel aviv we had Maccas - big and dirty, i had a super size. (no cheese though) then a short bus ride took us to Jeruselam where it was really windy and cold and we both felt a bit tired - nto keen to walk around with our bas until later when we could find our couchsurfing mate Simon's place - so we sat down on the floor in a shopping centre and thought - then walked to a hostel and booked in, read the paper, and went out for felafel. Ont the way back at about eight we got talking to some girls from Sydney - all a bit younger than us (they'd just finished their HSC), went to private Jewish schools and had different accents to ours - rich upper class Aussie ones, i didn't know that they actually existed. For the first time i felt like i had grown up on a farm about half an hour from Tamworth - ha! There names were Talia, Polena and Naomi. They ditched us to watch a TV show but came back soon and wanted to go out with us instead to a bar. They were all thinkers and we talked about lots of things. After we had tea and were sitting back in our kitchen we went to the rooftop where it was snowing so we sung, danced, hugged and threw snowballs!

28th

We woke pretty late today, chatted to some fellow travellers, ate some of our expensive (though quite nice) cheese and fruit and with directions from the very kind hostel lady caught a bus to Nazareth. The bus ride didn't sit well with me at all, i felt a bit nauseous, and the almost constant beeping by the bus driver didn't help. But in Nazareth i felt much better once we were walking around. Rhys and i came accross a big church with nice mozaics around it so we wandered in. It was the chruch of ascension built ontop of where Mary lived and was almost thirty nine years old! We then followed the signs through the labyrinth of market alleys to our really cool inn, and unlike times of old it now had room. The inn had really high ceilings with murals on them and large tiled floors. Rhys and i sat on some cushions in the corner and sipped mint tea and listened to the calls of prayes at Mosques. We then heeded the advice of the owner and walked to Mt. Precipice which took us through the industrial part of town which was a little dirty, but the view from the top of the mountain made it worth it. However, on the way back we did have to pass an unofficial garbage dump which in the words of an American that we met in Jeruselam 'smelt like an abortion'. As we slowly wandered back we waved to by many people and honked at alot - it was a little disconcerting, much like we foreigners, which i guess we were. As we had Shwarma (like a kabab) we branched out and had pizza for dinner from a nice little place on the main street.

27th

This morning i met up with Reza again and he drove me to the top of the Bahai gardens where Tahereh had organised for me to take part in a tour of the Bahai administrative centre. This was good fun, but meeting the people on the tour was just as cool, two people from Darwin, one from Melbourne, one from Moldova and our tour guide from America. After the tour i met up with Rhys who had ambled up to the gardens and we had a tour of the Bahai gardens together, before checking out the Bahai information centre at the underpass.

Rhys and i then went in search of Elijah's cave which we didn't end up actually finding, but we had a nice walk in the process. We had a lunch of fresh breads and then bought food for that night including five slices of cheese for $5! We didn't know the price when we bought it... Soon we were exhausted so went back to the hostel, chatted, rested, ate, slept. Was very nice sitting outside under israelli stars sitting in old chairs chatting about Religion, philosophy and life with a good mate.

day 3

This morning after another great breakfast of egg, pita bread and carrot and apple juice we travelled the 30km to the prison city of Acca. Reza was a fantastic guide telling many stories about the places that we were visiting and making the trip so much more valuable. We followed Baha'u'llah's path as a prisoner, where he arrived, stayed in gaol, then was finally released and the houses that he stayed in. We also visited some crazy markets, where i learned to say 'thankyou in arabic 'shockran' and i saw a sharks head for sale! We had another fantastic falafel for lunch and then headed to the shrine of Baha'u'llah - the founder of the Bahai faith. All day long and on the way back to Haifa i peppered Reza and Tahereh with quesitons about the Bahai faith and we had some great discussions. I was interested to know how we would get along, but it all worked out really well, i would consider them friends now not just the parents of my ex girlfriend.

That night i met up with Rhys at the Port Inn in Haifa and we sat in the garden under the stars talking for ages and then walked around Haifa and got pleasently lost - it was really good to catch up with him again, but strangely odd as although we know each other quite well having emailed each other at least once or twice a week for the past year, this was only the third time i'd actually seen him.

day 2

Today after a large hearty breakfast the Khanlari's took me around the Bahai gardens which are easy to see from their 13th floor flat. I had read about the Gardens and seen pictures of them, but they were much more impressive than i could have imagined, my favourite detail is the streams of water that run alongside all the stairs from the very top to the bottom, it not only looks pretty but creates a beautiful burbling sound to accompany the stroll through the gardens. Reza and I then visited the shrine of the Bab and prayed there before we grabbed a quick lunch and i had a walk around Haifa. That night i had my first fellafel and we went to some other friends of the Khanlari's and had sushi and listened to a man play an interesting stringed intsrument by tapping it with sticks.

Israel Jan 24th day 1

Israel! The land of all things religious - even on the plane trip over i knew it was going to be interesting as there were many many ultra orthodox jews on the plane with me sporting the big black hats, yamakas and curly bits infront of their ears. With the arduous trip over (earphones to listen to the tv cost £3 so i opted to lip read - unsuccessfully) i got my passport checked three different times and was questioned very thouraghly on my plans in israel before i left the airport. Unfortunately a british girl who i had been chatting to was asked to move along as she was waiting for me while i was being questioned - i didn't get to meet up with her again...

Once through i picked up 600 shekals (A$200) which are very brightly coloured and found the train station where i waited to board the train to Haifa. While waiting a young chap in an army uniform and holding a serious gun sat next to me, most likely travelling back home after some army training - i had read all about this, but i'm just not that used to seeing guns like this about. That night i met up with Reza and Tahereh Khanlari at their place in Haifa and we went to some of their friends place for dinner.