January 15, 2019
The day dawned clear and warm, as yesterday's storm had blown itself out. The southbound bus let me off where the Sea of Galilee flows into the Jordan. I walked to a nearby place that rents canoes; there was only one person there and he was carving a totem pole (1) with power saws (2). He thought no-one would come today, but he was glad to rent me (3) an Old Town Canoe, which was made in Maine.
I set out downriver (4) and enjoyed seeing and hearing the birds and the occasional plop of an unknown animal jumping off a log into the water upon my approach. The water was quite turbid, with visibility probably about a foot in depth. The locals told me the water is normally much clearer, but the big rain yesterday washed a lot of soil, &c. into the river. I had to maneuver around a few snags caused by yesterday's storm (5). I saw a group of turtles sunning themselves on a rock, with one younger turtle on its mother's back; they were perfectly still the whole time I watched.
Back upriver is a large site for baptisms. There are river-side seating areas, pavilions, stairs into the water, and fences to ensure the newly-baptised don't get swept away. I kept a discrete distance to avoid interfering (or photo-bombing someone's picture). Ladling water from the river seem to be the preferred method today; full immersion might be a bit chilly for some (6).
From the baptismal site back to the boat livery, a happy white dog followed me from the riverbank, poking his head out each time there was an opening in the brush. While I thought this was pleasant, he was not particularly welcome at the boat launch, as he likes to chase the chickens that live here. Upon my arrival back, there was a large kettle of tea brewing over a wood fire at the boat livery, and I had a nice chat with an Australian couple who were visiting.
The southbound bus went through the Jordan River Valley, with the country of Jordan just across the river (7). Jordanian border watchtowers were sometimes quite close to the road as the river meandered through the valley bottom. The Bet She'an bus stop, where I got off, is about 2 miles from the train station (8). I knew trains left every hour on the 31. I could have rushed to make the 1:31, but I saw a sign for the Bet She'an National Park in the right direction, so I took a more leisurely stroll to allow me to visit.
While I had never heard of the park before I saw the sign, it was definitely worth a visit. The Park contained the remains of a fairly large Byzantine City from circa 400. It was amazing. The Romans/Byzantines (9) certainly built things to last. There were wide streets, grand houses with floor mosaics, an amphitheatre, &c.
I caught the 2:31 train and (with a few connections) arrived back in Jerusalem in the early evening. At Beit She'an (-600 feet elevation), I was in a short sleeve shirt. At Haifa, (sea level), I switched to a light sweater and windbreaker. At Jerusalem (+2,500 feet) it was a heavy sweater and down coat.
In the evening, it was fun to watch the cats at the Mehane Yehuda market in Jerusalem. They seemed to know when each shop closed and would go scrounging for scraps. One cat was riding a rubbish bin with its head in a box as the bin was being wheeled out.
(1) Northwest USA Native-American style, of which there were a good number already on site.
(2) He was wearing thick ear protectors and was unaware of my presence for a while. Not wanting to startled a man wielding a power saw, I waited until he turned my way to get his attention.
(3) After signing a waiver of course. While I do not read any Hebrew, I'm sure it said that if I do something stupid, they're not liable.
(4) While I started going downriver, there is no current here The river is endammed at both ends, forming a linear pond here (a).
(a) My general rule when there is a current is upriver (against the current) first, then downriver with the current later when you're more tired.
(5) One local told me she had not seen a storm like yesterday's in a number of years.
(6) Having taken a quick dip elsewhere in the river, I can attest that the water was refreshing, although probably warmer than the Maine Coast in summer.
(7) Upriver where I had been canoeing earlier, both banks of the river were in Israel.
(8) Integration between bus and rail transportation (b) does not seem to be Israel's top priority, although the recently-opened (9/2018) rail line to Jerusalem did put the train station right next to the main station.
(b) There was an episode of the UK comedy "Yes, Minister" in which the minister is asked to develop an integrated national transport policy. Some remembered dialogue:
The Minister (bemoaning a lack of integration) "Have you ever seen a bus timetable at a railway station?"
The Permanent Secretary: "Has a bus driver ever seen a bus timetable?"
(9) The Emperor Constatine moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium in the 300s C.E.
No comments:
Post a Comment