Day 9

Our last full day in Jerusalem, tomorrow we fly home, so also probably our last blog entry.

Got up insanely early (5:30am) in the hope of getting to the Tomb at the Holy Sepulchre before the crowds. Walking through the almost deserted streets of the Old City was eerie. Only the odd solider, monk or baker's boy were around.

It was great to find the Church largely empty, you could get a much better impression of the building. Sadly around 100 French Catholics had got up before we did and were packed round the tomb hoping to take part in the Mass being celebrated inside. Foiled again!

Met up with our tour minibus at the Jaffa Gate at 7am to head for the Dead Sea area. This is the lowest piece of dry land on earth. At the point where we passed below sea level there was a man offering camel rides. It was a very nice camel but we declined.

First stop was Qumran, the recently excavated site of the community who wrote the Dead Sea scrolls and the caves (pictured) where they hid them. The site is dominated by a number of large bathing pools, showing how important ritual washing was to them.

Next we travelled to Masada, the mountaintop fortress of Herod the Great. Although you can walk up in theory, it is over 400m high, and a very steep climb. The cable car is much better. Bet Herod would have liked one.

At the summit are the ruins of Herod's palace. It was also the site of the last stand, and mass suicide, of 1000 Jewish rebels besieged by the Roman Army in AD74. As their death marked the last gasp of an independent Jewish state for 1900 years, it is of great ideological importance to Israel today. You can even have your Bar Mitzvah there.

You also get incredible views across the desert and to the Dead Sea.

We now headed to the Kalia beach on the Dead Sea. Here the water is 30% salt and therefore tastes terrible. Floating on the water was a strange but fun experience.

Please note this photo is not to be viewed in the Parish of Wrexham.

The thick mud on the sea bed is said to have therapeutic properites due to the minerals it contains. Laura nearly got stuck in it.

Not only do people float in the water, we discovered, but 10 sh coins and locker keys do too. Then they disappear into the mud. A hammer, chisel and burly maintenance man later we were reunited with our stuff, which meant that we could take these pictures. Laura was properly covered in mud top to toe at one point, but it had washed off by the time we got the camera back.

Finally we got to have lunch. This was at the Mount of Temptation at Jericho, the site associated with the Temptation of Christ, but now the temptation to buy lots of tat at inflated prices. We resisted temptation and the all you can eat buffet cos it was $15 a head.

Jericho is the lowest inhabited town on earth, as well as the oldest continously inhabited place, having an 11,000 year history.

Its name means City of Palms, for reasons that are evident.

Hisham's Palace in Jericho, an Islamic building from the 8th century, was once the greatest of the Omayyid palaces. It was also controversial in its time for including statues of naked ladies, which was thought to be un-islamic and decadent.

Our return journey to Jerusalem stopped to take in a tree claimed to be the one that Zacchaeus the tax collector climbed to get a better view of Jesus in the Gospel story. A pinch of Dead Sea salt with this one we suspect.

Finally back to our appartment, fairly exhaused.

PS but also back to good news - Laura found out she has passed her OCR Level 5 Teaching Pupils with Learning Difficulties course, which was a relief after all her hard work and the hassle it has meant.