Back in Jerusalem

Sunday 3^rd February.

Time to head back to Jerusalem. I did like Tel Aviv. I just think the bad weather was putting me off of it. Besides I wanted to use Jerusalem as a base to visit Bethlehem and Jericho. Both in the West Bank.

I took a Sherut back to the big J. I decided to book into a back-packer’s hostel this time round. It turned out to be great fun. I had to take a dorm though. Which, as in turned out, was a big mistake.

... I am walking from the bus-station down to Damascus gate. As I cross the street I hear someone shout to me and tap my shoulder. A young guy appears next to me and holds out something in his outstretched hand. "Nice tattoo," he says, "I thought you should have this." I am not sure what the King James Bible, The New Testament, has to do with Gaelic zoomorphic imagery, but I accept it with a smile...

I dumped my bags and decided to do a walking tour of the ramparts. The hostel was situated right next to the old city – Damascus gate, to be exact. The Old city, as I have mentioned before, is completely surrounded by fortified walls. These walls have ramparts along most of them. For a reasonable fee you can take a tour around them. I really enjoyed a peaceful afternoon being anonymous and taking in Jerusalem from above. Many of the ramparts pass directly over the gates – Jaffa – Damascus – Herod’s. I don’t really have much more to report on that. I was mainly lost with my thoughts. Oh some kids tried to throw a snowball at me, it must have been snowing the night before. He was a terrible shot though.

Got back to the hostel and went for a run around Jerusalem. It was a cold, crisp night, and the stars were out. I was beginning to really like this place.

I also discovered the price of a bed included a meal. The hostel was a really cool kind of backpackers place. Full of all sorts of shapes, sizes, and ages. Dinner was served in the main dining area. This was a large hall with bench like seats down each side. Everyone queued up and was served a whopping great portion. If you were lucky you got seconds. I got chatting to a fair few people that night. It was a good communal atmosphere. They also had a freestyle rapping session. Two guys got on the microphone against each other and proceeded to insult each other’s dress, parentage, sisters, life-style, and religion. It was pretty good fun. A mad guy who worked there – whom I am sure was on crack – ran up and down and jumped on people’s heads and farted. Some people told me they’d been here over a month. [There is a syndrome called Jerusalem syndrome. I believe there is also one associated to Rome also. It affects over 200 people, who visit this city, every year. The syndrome convinces the sufferer that they are the next Messiah. They end up running around the streets of the old city ranting and raving at anyone who'll listen - and often people that really don't want to. This has become such a problem a clinic has been opened up to deal with this problem. Afflicted souls are dumped here until the symptons of the problem fade away. It usually takes about three months. After this time they go completely (raised eyebrow) back to normal. Well. I have two days left. Fingers crossed] I Crashed out about 1am. A Chinese guy came in and shook his towel every half an hour until 3am.

I hope it helped. I really do.