The Dome of the Rock

Our final stop in the old city of Jerusalem was the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall.

The Dome of the Rock is a mosque that was constructed on the former site of the Jewish temple, which had been destroyed by the Romans. Needless to say, this situation makes no one happy.

The Western (or "wailing") Wall is directly below the Dome. I know I've seen the Wall several times on TV, and it's another one of the famous landmarks that seems so much smaller in real life. I didn't know that there were separate sections for men and women, and there are even separate entrances to the area for the two sexes.

On our way back to Tel Aviv, Rob made a point of driving back through a small section of the West Bank. The dividing wall and barbed wire fences are plainly visible from the highway, and the apartment buildings that we could see had no lights on. Since the dividing wall was put up, there have been no suicide bombings within Israel, so there is some evidence that it is working, but life on the other side of the wall is clearly difficult.

The Holy Sepulchre

The old city of Jerusalem is quite large and there's a lot to see. It would be easier if the maps were clearer and the street names more prominent, but we were able to make our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

This is the site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial. Nothing was marked inside, so I'm not sure where either took place. I took a few pictures, and I'll post them later.

One thing that is clearly marked is the Via Dolorosa, which was the path Jesus took following condemnation by Pilate. Each station of the cross is marked, and there is a place where visitors can pick up and carry a replica cross. Probably for the best, they aren't very heavy.

Christmas in Israel

One of the benefits of my job is having friends stationed around the world, making it easier to visit some great places while catching up with them.

My friend Rob is posted to Tel Aviv, and he kindly offered to let me stay at his place over Christmas weekend. How I could refuse? Even better, another friend or ours, Curtrice, was able to come as well, and the three of us traveled around Israel for three days.

This photo was taken at the Basilica of the Assumption in Nazareth. We were invited to attend the Christmas parade and service in Nazareth by the mission director, and I just thought he and his family were interested to attend the service on the special occasion. As it turned out, it was an official event, and the US ambassador to Israel was also there. I probably should have packed a nicer shirt.

It was interesting to attend a Catholic mass that was not delivered in English -- lots of Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, and just a little English. The hard part was figuring out when to kneel and when to stand back up. This was also the first time I've ever seen white wine used in a service.

Trip to Thailand

There's a lot of training I need to attend while I'm starting out in my job, and these training tend to be held at different offices around the world. In October, I was in Egypt, and for two weeks in November, I was at some training in Bangkok. It was two weeks of training, but at least there was a weekend in between to see some of the country.

I went with two of my friends from the training to the Kanchanaburi region of Thailand, and the highlight of the trip was the chance to ride and swim with elephants.

At first, the elephants were fitted with small seats, just big enough for two people to sit. The driver sat at the elephant's neck, and we took a quick tour of the park. Afterwards, we bought some bananas and fed them to our elephants.

Once the elephants finished their snacks, we got back on them -- without the seats this time -- and rode down into the river. In the river, the driver alternated between telling the elephant to spray us with his trunk and to roll us off his side into the water. One time, I was able to survive the roll into the river and stay on the elephant's back, but I think that just made the driver more determined to have the elephant dump me. It was great fun.

Erewan Waterfalls

Erewan is a series of waterfalls in the Kanchanaburi region of Thailand. Visitors can walk along a 2000 meter trail and see seven tiers of waterfalls. I think they let you swim in four or five of the falls, and it wasn't easy to get a photo of the falls without a bunch of people in it. The place is very popular, especially in the humidity of Thailand.

My favorite part of this photo is the fish visible at the bottom. Even though I didn't go swimming myself, I was told that the fish would start nibbling on people as soon as the stepped into the water. And, of course, all the fist are right at the edge of the water. They would also come after you out in deeper water if you weren't moving around enough.

Later that day, I decided to get a fish massage, where you dangle your legs into a fish tank and let them nibble away. It was pretty fun. I'll post a photo.

Former Palace of the Thai King

I doubt anyone asks why a king needs a new palace when the old one still seems perfectly good. Maybe they wanted a palace just for tourists to visit.

There is no picture or group of pictures I could post to do this place justice. The craftsmanship and attention to detail on every aspect of the building and decorations are just incredible.

The roof is made up of millions, no doubt, of small tiles, and these two statues are outfitted with small baubles, jewels, and reflective pieces of metal. There are dozens of statues like this and perhaps hundreds of smaller ones, each with the same level of detail. I can only imagine how long it took to complete the work.

Wat Arun

On the way to the former palace and the Reclining Buddha, we saw an impressive temple across the river and decided to stop there on our way back.

Wat Arun focuses on this building, and visitors are allowed to climb up. As you might guess from the photo, our visit was cut short by a rainstorm, but the view from the wat was great.

Reclining Buddha

Not long after getting into Bangkok, I kept hearing that I had to see the reclining Buddha. Everyone who mentioned this didn't really say what was so incredible about it, but they were very persuasive. On my last Saturday in Bangkok, I went with a couple of colleagues.

Near to the former palace of the king is a massive structure built to house the Reclining Buddha. It must be at least 100 feet long and around 15-20 feet high. The building is not much bigger, so you're pretty close to it, making it seem even larger. (It also makes for lousy photo opportunities.)

While I was admiring the statue, I kept hearing small bells or chimes, and I wondered what it was. Along the Buddha's backside, there was a long line of small, metal buckets for donations. You paid 20 baht to get coins to place in each bucket.

One of my colleagues said that during World War II, the Buddha was plastered over to hide it from the Japanese soldiers. It worked.

Cave Buddha

On our way back from the elephant park, we stopped at this interesting cave with a giant statue of Buddha. It was an impressive sight.