Wake up at 6 am, breakfast at 7 and on bus by 8.

Travelled short distance to the Bethany on the Jordan the place where John the Baptist baptized Jesus.

Day 2 of our pilgrimage really started with Mass by the river Jordan . The river was recently in flood so we had to use a small covered area for Mass. The small covered area was located in the shadow of a magnificent new Catholic Church being built. In one ways the temporary accommodation in the small covered area seemed more appropriate to the surroundings than the magnificent new church.

At mass Our Chaplain, Fr Columba spoke eloquently in his sermon about the importance of our baptism and used the analogy of a sports car. There is no benefit in having a sports car in the garage if you don't take it out for a drive. So to with our faith.

Departing Bethany on he Jordan we made our way to the check point to move from Jordan to Israel. From the tranquil location besides the River Jordan to the intense border crossing brought into reality the stark contrasts that make up this region. The border crossing was intense and serious. I lost count of the number of check points we went through over a short distance.

After passing into Israel we made an unplanned side trip to Jericho on the way to Jerusalem. Jericho was located on the West Bank and was one of a number of Palestinian territories in the region.

I had always thought that the Palestinian territories was one site but in fact it is a number of isolated towns. Some more isolated than other with high walls built around them to restrict the travel of Israelies into the territories and more importantly to the Israelies keep the Palestinians out! Our final
Stop for the day was Bethlehem which was walled/blockaded town.

From Jericho we travelled to Jerusalem. Where Jericho was the lowest (below sea level) and oldest town (10,000 years old) Jerusalem was 900 metres above sea level. I has not pictured Jerusalem being set inthe mountains. On the way to Jerusalem and onto Bethlehem we travelled through the Judean desert where Jesus went into the desert for 40 day and 40 nights to eventually be tempted by satin on what is now called the Mount of Temptation. The desert itself was totally barren and mountainous and stripped of all vegetation.

We then moved around the edge of Jerusalem to town of En Kerem.En Kerem is venerated and visited by many Catholics and Orthodox Christians as the birthplace of John the Baptist.

There were two churches which now stood over the above two spots - one was known as the Church of the Visitation (the meeting place of Mary and Elisabeth), and the other - the Church of St John the Baptist (his traditional birthplace). Actually, my research on the internet told me there were two different churches of St John the Baptist. in En Kerem - one built by the Catholics and the other Eastern Orthodox.

Eventually arrived at out accommodation in Bethlehem, the Good Shepard motel. Early dinner followed by early evening was the order of the day!