Those that know us will know we are not that religious. However since we are so close to many of the historical sites from the Bible, it was only right to visit one of the most famous, the place where Jesus was baptised.
We actually found it rather sad and disappointing. Compared to the wonderful site built by a people hundreds years before Christ at Petra, the baptism site was frankly.....well you judge for yourself.
We then moved on to where you are allowed to enter the Jordan river and here at the border with Israel we sat and watched as people collected Jordan river water in plastic bottles as well as dressing in white gowns and plunging into the water. Had this been the UK, no doubt Health and Safety would have closed the site down.
All of this under the watchful eye of armed soldiers although they weren't watching when I took the photo!
It seemed a deeply depressing place and whilst the name of Bethany and Jericho are all ones that conjured up childhood bible story memories, in reality there seems to be soldiers, barbed wire and a sense of fore-boding rather than the celebration of Jesus Christ.
We actually found it rather sad and disappointing. Compared to the wonderful site built by a people hundreds years before Christ at Petra, the baptism site was frankly.....well you judge for yourself.
We then moved on to where you are allowed to enter the Jordan river and here at the border with Israel we sat and watched as people collected Jordan river water in plastic bottles as well as dressing in white gowns and plunging into the water. Had this been the UK, no doubt Health and Safety would have closed the site down.
All of this under the watchful eye of armed soldiers although they weren't watching when I took the photo!
It seemed a deeply depressing place and whilst the name of Bethany and Jericho are all ones that conjured up childhood bible story memories, in reality there seems to be soldiers, barbed wire and a sense of fore-boding rather than the celebration of Jesus Christ.
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