Another long post, I'm afraid.

Boy was it hot yesterday; 34° by 8.30 a.m. and up to 43° by the afternoon. I don't think I've known temperatures like it.

We leave early for another overnight trip, taking the road down to Jericho. It feels like the scenic route through Jerusalem as many roads and complete neighbourhoods are sealed off for Yom Kippur. The advantage is that there is barely a car on the road-on the main road between Jericho and Nazareth later, a journey of an hour and a quarter, we only meet four other vehicles.

We turn off towards Wadi Qelt on the old Roman road which Jesus used for the setting of the parable of the Good Samaritan and soon we are threading our way through the merciless Judean desert again. There is much rejoicing at finding the way open as this is not always the case, since it is a back route for Palestinians. We stop to view the ancient monastery of St George which clings improbably to the cliffs above the wadi (river) and wonder how the first monks managed to construct it. Only two monks remain now.

Bedouin descend on us as soon as we leave the bus trying persuade us to buy their cheap souvenirs. They are very persistent but though we feel sorry for them, no one buys from them.

Soon the view opens spectacularly onto Jericho and the Jordan valley below us and we trundle into the city of palms, perhaps the oldest city in the world still inhabited. First stop is an ancient sycamore tree. It's not quite the one that Zachaeus climbed so that he could see Jesus but it gives a good idea and we listen to the story of how salvation came to the tax collector's house.

Then it is on to Elisha's spring. It is an ancient and dependable source of water and one of the few that the Palestinians in the west bank have some access to. It gives an opportunity to wonder at how the control of water might well prove to be what actually sparks a conflict here. Apparently the Israelis control 90% of the water sources and use four times the amount per capita that the Palestinians are permitted. 'In the summer months, when reserves are low, the Israeli water company closes the valves supplying Palestinian village on the West Bank in order to safeguard supplies for the settlers. The Jewish settlers fill their swimming pools, wash their cars and water their lawns, while just a couple of miles away Palestinian villages may be denied water for essential use in cooking and sanitation.' (Andrew Mayes - Holy Land?)

The next stop is the ruins of ancient Jericho. There's not much to see as so much would have been made of mud brick, long ago disintegrated but an interesting DVD presentation charts the different occupations of this most ancient of cities. Gazing upon the remains of a watchtower from 7-8000 years ago prompts the thought that, in many ways, this sabbatical has given many points on the chain of human endeavour. I'll save that for another post perhaps.
From ancient Jericho to the reality of life for many in the modern town. We pass through a refugee camp of some 20000 souls, families who have been there since 1948 and are still waiting to return to long destroyed villages. Such is their determination to cling to the idea of the impermanence of their current existence that it was only couple of years ago that they agreed to cover the open drains and sewers. As we drive we pray for all refugees and for a just settlement in the Holy Land that will benefit all.

Hisham's palace is the next port of call, the remains of an impressive Persian palace from the seventh century with some of the finest mosaics I am ever likely to see. The morning finishes with looking up at the Mount of Temptation, the place traditionally associated with Jesus' fasting and tempting in the desert. We wonder again at the ingenuity of those who centuries ago built another monastery into a sheer cliff; and we struggle to think how Jesus survived in that merciless environment as we clamber gratefully back into our air conditioned bus.

There is time to visit a shop before lunch and we realise that we have managed all this in under four hours - quite a morning.