= FRAVEL id Jerusal Andrew Renton Contributing Writer INSIDE the shared Mercedes taxi, there was tension. Suddenly a low phsssst. My left breast felt cold and damp. All eyes were on me as a gaseous odour filled the air. I looked down nervously fearing the worst. The cheap Syrian lighter in my shirt pocker had exploded leaving the insert- ed plastic fower limp and vulnerable. [ sheepishly apologized. No, Twas not a terrorist. A sigh of relief and half grins from nw fellow pas- sengers. ¥ had left Damascus by bus at 7 a.m. that morning, crossed from Syria into Jordan and arrived at The Allenby bridge border to Israel by I p.m. An odd feat to a North American mind. Jordan has open borders with Israei. Syria has not. At immigration the young girl possessing military fatigues, a machine gun and lots of attitude, exam- ined my passport. The blotched Indonesian Visa caused by a near-death experience some years earlier in a water- hole in Srian Jaya caught her suspicious eye. Was this a willful act of obliteration? An hour and a half Jater | was grudging- ly given permission to enter Israel. ~ The taxi finally pulled up at Damascus gate, one of eight entrances to the old watled city. Armoured trucks were lined up outside. Israeli troops watched nervously, fingering the triggers on their various weaponry. A lone soldier with binoculars stood guard on the ramparts above. Ir was Friday. The Muslim day of prayer. Worshippers in white galibayaas and brightly checkered keffiychs spewed forth from the gate like a fresh avalanche. of snow. My chosen hotel was 100 yards inside the walls. After a brief battle against the flow, I acqui- esced and'squeezed behind a stall selling fried chicken until the crowd dispersed. The $50 in my back pocket had disappeared to light fingers in the crush. Pl never feara. Next morning the combination of pealing church bells and Mullahs calling the faithfil to prayer ensured an early start. I descended the steps from my hotel squeezing past the hawker who had set up shop at the entrance. The labyrinth of ancient covered walkways had already become a crowded souq. For a ~Do you want a CHANGE? -Do you want to increase your INCOME? -Do you want WEEKENDS & EVENINGS FREE? -Do you want to receive benefits from an active program featuring ATTRACTIVE, EXCITING leisure avel PROMOTIONS? . -Do you want to benefit from a group MEDICAL/DENTAL pian? -Do you want to be part of CONGENIAL TEAM working from attractive premises? . We are easy to talk to Due to increased business we need more good experienced consultants if you are interested, phone us in strict canfidence Donna Rose (604) 926-4344 or Tom Rose (604) 926-2454 or fax your resume to (604) 926-2497 OLD Jerusaiem dates back 5,000 years — the most religious and con- tested city in the wortd. brief irreverent moment [ felt { had stumbled upon a dress rehearsal for a Monty Python. skit. Franciscan monks with humble brown habits, clenched hands, and pious expressions. Orthodox Jews wearing purposeful looks, vast cir- cular fur hats, surely modeled after polo mints, or black tnlby hats with litde pieces of wispy hair hanging in loose ringlets as sideburns. Richiv bearded Armenian priests sporting tall black papal headgear. Their crossed arms con- cealed in the ample sleeves of towing white gowns. Surely this religious mosa- ic must be unique in the world. Old Jerusalem is divided into four distinct. quarters. Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Armenian. The city dates back some 5,000 bloody years during which ime 18 conquerors have ruled. A short four-kilometre walk around the ramparts starting at Jaffa Gate is a great way to get some perspective on the size of this, the most religious and contested city in the world. At the Wailing or Western wall, Jewish faithful pass through security checks to pray, read from The Torah, leave notes between cracks in the rocks or just nod before the remains of their last temple after it had been razed for the second time. The Western wail however serves another purpose. It shores up the Temple Mount on which the Muslim Caliphs erected the magnificent Dome of the rock Mosque in 691 AD. A piece of Jordan until che 1967 war. Thus, the third- most important Islamic site after Mecca and Medina stands directly above the most important site to Judaism resulting in understandable tension. Ail is not entirely well at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Christ died and is interred. The various Christian factions housed within have not yet leamt to bury the hatchet. When [ visited, an Armenian choir was competing simultancously with a group of hannonizing Franciscan monks for the ears of visiting pilgrims. Any attempt by one group to effect renovations or even scrub the front steps was instantly seen as establishing propri- etorship by the others. Despite the resulting dilapidation and dis- Photo Andrew Renton Amazing Savings at Club Med *P Cancun Sept. 3 ~ Oct. 22, 2000 $4299 ver person in single or double room Call the North Shores’ top Club Med Experts today: Edgemont Office: Ambleside Office: 986-2262 — 926-8515 BC Reg. #3404-2 P xuttl WUEQUY itl : R WHALE WATCHING “The Ultimate Experience” _ = Cc eV iin {| STUBBS ISLAND WHALE WATCHING - BOX:2-2, TELEGRAPH COVE, B.C. VON 3)0 -800-665-306 LU EREERN "where we rids collide cord it was hard to escape the power of the place. The most important site in Christendom. Weekends provide an interesting shopping and eating dilem- ma. Friday is the holy day for Muslims. Saturday for Jews. Sunday for Christians. Thus, ifa Jew runs out of milk on Saturday he or she can shop in The Christian Quarter etc. etc. It all works quite well with one exception. This humble scribe was stunned to dis- cover for the first time in the Middle East, a restaurant in The Christian Quarter that served fluffy scrambled eggs, hash browns and, wait for it, perfect crispy bacon. Surely a paradox in Israel. All this accompanied by freshly but- tered toast and thick cut marmalade. So excited did I become thar the first morning call of The Mallah had me irreverently sali- vatiag for the treat ahead. For me, Sunday began with a feeling of selfish deprivation. Jerusalem is of course a large modern first world city with comforts and prices to match. Accommodation in The Old City tends towards the simple variety but the advantage of immersing myself in a place of such an intense past and present was worth the compromise. A tourist can spend several days visiting recent excavations, museums, religious buildings or just observing and listening to the vocal inhabitants air their endless gripes. Most importantly, Old Jerusalem is a fascinating microcosm of the world’s religious life and its ability or inability, dzpending on your point of view, to coexist. @ IF YOU GO: Visas — Available at points of entry. Ask to avoid a stamp in your passport if you plan on travelling to Muslim countries such as Syria or fran which will bar entry to anyone who shows evidence of having visited Isracl. 171 se Pe, Spend Your Wi Long-stay vacation packages on Australia's Sunshine Coast: Price PP in Cdn. $ Double } month $3035 $2830 . $2660 2 months $4034 «$3626. $3334: Includes return air and one-bedroom oceanview condo for. 2fwo-bedroom for 3/4. Book by Oct. 30.Valid 1/22-3/31'0 Avercge daily temp = 25°C. Exchange rate AUD $1= CAD : Triple ~.