Farewell to Jerusalem

Reaching the Hotel for the final nights stay in Jerusalem was with mixed feelings. We returned to our hotel to find a room in which two of our co travellers (Fr. Alex Kodaram and Patrick) were staying has been robbed. One peculiarity we observed here is that there are security cameras inside all the rooms. Our guide said that these cameras are on 24 hours but they are not viewed unless there is a security breech. Our guide told us the police viewed the security camera video of the robbed room and could see the intruder. He entered the room breaking the window glass. Luckily for our friends, they did not lose many valuables, especially any of the travel documents. The suitcases were damaged. Our friends thus had the rare luck of visiting a police station in Jerusalem to register the complaint! Our guide said they will be compensated for the damages suffered by the insurance company since we all had taken travel insurance prior to our journey. The restaurant of the 7 Arches Hotel overlooks the city of Jerusalem. It indeed is a marvellous experience to dine there for three nights.
Another view we could see all these days was the wall separating Palestine and Israel. To view such human walls of hatred, that too in Jerusalem where the greatest prophesy of love was performed, was really disturbing. We could see Jewish settlements on the top of many hills all over Jerusalem.
Another worth mentioning is not the good roads but the behaviour of the drivers. I could experience what courtesy driving actually is. One could rarely hear vehicle horns. I think we have never heard the horn of the Mercedes bus in which we travelled for four days. At Cana and Nazareth I was surprised to see the patience exercised by the drivers to let people cross the road and let vehicles pass by. (I do not say all these could be practiced in Kerala where the roads are not good and the number of people and vehicles are numerous. But some lessons of courtesy could be learned by our drivers from them).