When we were about a month at Sarona the authorities organized a trip to Jerusalem. We left camp in a special bus at 9.00 hours, through TelAviv, Jaffa, and on to the Jerusalem road, past the Safafan, an Army Camp. Orange and Lemon groves lined the roads like hedges do in Ireland. There were very modern houses side by side with old Arabian style houses and lots of ruins all along the way. We passed an old run-down shack with an old man and women making earthenware pottery. In the open, there were about 100 jars stacked in the garden. We noted the railway ran across the countryside without the benefit of a fence to keep animals from straying thereon.

We passed through Ramle and noted how busy the outdoor cafes were with only men customers as this was Arab country. The land here was very flat just like the Curragh at home and dotted with longhaired goats. Some of the land was cultivated and it seemed strange to see a camel pulling a plough instead of a tractor considering there were plenty of modern U.S.A. cars on the road. As could be expected, camels are used to carry all kinds of merchandise; on one occasion we saw a camel carrying blocks of granite to a building site. As the camel arrived, two men would lift a block of granite and place it on a ring of cloth on a women's head, she would carry it in this manner to the men working on the houses and go back for another block.

This was a new looking village and all the houses appeared to be of granite, it would look very well when finished. We passed Latrun detention camp, it looked cold and out of place. I am sure many dreams have been dashed there. The road started to wind down like the bog road in the Dublin Mountains. This part of the road was called "The Serpent ''. The fields were very stony which reminded me of "Rockey Valley"

As we approached Jerusalem we passed a monastery, said to be the oldest in Palestine. I could not get the name but hoped to do so in the future. The land in this hilly area was cultivated in a strange way, just like giant steps up the hill, which gave an even surface to work on.

The first part of Jerusalem we came to, was the Jewish section. This had all modern homes and was the newer part of the city. We entered the old part by the Jaffa Gates. This gave me a genuine sensation; to actually be about to enter the ''Holy City '' it was hard to believe I was not dreaming.

There was a mixed collection of people all around the gate, some wearing Arab headdresses called Kefiehs/ Hassidic Orthodox Jews wore traditional black garb with black wide brimmed hats from which dangled hair curls over each ear. Others wore lounge suits. For the first time I saw women from the local hills, in white cloth headdresses held in place with black silk string. They had long black dresses with red embroidery topped off with blue jackets (like sports jackets).