So, this wasn’t really explained in the previous post, but, the site of the church where Jesus was baptised is within metres of Palestine separated by the Jordan river. (As seen below).


Now, that’s jolly nice, however, as we followed this river border up, we reached a different section:


The other side of the border here clearly flies the Israeli flag. Now according to the UK gov website, travelling between Israel and Jordan can be troublesome because of the poor relationship between the countries. It’s possible either side wouldn’t let you in if they see the wrong stamp in your passport.

Our guide was a chilled out, level headed sort of guy. I asked how he felt about Israel. He made it clear the country we were looking at was Palestine and was simply occupied by Israel. He was quick to point out that he looks at the people, not the country. Isralies had helped put out a forest fire just over the border, a hospital in Israel saved his uncle and that he had been a few times and enjoyed himself.

However, the fact we were banned from waving to the people on the other side, the military presence and his slight bitterness towards the economic punishment Jordan was receiving due to not helping with the Syrian crisis said it all. The countries wernt really best buddies.