Israel-Jordan Tour 2009

Editor's note: A version of these flights was originally created for the members of my church in Davis, Calif., who went on a tour of Israel and Jordan in early September 2009. Some of the running commentary will be specific to the group, but others may enjoy tagging along with us ...

Haverim, welcome home! Ready to go back?

Thanks to Google Earth we can. No more three-hour layovers in Atlanta, 12 hours in cramped airline seats over the Atlantic, customs and border checks, getting on and off the bus, heat and humidity, one-dollah street vendors, living out of a suitcase, washing socks in the sink. Just a click of your computer's mouse and you'll be flying each day's itinerary in 3-D.

If you haven't done so yet, download the Google Earth plug-in.

This will just be a day-by-day listing of our itinerary and sites we visited or saw from the bus (and a few sidetrips to places close to our route) with links for those who want more information. I've included a reference to the time code on each day's Google Earth flight (to see that, hover your mouse over the lower-left portion of the screen while flying to make the control bar visible). Keep in mind that you can pause a flight and explore more closely, then resume flying, and that you can speed up the flight or go in reverse using the control bar.

Itinerary:

• Day 1: Arrive Tel Aviv, Joppa
• Day 2: Caesarea, Carmel, Megiddo, Harod Spring, Bethshan, Tiberias, Sea of Galilee
• Day 3: Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Banias, Tiberias, Cana, Nazareth, Nof Ginosaur
• Day 4: Tabgha, East side of Sea of Galilee, Jordan border crossing, Pella, Jerash, River Jabbok, Amman
• Day 5: Heshbon, Medeba, Mt. Nebo, Arnon Gorge, Desert Highway, Shobek, Petra
• Day 6: Petra, Wadi Rum, Aqaba, Israel border, Arava Highway, Dead Sea
• Day 7: Dead Sea, Masada, En Gedi, Qumran, Jerusalem, Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane, Caiaphas' house
• Day 8 & 9: Jerusalem excavations, Western Wall, Temple Mount, Pools of Bethesda, Saint Ann's, Via Delorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Old City souk, "Broad Wall", Upper Room, David's tomb, Jerusalem Model, Shrine of the Book, Yad Vashem, Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity
• Day 9: Return to Ben Gurion Airport

Note: Sometimes the place names do not display on the flight. The problem is intermittent and I have not yet solved it. If you push the pause button, the place-name labels will then display. Also, I recommend the use of Internet Explorer as your browser. Flights are not viewable with Firefox.