with eyes towards the promised land...

it was written in the Bible that Moses has led the Israelis out of Egypt in search of the Promised land. Yet, for forty years, the party did not reach the land, reasons as well outlined in the Bible. when Moses climbed Mount Nebu, God appeared before Moses and said to him: "I HAVE LET YOU SEE IT WITH YOUR EYES, BUT YOU WILL NOT CROSS OVER INTO IT." ~ Deuteronomy 34:1-7
then, at the age of 120, he passed away, and buried by God in an unknown spot on the mountain.

a life spent serving God no doubt...

but if we look at the World today, with the unending battles between Israelis and Palestinians, between Israelis and the rest of the Arabic countries, and with all the antagonisms between the Israelis and all those standing on the opposite of the world, was it worth it?

leading the chosen people, and spending forty years in the wilderness...yet, even today, peace is a word too luxurious even to murmur...

the hands of God moved in a mysterious way that is uncomprehensible by mere mortals...

where moses was laid

have this habit of visiting graveyard.

there are times when one just want to take a break and don't particularly want to sit amongst strangers in a confined space on a round stool, waiting for your reheated, precooked lunch, under a punishing air conditioner.

taking a walk in a nearby graveyard with a sandwich in hand is actually quite a pleasant experience.

there are countless stories behind every tombstone. Though knowing nothing about how the passed away has lived his or her life, but if you let your imagination flows, and by looking at the engravings, the date when the tomb was set, the workmanship on the stone...you can pretty much conjure up some kind of story which is self entertaining.

but when you see a Memorial of Moses...well, that's an entirely different matter.

regardless of whether you are a religious person, anyone with a fair amount of education will learn of who Moses was.

while AN knows the story quite well, DH has no idea that Mount Nebu was the place where Moses spent his last day, after he was led to see the promised land...

Moses has been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years...

....40 years....a very long time and a very long journey....

while thinking of this, suddenly everything became mute, and was just pondering what was on his mind...

what was it like when Moses was at Mt. Nebu...

forgot to mention that our flight from Hong Kong to Amman was delayed for departure for almost 3 hours, meaning that we did not leave the Hong Kong International Airport until past midnight. The plane landed in some early hours in the morning. The local guide was good enough to have arranged a sumptuous breakfast for us to regain some stamina.

so, carrying a less than able, sleep walking torso, we arrived at Mt. Nebu.

12 hours ago we were still at the comfort of a modern day city, we did find it uneasy, from a psychological aspect, to accept the fact that we were at the place where Moses had his final day...

wild in the open, the wind was howling like mad that sank all other trivial sound, cutting us off from reality and taking us back in time...