Wednesday 15 November 2006        First email from Vlaardingen (NL).

I had a very pleasant crossing on the ferry and a lovely meeting with Johanna who travelled all the way from the Hague to meet me. My first real challenge was getting into my hotel as on arrival no one appeared to be at home! Fortunately after 15 minutes or so someone came along and let me in. 
My walk to Vlaardingen has been a real baptism of fire. And I've also learnt something new about myself. My legs can walk 20km with ease but my feet can not. I have some painful blisters on my left foot and I literally limped the last 3km into my hotel. I've had to bandage it but I should be okay to get to Rotterdam and my hostel where I think I will stay a few days. 
  

Thursday 16 November 2006       Meeting in Rotterdam (NL).

We could meet Tony in Rotterdam. Indeed his feet are hurting and he will rest a few days in Rotterdam. 
We talked a lot and I took some pictures (at the pharmacy). 
As Tony can't update his site we will follow him on his journey by e-mail. You also can be on his e-mail list (see his site).

Halting-places 
   

Sunday 10 December 2006       Tony back in England.

Due to continuing problems with his feet Tony unfortunately had to return to the UK on 30 November 2006. Of course, he is very disappointed about this outcome which is not what he hoped for.

During the 16 days he was in Holland he was only able to travel for 3 of those days. The remaining 11 were spent in frustration lying on his back waiting for his feet to heal.
Read more: http://www.jerusalemorbust.com/update.htm  

My spirit is not yet ready to admit defeat and I am not yet ready to abandon this journey. For this reason I am already making plans to return to Holland in March / April 2007 when I can resume my pilgrimage and stack the odds in my favour.

Sunday 17 March 2007     Email from Cologne (D).   ( Back on the road). 

After a 3 month rest I'm back on the road again and arrived in Cologne only a few hours ago. Having completed the Dutch leg of my journey via Tiel and Nijmegen I decided to bypass Dusseldorf and stay in Meer-Busch instead. A lot has happened since I arrived back in Holland on the 8th. Suffice to say I have already known discomfort and disappointment, but also great kindness and generosity. I've slept in an odd assortment of places too, including campsites, muddy fields next to windmills, in a beekeepers hut and youth hostels and hotels. I also managed to stay at the famous Priesterhaus in Kevelaer which provides accommodation for visiting pilgrims. 
 
Thankfully the problems that plagued me last year have not re-occurred and my feet are holding up well to the challenge. I am taking many photos for my book and will probably have many hundreds by the time I get back.   

Tomorrow I hope to arrive in Bonn and then I push deeper into Germany and slowly make my way to Munich. I'm looking forward to warmer weather as I will be spending more time rough camping as I move south, and believe me, the nights are cold outside in a tent!

Wednesday 28 March 2007     Arrived in Wiesbaden (D).

I have now arrived in Wiesbaden, having travelled through Montabaur, Limburg and Idstein which were very picturesque in parts, with lots of tudor-style buildings and cobbled streets. We had some snow here in Germany a week ago which caused a few problems for me but is has long since cleared and the past few days have been warm and sunny. I bought a map here today which will take me all the way to Munich and it will take me several weeks to reach the city. I decided to bypass Bonn and from now on will probably avoid large cities in the main as I have learnt that they can be difficult to get out of if travelling on foot. Travelling on foot is not so easy in Germany compared to Holland, it's harder to find paths to walk on and there are fewer of them. However, people have been very helpful with directions. Many good things have happened to me since I re-started my journey but you'll have to wait for my book to read about them!

Monday 16 April 2007     Tony in Augsburg (D).

I arrived yesterday in Augsburg and have camped a few km from the city. I didn't intend to be here and am somewhat undecided on how to best navigate through Austria and enter Slovenia. Today I will buy yet another map and seek as much advice as I can get. In any case, if I move towards Salzburg via Munich I am only about 11 days away from Austria. Over the last 10 days the weather has been very fine here with clear blue skies and sunshine all day long. Also quite warm at 25C yesterday. Walking in the afternoon is therefore somewhat harder and I am beginning to think I will need a strategy for walking through hotter countries. Perhaps it would be better to walk mainly during the morning and late afternoon and thus avoid the midday sun? For those of you who have walked during hot weather I would be grateful for your advice!  While writing I would like to express my thanks to the Pastor of St Blasius in Bopfingen for his kindness and generosity - it really meant a great deal to me. Everything is well here and my pilgrimage has already been everything I hoped it would be. I shall write again from Austria. 

Thursday 26 April 2007     Email from Salzburg (A).

I arrived yesterday in Salzburg and stay in a youth hostel in the centre of the city. It took 44  days to walk across Germany and at first glance I notice little difference - the signs are different but the language and weather are the same. Unfortunately I picked up my first injury since restarting my pilgrimage and my left knee is not right but I don't think it's serious and I hope to just walk it off. However, I shall stay 2 days in Salzburg to give it some rest. After buying some more maps in Augsburg I decided to stick to my original plan and start my journey through Austria at Salzburg and will make my way down to Villach on the border with Slovenia. I have slept in some interesting places since I last wrote, including forests and on the banks of the Chiemsee - a large inland sea. Today is my 50th day on the road since returning to Europe and I have walked over a thousand kilometres. I can scarcely believe I have come so far.

Monday 7 May 2007      Arrived in Villach (A). 

I arrived in Villach Yesterday, my 60th day on the road since re-starting my pilgrimage. I am staying here for 2 nights so I can prepare for my journey through Slovenia and undertake some housekeeping, namely wash some clothes, send some used maps back home, and send out some email. I mainly followed the main roads through Austria which cut in between the mountains and are fairly flat. However, I did face a couple of brutal climbs, in particular to Obertauern and also Katschberg. If you travel to Obertauern in May do not expect any hospitality - alles geschlossen! On passing through I met a road sweeper who informed me that I was the first walker through this year. I do not know whether that was a compliment or not! Katschberg was the same and evidently they only come alive during the winter months for the skiing. I continue to receive help in various ways and have been offered many lifts but have refused all as Ich bin immer zu fuss. I also managed to stay on a campsite for free. Overall, I will remember Austria for the stunning landscapes which really have to be seen to be believed. I get the impression that the Austrians are very house-proud as most of the houses look immaculate and many have large wooden verandahs. My leg is now completely healed and tomorrow I hope to cross into Slovenia. I have not been here before so have no idea what to expect. As always, I am in the hands of the Father and I hope for a warm reception from the Church. 

Tuesday 8 May 2007     Tony in Podkoren (SL).  

A short email just to let you know that I arrived in Podkoren, Slovenia about 2 hours ago and everything is well. As the internet access is free here I thought I would take advantage of it! The walk today was quite straightfoward although the climb through the Wurzenpass was long and steep, in some places VERY steep. Tomorrow I shall leave here and make my way to Ljubljana, the capital which I should reach in a few days.

Sunday 20 May 2007     Email from Zagreb (HR).  

It has been a little while since I last wrote but I am pleased to say that God still favours my journey to the Holy Land. At the border with Croatia I am informed by the Slovenian border guard that the crossing is only for Slovenian and Croatian people and that normally I would not be allowed to cross. He suggests I speak to the Croatian side. It is a hot day and I have walked 5km to get to this crossing, so I approach the Croation side and speak to the border guard. He tells me the same story but then I tell him I am a Christian and talk about my pilgrimage. After a few basic questions he lets me pass! And so it happens that on Saturday 19th May at 10.40am I enter Croatia - the 5th country I shall walk through on my way to Jerusalem. I immediately walk to Zagreb where I am now staying. There are many churches here and I have already been to the Cathedral of Assumption which was packed with tourists and worshippers. I shall visit the others today. While walking through Slovenia I was the beneficiary of much hospitality, and I would like to thank once more the Slovenian families, churches and monasteries that took me in, or otherwise supported my pilgrimage. On leaving Zagreb I will move south towards Sarajevo. I have received much useful advice from people that know the former Yugoslavia well and I am heeding it. Nevertheless, I am expecting this to be a more difficult and demanding part of my journey. I shall write to you again from Sarajevo which will take some weeks to reach.

Monday 04 June 2007     Email from Banja Luka (BA).  

My journey has been very eventful and somewhat painful since I last wrote due to my old enemy - blisters. I am currently in Banja Luka and have been here 3 days to give my feet a chance to heal. They are now much better and I will leave the city this morning. I crossed into Bosnia Herzegovina on the 25th May at Hrvatska Kostajnica without difficulty, though I get the impression that very few westerners cross at this point. As some of you have said, I am certainly a figure of curiousity for many, and it is quite common for people to approach me or initiate conversation. I have also benefited from much hospitality and assistance and am grateful to the families and individuals who let me stay with them or otherwise gave me a helping hand often when I needed it the most. I am particularly grateful to the people of Busnovi for the warmth of their welcome and for giving me the opportunity to participate in a church celebration at Stratinska where I met the bishop and a member of parliament. I have some good photos of the event, and there is certainly a strong sense of community in the Serbian part of Bosnia through which I now travel. It is strange how one can meet people in the most unexpected places. In the small village of Dobrljin I met an American from Chicago who was visiting his mother who lives in the village. I wonder what the odds of meeting an American there would be? Probably astronomical. The problem I had with my feet has made me look more closely at my journey, and I have decided to straighten out my route and go straight to Podgorica via Niksic. I had intended to go to Dubrovnik on the coast, but its a lot of extra kilometres and I cant really justify it. I think it will take about 10 days to get to Sarajevo where I will write again.

Wednesday 13 June 2007     Email from Sarajevo (BA).

I arrived in Sarajevo yesterday, my 97th day on the road. On the way in I passed the US Embassy which is heavily guarded by Bosnian police. I will stay here until the 15th as I need to buy a few things for the remainder of my journey, in particular a new pair of boots as my Brashers have nearly disintegrated after 1,800km of walking. I dont know how easy it will be to find good boots here in Sarajevo but I will have to try. On the way down from Banja Luka I passed through Jajce which has a spectacular waterfall and castle. It was also at Jajce that I heard singing from the mosques for the first time which seems to occur at certain times of day, the significance of which I am not sure of. In Sarajevo I hear the odd English voice - they have all been American so far. The weather has been very volatile over the last few weeks - I have been roasted by the sun and caught up in violent thunderstorms that threatened to blow my tent away. At first sight Sarajevo reminds me of Zagreb, and is not as large as I thought it was going to be. Still, there are interesting things to see here and I will learn as much as I can during my short stay. On leaving Sarajevo I will head for Montenegro and it will take me about 4 days to cross the border. Everything is well here and with help from others I have managed to overcome all obstacles that I have so far encountered. 

Sunday 24 June 2007     Message from Podgorica (YU, ME).

I arrived in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro yesterday, having crossed the border at Scepan Polje on 18 June. As usual, my arrival at border crossings is treated with some curiousity and the Bosnian guard looks over my passport a long time before letting me continue. On the Montenegro side my details are entered into a computer and the guard exclaims Welcome to Montenegro! I follow the main road down to Niksic and share it in the hot sun with flies, butterflies, lizards and the odd nasty looking scorpion. The flies are a real nuisance, especially in the shade where they seem to gather. They take every opportunity to suck the sweat from your skin and will follow you down the road for some distance! The butterflies are very tame and also land on my skin. Everything living on this hot road wants water! I followed the Tara Canyon which has a very beautiful river at the bottom. There is little traffic initially and I almost have the road to myself. However, it is not a very good road for walkers as there very few places to buy water or drinks. On some occasions I had to scavenge for discarded water bottles on the side of the road! I have also drunk rain water which gathered at the base of my tent. It has taken me 6 days to cover most of Montenegro and I have pushed myself quite hard, sometimes walking 36 to 40km a day. At one camping site I was confronted with a very large snake, and now I keep all my kit safe in the inner section of my tent. Fortunately the snake ran away! On the way here I saw the Monastery Ostrog from a distance. It was an amazing sight even from 8km away as it appears to be embedded in the face of a mountain. Unfortunately I did not have the energy to visit it. As well as camping I have stayed in a few hotels with some curious features. In one there was no water available until 6pm and in another in Srbinje there was no electricity between 8.00am and 5pm! I am once more plagued with some nasty blisters, a punishment for over exerting myself but I will deal with the problem as I have done before. For those of you who love the sun, it is 40C and has been very hot for some time. When I leave here in a few days I travel down to Shkoder in Albania. In small ways God continues to favour my journey, and after walking over 2,000km I am more determined than ever to reach the Holy City. 

Monday 09 July 2007     Email from Prizren, Kosova, Serbia.  

Just a short email to let you know I have arrived safely in Prizren. I crossed the border into Kosova on 6 July at Unmik without incident. Unfortunately, however, on my arrival I picked up some kind of stomach problem through drinking bad water or eating bad food and can now add vomiting in strange lands to my pilgrimage experience! I have had to stay a few days in Prizren to work this through but am now fully fit and will depart tomorrow. There are few churches here but I can count at least 9 mosques. Unfortunately both churches are closed or not accessible. Food here is very cheap indeed, a large loaf of bread costs 0.25 euro (about 15p). I see very few obvious tourists here. All being well I hope to be at the border with Macedonia in about 4 days. I shall write again from Skopje.

Friday 13 July 2007     Email from Skopje, Macedonia.  

I crossed the border with Macedonia yesterday, and have just arrived in the capital Skopje. I am staying in a small youth hostel. On leaving Prizren I walked through the Zhupa Valley and then high up through the Sharr Mountains which form part of a national park. The park is heavily forested, and there are bears here as well as other wild animals. Kosova is the only place I have been where I have seen lions and tanks on road signs! I can understand tanks as there is a noticeable army presence here, but lions?!  Thankfully I never came across any. I visited a large church today, I think it is Monastery Markov but I am not sure. I think it will take about 10 days to walk to the border with Greece, and then a few more days to Thessaloniki. I can scarcely believe that I am now walking through my 10th country as I continue to slowly work my way towards the Holy City.

Thursday 26 July 2007     Email from Thessaloniki, Greece.  

"Welcome to Hellas!" proclaimed the sign as I crossed the border into Greece at Evzoni on 22 July. I arrived yesterday in Thessaloniki and am staying here a few days in a youth hostel. I had the misfortune of losing the only useful part of my map as soon as I entered the country. Fortunately I could remember some of the route, and with help from local people and road signs I finally made it to the second largest city in Greece. And needless to say it's incredibly hot. It's 40+ during the day and still 35 at 22.00! For a little while I tried to continue walking during the day, but the heat brought me to a total standstill and now I mainly walk in the early morning. The heat has filled me with a terrible thirst and I am drinking huge quantities of fluid - up to 6 litres a day. I drink milk, water, fruit juice, soft drinks, coffee, in fact anything which is offered or which I believe to be safe. I can honestly say that I have never been so thirsty. I had many positive experiences in Macedonia and was grateful for the shelter and hospitality of the small church of Sveta Nedela in Katlanovska Banja. For the first time on my pilgrimage I have also had help from children. On one occasion approaching Gradsko I had nearly run out of water. I saw a small girl of 9 or 10 and showed her my water bottle which was nearly empty. Without hesitation she led me to the well behind her house and I watched as she pulled and tugged on her rope and the pale came to the surface. She then filled my water bottle and drank the remaining water herself. On another occasion in a small village near Demir Kapija I pitched my tent on the village football pitch and was instantly befriended by a group of teenage boys. We played football together until it got dark. These children gave me many things to eat and drink including cola, ice-cream, biscuits, melon and so on. In fact, they could not stop giving me things. And so not for the first time did I feel overwhelmed by the generosity of others. And not for the first time did I feel so humbled by the experience. There have been many more occurrences of synchroncity since I last wrote, and there always seems to be somone on hand to help me at a critical moment. This has happened so many times that I can no longer remember all the examples without referring to my diaries. It is amazing how it keeps on happening. As I walk through Greece I notice many small shrines on the roadside and also in front of factories and company premises. And Greece must surely be the melon capital of the world - they are everywhere! I often think of many of you, both in England and elsewhere. May God grant me the strength to reach the border with Turkey.

Friday 3 August 2007     Email from Nea Karvali, Greece.  

I have just arrived in the small town of Nea Karvali, and for the first time since Austria, I am camping on a proper campsite. Since leaving Thessaloniki I have been following a mainly coastal route and the weather has been a little cooler which has made the walking easier. I stayed for one day at Stavros which is a small coastal resort, and a little further up the coast managed a quick swim in the Ormos Orfanou. There are many beaches around this area, and it would be quite possible to find a sizeable stretch of beach for yourself. I pass by many groves which I assume are olive trees but I am not sure, and in one such grove I see my first wild tortoise. There are some strange trees here, particularly on the coast, which look like giant pineapples. They look very tropical and I doubt they would grow in England. I have made good progress since leaving Thessaloniki and am now about half way to the border with Turkey. God continues to favour my journey in many ways. Consider this example which happened only a few hours ago. I stop for a cola at a petrol station just outside Nea Karvali. Two men, who are sitting down, see me and call me over. I pay for my cola and then one of the men asks where I am going using gestures. I start to explain my pilgrimage the best way I can, and get out my map. Some more men come over and soon there is a whole group of people looking at maps of Greece and Turkey and discussing my pilgrimage. None of them really speaks English, so I can only convey the basic facts of what I am doing. As I leave, two of the men decide to give me 30 Euros so I can stay in a hotel or buy myself something to eat and drink at a restaurant. And so it happens that I arrive at a petrol station with no expectation that anything good would happen, and two men, whom I have never met before, decide to support my pilgrimage. This kind of scenario has occurred dozens of times since my journey began, and it really is quite astonishing how it keeps on happening. I really wish you could be here to see these things happen. I will continue to follow the road which passes through Xanthi, Komotini and Alexandroupoli and hope to cross the border in about 10 days time. It is then another 240km to Istanbul. It seems so incredible, but in 180 days time I will have walked from the coast of Holland to one of the largest cities in Turkey. 

Sunday 19 August 2007    News from Istanbul, Turkey.  

I am pleased to say that I have now completed my journey through Greece, having crossed the border into Turkey at Ipsala on 10 August. I had to pay 15 euro for a 90 day visa. I put in some 40 km walks so reached the border a little more quickly than I thought. I was surprised when it rained on 5 and 6 August in Greece as I was not expecting it and I had not seen any rain since Bosnia! In Greece I saw my first mosque at Xanthi and many more the closer I got to the border. In the small Greek village of Selero I met a man who speaks German and he kindly gave me a walking stick. It felt a little strange at first, but now I use it all the time and I keep it for good luck as well at its practical value. It is an item which interests many that I meet, and many people sign it. As I walk with my stick I now feel like the complete pilgrim. Walking through Turkey has been straightforward as the roads are long, mostly straight, and flat or gently undulating. It is also only 30C which is a lot cooler than the normal temperature. I arrived in Istanbul yesterday and am now staying in one of the many youth hostels in the Sultanahmet area of the city. Conveniently it is situated right next to the Blue Mosque which I visited earlier today. Turkey has been very good to me, like a giant version of Albania, and I have received many gifts of food and drink. My diary tells me that I have walked 3,312 km to get to this place, and although the end of my pilgrimage is nowhere in sight, from here in Istanbul I can perhaps start to see the beginning of the end. I am contemplating a change in how I approach Jerusalem and I will write to you all about this when I have made up my mind which will be before I leave Istanbul. 

Wednesday 29 August 2007    Email from Istanbul, Turkey.    

I must apologise to you all for not writing sooner about my new plans. I began to walk out of Istanbul on the 22nd and spent 3 full days in the Sultanahmet area of the city. I visited Aya Sofia which was once a church, then a mosque and is now a museum piece. I spent 3 hours walking around Topkapi Palace which has some magnificent collections of porcelain, carpets, medals, jewellery, weapons and paintings of the Ottoman sultans. I also visited the Grand Bazaar which is very colourful and lively and where much gold and silver jewelery is on display. The shopkeepers tend to target the tourists, of which there are many (very many Japanese), and it became quite annoying when numerous people tried to sell me a carpet which I did not want! I finally left Europe on the 22nd. I started to walk towards the Bosphorous Bridge but was told I could not walk on it so took a ferry which landed at Uskudar. I must admit feeling a little emotional as the ferry pulled away from the shore and I looked back at Europe and all I know and love. My new plan is to walk through the interior of Turkey and then Syria, Jordan and finally Israel. This means I will no longer be travelling to Marmaris. I will go to the British Embassy in Ankara and see if they can help me get a Visa for Syria. If not, I must walk down to Kassab and attempt to get a visa there as others have done before me. I hope to be in Ankara in 10 days and will update you from there. 

Thursday 06 September 2007    Email from Ankara, Turkey.    

I arrived at the outskirts of Ankara yesterday, and today moved closer to the centre of this vast city. I am staying in the Kizilay district which seems to be a touristy part of the city and is reasonably close to Ataturks Grand Mausoleum which seems to be one of the main items of interest here. On the way in I passed a huge army base which also seemed to double up as a museum for obsolete airplanes and other military hardware. I have become quite a multicultural traveller since leaving England, my socks are from England, my boots from Montenegro, my shorts from Albania, my t-shirt from Turkey, my hat from Germany and my walking stick from Greece! On leaving Istanbul I followed a small motorway called the D-100 as far as Gerede which then becomes the D-750 as it turns south towards Ankara. Some parts of this route have been heavily forested, and there have been many places to camp. Since the beginning of September there seems to be an underlying freshness to the air which reminds me of Autumn in England and my favourite time of year. On my way to Ankara I met a guy from Glasgow who was pedalling up a steep hill. I called him over, and it turned out he was attempting to break the world record for cycling around the entire planet. The BBC are making a documentary about his journey so if he becomes famous I can say I met him along the way! I have many things to do here. In particular I must buy another pair of boots as the pair from Montenegro are finished. However, I should not really complain as they took me across Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece and around 750km of Turkey. I must also seek a visa from the Syrian Embassy as I know of other people from the UK who have obtained one there. I continue to acquire a range of experiences as I journey onward. On my way to Sakarya I saw an old man walking up a hill. He was picking up discarded items from the ground so I assumed he was very poor. It was a very hot day and I had been given a bottle of water (and many other things) by a family I had met a few hours earlier. But when I saw this man labouring up this steep hill my heart was flooded with compassion for him. I said hello to him in Turkish and gave him my bottle of water as a gift. As I watched him drink I experienced tremendous joy that I had been of value, of service to this man. I think Jesus said that to be truly great you must serve, and the greatest of all must be the servant of all. I think I now know what that means.

Sunday 16 September 2007    Email from Aksaray, Turkey.    

I arrived in Aksaray yesterday and am spending today here mainly resting. Unfortunately the visa situation in Ankara was not really working well for me. I visited the Syrian Embassy and was told that I needed a letter of recommendation from the British Embassy (which I know costs at least 50 UK pounds) and I would have to wait 10 days for the visa to come through. As I did not wish to sit in Ankara twiddling my thimbs for 10 days I have decided to gamble and attempt to get a visa at the border. I have had a closer look at my map, and there is another border crossing near Reyhanli. It is on the way to Kassab, so I will go there first and see if I can get through. If not I will continue south to Kassab and try there also. If these options fail I will have no alternative but to journey back to Ankara and sit it out for 10 days. However, in my heart I do not believe it will come to this. While in Ankara I visited Anitkabir - Atatürk's Grand Mausoleum. It is well worth seeing, and has a museum which houses many gifts he was presented with by foreign governments, as well as the cars he used and the gun carriage his body was carried on. I have continued to follow the D-750 road from Ankara to Aksaray. The landscape is full of brown rolling hills punctuated by the odd cluster of green bushes or trees, and in places there are vast fields of wheat with only the light brown stubble remaining. Here and there I see the odd herd of sheep or cows. There are a few small villages but thankfully petrol stations at regular intervals. It certainly feels like a desolate place - if you were to swap the hills for sand dunes you could well be walking in a desert. I camped for 2 nights on Tüz Golu - a very large salt lake. I stood barefoot on the warm salt and looked up at a very clear night sky full of stars and where the constellations were clearly visible. It was really quite a spectacular sight. The weather has definitely changed here. The mornings are decidely cold and for the first time in many months I have had to put on my fleece. While in Ankara I searched in vain for a map of Syria but was unable to find one. I shall have to overcome this problem before I reach the border. I am in good spirits and will leave here tomorrow and walk south towards Adana which I hope to reach in about 9 days.  

Tuesday 25 September 2007    Email from Adana, Turkey.  

I finally arived in Adana in southern Turkey yesterday and my walk through the interior of this vast country is at an end. As I left Aksaray I camped at the base of Hasan Dagi - a very large mountain which dominates the landscape for many kilometres. At Pozanti the landscape changed dramatically and became heavily forested which provided many opportunities to camp. I shall stay here in Adana at least three days to rest and make final preparations for my journey through Syria. I shall not leave the city until everything is right. It is about 7 days walk to Reyhanli - the last large Turkish town before the border with Syria. I shall stay there overnight and then go to the border early when there should be fewer people around and I can make a case for getting in. I have received a vast amount of advice about my visa situation from many people, for which I am very grateful. In my heart I am absolutely convinced that I will cross the border, the only question is where, when and how much it will cost me. I shall write to you again as soon as I can once I have entered the country. 

We let dissapear this site for some while because Tony is trying to cross the border to Syria. Maybe he could have difficulties when the officials, who have to provide him the visa, know that he is walking to ... 'Jerusalem'!

Saturday 20 October 2007    News from Homs, Syria.    

First let me apologise for not writing sooner. I am very pleased to report that I crossed the border at Kassab at my first attempt. I could write a whole email about this experience, but I will just say that I got my visa in less than 2 hours and then immediately began walking towards Latakia. I followed the coast initially, passing through Latakia, Jableh, Banias (where I saw my first camel!) and Tartus, before turning eastwards and heading towards Safita, Marmarita and the famous crusader castle - Crac Du Chevaliers. If you are ever in Syria the castle is well worth a visit. It is in very good condition, is truly enormous and has spectacular views in every direction. There is also an Orthodox monastery (St George) near the castle but unfortunately I could not stay there. I am currently in Homs and am staying at the Jesuit Monastery. Homs is a very old city and I am staying in the oldest part. In Tartus I met the bishop and stayed in a building next to the church. As I arrived I met the ambassadors of Spain and Italy who were visiting the bishop and were just leaving. I have also stayed with two families at the villages of Zgreen and Al Sharasher (near Jableh). I have already had many good experiences here which contradict the way that Syria is often portrayed in our media. I shall write to you again from Damascus. I shall close by once more referring to Kassab. There were some who believed that I would not pass and that I would have to go back to Ankara. But God had other ideas. Instead I put all my faith in the Father and the Father put his faith in me. I gambled everything at Kassab. I gambled, and I won. 

Sunday 28 October 2007    Email from Damascus, Syria.    

I arrived in Damascus on the 25 October but the 5 day walk from Homs was not without it's difficulties. The walk reminds me of my journey through the interior of Turkey - there were few places to buy things to eat and drink. There were some other problems but I have managed them and am safe and well in this large city. Damascus reminds me very much of Ankara - it is set in the middle of nowhere! It is really quite a grey city as they use concrete a lot in construction here. But the people are very friendly. One guy I asked for directions to the Immigration Office led me straight to it. I had to go there to renew my 15 day visa. Mercifully I was only there an hour as the whole building can be best described as organised chaos! The building is far too small for the volume of people passing through it and the staff look totally exhausted. There is a lot of pushing and shoving and some of the women are the worst offenders! I think pollution from car exhaust fumes must also be a problem here - it was quite noticeable in the air as I approached the city and not pleasant to walk through. I have spent some time in Old Damascus, and visted the Omayyad Mosque and the Al Hamedieh Souk which is similar to the Grand Bazar in Istanbul. Most of the churches were closed yesterday so I hope to be able to visit a few more before I leave. I think I shall probably stay here 1 or 2 more days and then make the 4/5 day walk to the border with Jordan. One thing I have learnt is that travellers cheques are not popular in Syria. I cannot find anywhere to change them and so will have to wait until I reach Amman when I shall also write to you again. The whole country is so different to how I thought it would be. And there is no desert - you have to go towards the Palmyra for that!

Monday 06 November 2007    Email from Amman, Jordan.  

After a 6 day walk down from Damascus I arrived in Amman, Jordan on the 4 November. I am currently staying in the older part of town, known as "downtown Amman". I had a smooth exit from Syria and into Jordan, although on my way to the border a Palestinian farmer tried to arrest me as he thought I was an Israeli spy! Fortunately a passerby who spoke good English calmed him down and after he had seen my passport we were both able to go about our business. For various reasons I no longer have my tent, so I have been sleeping in the open on my rollmat in my sleeping bag. I crossed the border at Nasib (rather than at Dera) and made my way down the motorway passing by Al Matraq and Zarqa on my way to Amman. I have finally managed to exchange some travellers cheques which was becoming a bit of a concern as most of my money is tied up in cheques. Yesterday I visited the Roman Theatre which is very well preserved and the oldest Roman remains in Amman dating from the 2nd century AD. The theatre is flanked by two museums which contain a collection of local dress, jewellery, weapons and other items. I also took some pictures of the Nymphaleum - the remains of a Roman public fountain which is very close to the theatre. I have noticed a few tourists here, which I always find reassuring as in many places I have been to I have often been the only foreigner there! I think I shall leave Amman on Friday morning but I shall write to you just before I leave so you know I am on my way to the border with Israel. After travelling for all these months Jerusalem is now only a 4/5 day walk from where I am now. It's all been so incredible, and now exciting as the end of my journey draws near. God bless you all. 

Tuesday 07 November 2007    Email from Amman, Jordan.  

Just to let you know that I am leaving Amman tomorrow morning and will begin the 2 day walk to the King Hussein Bridge and the border with Israel. As I spent a long time in Syria I am preparing myself for a grilling by Israeli Immigration but I don't anticipate any real problems. When you next hear from me I should be in Jerusalem itself. Of course, I have already started to wonder how I will react on entering the Holy City. I think all I can say is that it will be a very emotional moment, a moment like no other, and that I shall only have it once in this lifetime. God bless you all and I thank you for your continued prayers. 

Sunday 11 November 2007    Email from Jerusalem, Israel.  

I am pleased to inform you all that I finally entered Jerusalem yesterday around 1pm, and passed into the Old City via the Jaffa Gate around 11.00am this morning. Thus ends a journey of some 5,100km and an epic walk through 15 countries. At the moment I can't really believe I am here - part of me still believes that there is more walking to do, another city to walk on to, but no, this really is the end of my pilgrimage. But not the end of my time in Israel. My current plan is to spend around 10-14 days here to visit the holy places and to see as much as I can before flying home to the UK. My health has not been so good in recent days so I will have to take it fairly easy. I am currently staying at the Jaffa Gate Hostel and the view from my floor is an incredible array of churches, mosques and gleaming spires. I saw the iconic Dome on the Rock on my way in from quite a high road - it was quite marvellous to actually behold this famous place of worship with my own eyes. I crossed into Israel on 9 November and passed over the famous King Hussein Bridge which, opposite from Amman, was the obvious place to cross. The bridge itself was something of a disappointment. With such a grand-sounding name I was expecting a huge bridge several hundred metres in span. In reality, the bridge is very small, may be only 100 feet in length. Israeli immigration was a little chaotic and in the end I was asked very few questions about my time in Syria. There is so much to see here. Everywhere I look there are places of worship, ruins and other historic monuments. The time has come when I must give thanks to the many hundreds of people who gave me assistance during my journey. These include fellow pilgrims who gave very valuable advice in person or by email, and the churches and monasteries in Europe and Asia who gave shelter or refreshment. I must also thank the many families who took me in and gave me shelter - I want you to know that I will never forget what you did for me. I must also thank hundreds of complete strangers who gave me gifts of food and drink (and my walking stick!) and other gifts besides. Your gifts also will not be forgotten. On the home front I thank my mother for looking after my home and my sister for her words of encouragement. Last, but not least, I must give thanks to the Father who kept me safe, to the Son for walking with me, and to the Holy Spirit for manifesting itself in so many of the people I met. I sat down with many of you during my journey and I said that I would walk all the way to Jerusalem. Today I kept that promise. I may have started the journey for myself, but I finished it to honour you.

God bless you all              Tony Dillon, Jerusalem. 

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