back to Al Quds in 9.5 weeks

The border crossing went smoothly this morning, I felt nervous and relieved to be going, and there was someone heading my way so we got to share the journey to Amman. I then jumped straight on a bus down to Petra and was here by 4pm. I have the most beautiful room in the Crowne Plaza Hotel looking straight over some of the canyoned mountains in the area right beside the entrance to the Nabatean city -- I get to explore for the next three days.

I got to go so soon because on Monday all the dubbing of the tapes was done up at the Ramattan studios in Ramallah so I knew that even if there was a problem from security, there was spare copies. I also realized that it is only going to be nine and a half weeks before I'm back again so all the other things I thought I could do, I decided I'd wait for, including the option to go to Gaza, I think I've had a bellyfull of stuff for one trip. When I went to the studios everything was friendly and smiley, so some of the differences of previous days appear to have disappeared into a time that's gone -- I took presents for the crew and chocolates for the studio staff, which appeared to go down well. They were in the thick of things with the elections now only 6-7 days away.

As I travelled away from Al Quds (Jerusalem) then tension began to slip away from me -- there is a finality about plunging the 4000 feet down to the Dead Sea, crossing the Jordan and then making the climb up the other side -- I really feel like I've left the place, and know I can breathe that more deeply. Here, it is so still, so beautiful and it is an amazing feeling to simply be a tourist again rather than someone grappling with making TV in the face of an occupying army.

There was a moment near the very end of filming on Sunday when an Israeli Defence Force jeep pulled up right in front of our TV car right beside the separation wall in East Jerusalem at Abu Dis, and Labib, rather than get into the car, set up the tripod, put the camera on it and started filming the five soldiers as a response. Only when they went did we go. I respect and admire his determination to tell the full story, I'm just bloody relieved I don't have to stand there wondering what might happen next any more.

Right -- holiday -- yes!