ISRAEL
I spent five days in Israel as part of a Middle East blitz that also included stops in Cairo, Egypt and Amman, Jordan. Pete has been traveling here more frequently for work so I've created several sub-pages from his experiences. The only thing I've done that he hasn't, is that I crossed the Allenby / King Hussein Bridge from Jordan into Israel.
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I planned to put together a "How To" guide complete with pictures but shortly after pulling out my camera at the spot where the cab dropped me off I was in the Jordanian customs office trying to figure out how to delete photos off my camera. The border crossing took about four hours not including the hour taxi ride from Amman to the border and another wait on the Israel side before catching a bus to Jerusalem.
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ISRAEL DESTINATIONS |
I was lucky that I arrived early in the morning and not too many people were crossing the border that day. It's a bit a of mess on the Jordan side. You fill out a form, get an exit stamp, then hand your passport to a guy who disappears for thirty minutes. By the time he returned I'd already boarded the bus for the crossing. As the guy was handing out the passports for everyone on the bus he literally dropped them and they went flying everywhere. It's a short distance bus ride to the Israel border but a couple of stops in between for dogs and soldiers to inspect the bus.
Once we arrived at the Israel immigration offices the locals went to the front of a line which was a bit of a pain because a few were bringing in boxes of fruits and vegetables which attracted hundreds of flies. I wound up getting grilled by Israeli officials...what country was my grandfather from and similar questions and had to wait for over thirty minutes to have my passport reviewed. I assume it had something to do with the Egypt stamps in the passport from my earlier travels. Once I cleared customs I caught a bus to Jerusalem and was on my way.
Once we arrived at the Israel immigration offices the locals went to the front of a line which was a bit of a pain because a few were bringing in boxes of fruits and vegetables which attracted hundreds of flies. I wound up getting grilled by Israeli officials...what country was my grandfather from and similar questions and had to wait for over thirty minutes to have my passport reviewed. I assume it had something to do with the Egypt stamps in the passport from my earlier travels. Once I cleared customs I caught a bus to Jerusalem and was on my way.
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Three days in Jerusalem, two days in Tel Aviv. One afternoon in Jerusalem I crossed over into Bethlehem. I traveled solo around the area but in hindsight it may have been a bit wiser to at least join a tour for the Bethlehem visit.
Jerusalem is also the only place I've been where I was involved in a violent act (although I had a few close calls in Cairo too) - some kid throw a potato baseball style at my head. I heard it whiz by and then smack against the wall behind me. I walked to cover as soon as he began throwing the second one and knew he had bad aim. Pete's spent more time here and hasn't had anything like this happen to him. |