Israel - Jordan Trip February 19 - March 4, 2008
The flight from Virginia to Paris and Tel Aviv was long but uneventful. Alison was waiting and very quickly drove us to Jerusalem. She did have to stop and take the map away from the so-called navigators who were too tired and too confused to be of much help. But we finally found The Little House in the Colony - a modest but comfortable hotel in Jerusalem not too far from the Old City.
During the next three days we walked…and walked and walked… to the Old City, to the Wailing Wall, through Mea Sherim, to the newer parts of the city. A bus took us to a huge open air market where Roger spent his time snapping photos of fruits and vegetables, nuts, spices, toys, scarves…just about everything that was for sale. And we can’t forget the many stops for coffee and sweets…fortunately the calories seemed to be pretty much balanced out by the walking.
On one morning we took a taxi to the Hadassah Hospital
where we saw the spectacular
Chagall stained glass windows done for the hospital’s chapel.
Another quick taxi ride took us to Ein Kerem to see the church built on the spot where John the Baptist was supposedly born.
From Ein Kerem we hiked to Yad Vashem.
This Holocaust memorial is in the shape of a long cathedral-like ‘A’ frame constructed of two huge concrete slabs. The museum begins with exhibits of the rich life of Jews in Europe, to a explanation of the history of anti-Semitism, through the horrors of the Second World War, the eventual defeat of the Nazis and ends with a stunning view of Jerusalem. If visiting Israel, this is one place that everyone must visit. The memorial's website is at yadvashem.org
During one visit to the Old City, we were purchasing post cards from a vendor when we ran into Bill and Vanya Huth who were visiting their daughter (she works in the American Consulate in Jerusalem). Like Roger, Bill is retired from the Foreign Agricultural Service and we’ve been friends for years. What a surprise and what a small world!
Of course Anita had to buy some dishes. She’d found some plates and bowls in a little shop in the Old City. Such clever bargainers were she and Alison. Just as Anita offered to pay 225 sheckels; Alison offered 250. Next time we’ll have to take along someone who knows what they’re doing!
The dishes at home in Reston appropriately serving hummus and pita chips!Our last night in Jerusalem we ate at Adom - adom is one of the few words we know in Hebrew; it means ‘red.‘ After a small confrontation over who would get a prime parking space (we retreated in defeat; the woman who was guarding the space looked tough), we evilly took advantage of the handicapped sticker on Alon’s car, parked and made our way to Adom. The restaurant was crowded so we sat at the bar (a real sacrifice!) and enjoyed a wonderful meal and several glasses of excellent wine.
* * * * *
South Through the Negev
The trip from Jerusalem to Beer Sheva was a quick two hour drive. We saw gaggles of bikers (both motor and bicycle) zipping along the roads. Along the way, we made a quick stop at a roadside stand (a bit larger than that description implies) to sample olives and olive oil.
Alison and Alon live in a small patio house in Beersheva with Kona, a very active black and white cat.
The house has a lovely walled patio in the back and one of it’s biggest advantage is its proximity to the university - a five minute walk. That afternoon we enjoyed a delicious barbecue along with Alon’s parents who came for a short visit.
The following morning we walked around the campus of Ben Gurion University where Alison attends medical school and Alon studies mechanical engineering. The University is modern, beautifully laid out and, with its variety of students, not much different, perhaps, than many American universities.
www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/bgcu-md
Later we headed to the Budget car rental lot. Our little Chevy ‘Aero’ could have been from “Rent-a-Wreck but it did putter along. (Fortunately we had Alison chauffeuring us in Alon’s car much of the time) Driving in Israel is a challenge with drivers ready to honk their horns in any and all situations.
The next morning we set out across the Negev Desert for Eilat, at the southern most tip of Israel. With Alison at the wheel, we were able watch the scenery and keep an eye out for camels that the roadside signs warned us about. On the way an unusual rain storm forced us to ford a “wadi” or dry river bed which had turned into a wide stream. We were a bit cowardly - we waited until a car smaller than ours successfully forded the water and then we followed.
We made three memorable stops in the Negev. The first was at a rather primitive family- run goat farm where we sampled yogurt and cheese and then bought a tasty ‘chevre’ as well as a Camembert style goat cheese.
Naot Farm
naotfarm.co.il
Naot FarmThe second stop was at Avdat - a fortified hilltop way station in the desert used by the camel caravans of the Spice Route.
mosaic.lk.net/g-avdat
Metal silhouettes depicting life in Avdat
Our third stop was for lunch at Mitzpe Ramon, a small town, near an immense crater some 500 meters deep, 40 kilometers long, 10 kilometers wide and said to be the largest in the world. This crater was not formed by a meteorite strike, but dug out by the natural process of erosion. There is an overlook that juts over the crater’s edge. Not the place for anyone with a fear of heights. And it was very cruel of a certain unnamed person to make someone afraid of heights venture out on to the overlook.
Eilat,where we spent the night before traveling to Jordan and Petra was a different story - Miami on the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba. We cruised the stores near the shore and could have been just as easily in Ocean City or Myrtle Beach! It was rather disconcerting to gaze across the water and see the lights of the Jordanian city of Aqaba and further south the dark shores of Saudi Arabia.
* * * * *
Wadi Rum and Petra
Crossing into Jordan
AshrafWe transferred to his comfortable SUV and headed down the excellent Jordanian highway to the area of Wadi-Rum between Petra and Aquaba. This is the immense canyon area of the Jordanian mountains which resembles the southwestern United States, only more arid and rugged and surrounded by amazingly colorful crags and peaks. Again for those movie goers, both Lawrence of Arabia and Mission to Mars were filmed in Wadi Rum.
At a desert camp, in Wadi Rum, we settled into a rather rattletrap Land Rover and spent several hours bouncing around in the open back - well worth the cold wind and the bouncing to see this extraordinary place. We asked Ashraf if he knew all the back roads in the wadi. He responded that if he didn‘t know, he consulted “Google Earth” and/or his GPS!
Our heads full of the superb scenery, we returned to the desert camp. Sitting in one of the tents we were served a delicious lunch of rice and chicken and the usual delicious tomato and cucumber salads plus pita bread and hummus and tahini.
In midafternoon we drove directly to Petra. Wadi Musa, the town overlooking the famous site is rapidly becoming an overbooked tourist destination now that Petra has been declared one of the “modern 7 wonders of the world” and a “world heritage site” by UNESCO. We stayed at the Amara Palace Hotel where we had a more than comfortable room along with an ample buffet dinner and breakfast. Interestingly, the majority of the tourists booked into the hotel were Israeli tour groups.
View from our window of Wadi Musa
Despite the rain, we strayed out on our own into the town. We found a small coffee shop and enjoyed some Turkish coffee. Never did we feel at all comfortable walking around although we clearly were foreign - and probably looked very American
Our room had a lovely view over the town and the nearby mosque. Alas, we later discovered the mosque broadcast the first call to prayer at 4:30am. Rather disconcerting but we were able to fall back asleep to be ready for a day of exploring Petra.
Ashraf walked us through the mile-long rift (The Siq) which led to the “treasury” - one of the main buildings carved into the red sandstone rock.
The Siq
Nearly every step of the way revealed a new artifact, building, amphitheater or aqueduct of the Petra complex which had been constructed from earlier than 600 BC through Roman times.
Petra's rose colored sandstone
Ashraf left us on our own and, after another excellent middle-eastern buffet lunch, we decided to climb the 1,000 steps up the building which had been converted to a monastery after the Crusades.
One had to be careful as the stone steps wound past mountain cliffs. The climb was worth it as the colors of the rock face, the views and the final approach to the monastery buildings were all memorable.
The MonasteryOn the way down we had to be even more careful; some of the steps slopes down and, with dry sand everywhere, it was very easy to slip. An English lady did slide, just behind us, but fortunately was not hurt. . We gratefully arrived at the “Treasury” building again and enjoyed a much calmer mile walk back to meet our guide. All in all it was a perfect day full of surprises, memories, good exercise and, of course, good food.
We drove back to the border, bid goodbye to Ashraf, picked up our car and drove back to Beer Sheva with much debate along the two lane highway as to whether or not Alison should pass the truck in front of us! Thank goodness the truck finally turned onto a side road and we arrived tired but safely back in Beersheva.
* * * * *
The Dead Sea, Kibbutz Kalia, Jaffa and Tel Aviv
The next day we set off on our own (Alison had rented us a cell phone so she could keep track of our whereabouts) and drove to the Dead Sea. We stopped for coffee and a snack at Ein Gedi
and later that afternoon, after a bit of nervous wandering about, finally found the Kalia Kibbutz Guest Hotel, located above the Dead Sea and just a mile or two from Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. We were only able to enter the kibbutz after checking in with a gaggle of giggling teenage Israeli female soldiers, all sporting automatic rifles. I guess this is serious business but all we could think was “ how cute.”
Kibbutz Kalia
Our final destination was Tel Aviv. We avoided the glitzy gold coast hotels of Tel Aviv and stayed in old Jaffa - a mixed Israeli-Arab city just to the south.
Our “Old Jaffa Hostel’ was even more picturesque than we had bargained for. We arrived in the midst of flea market day and were lucky to negotiate the crowded streets and find a parking place not too distant from our hotel.
Elvis sighted at Jaffa fleamarketTo be perfectly honest, I think we raised the average age of the guests at the Old Jaffa Hostel by a considerable number of years. Our room was barebones but comfortable; we were particularly impressed by the circa 1950’s fridge and a bathroom barely large enough to turn around in. Our room overlooked the street and that evening we were treated to some singing and dancing just under our window - very 1960’s.
The next day we started what was to be three days of non-stop walking. Most of our route was along the Mediterranean Sea to various parts of Jaffa and Tel Aviv. Unlike Jerusalem, it could well have been an American city with its joggers, modern buildings, and upscale shops. We enjoyed window shopping, finding out-of-the-way restaurants and visiting the Diaspora Museum at Tel Aviv University.
Our guide book recommended lunch or dinner at Dr. Shakshuka in Jaffa so Roger ordered the business lunch (given the amount of food that kept coming to our table, we are sure that there was no way anyone could have done any business after eating lunch).
A group of French tourists sat down at the table next to us and of course we had to say “bon jour.” How could Roger resist? What a thrill for a certain Francophile when he was asked if he was FRENCH!!!!! Our waitress boxed up all the leftover dishes (and there was a substantial amount) which Anita took back to the hotel and gave to a very thrilled scruffy British backpacker who was scrounging around the hotel’s rooftop kitchen.
.
Waiting for the busAlison came up to spend the last day with us and later Alon. So that last evening we were able to sample good Israeli wines and food together. It was really hard to say goodbye.
We were up early to drive to the airport, return the rental car and check in for our flight. Despite the tight security, everything was done so efficiently that in no time at all we were waiting to board our flight back to Paris and then on to Virginia. When we walked in our front door, we realized that we had been in transit for almost 24 hours.
Sam was happy to see us again...
