The Holy Land: Israel & Jordan
November 10, 2022 (G) - Arrival at The Post Hostel
We arrived in Tel Aviv. We at first considered taking a bus to Jerusalem, but a brief conversation with an Israeli woman at the bus stop convinced us to attempt catching the train instead. We once again were grateful that we travel light. This snap decision would not have been possible with more than the backpacks we carry, nor would there have been any room on the train for larger luggage. The train was packed, but we were glad to have caught it instead of taking the bus as it was much faster.
After exiting the bustling train station in Jerusalem, we caught an Uber to our accommodations. Build inside the old post office, The Post Hostel was a bit tucked away. The street where we left our Uber was darker than those around it, but had a few rather welcoming establishments such as an eclectic soup restaurant. As we walked down the dark street we searched for any sign that would lead us to the hostel. Eventually, we found a small, unlit sign. The entrance was set back in an alcove and required an elevator ride to reach the actual front door. Luckily this gentleman, that seemed to be taken straight out of a Wes Anderson film, had been painted in place to guide the way.
We rang the bell and were welcomed into a cool common area with a desk to the left for checking in. Once the formalities were completed, we found our room which was small, but clean and private with its own bathroom (not often standard in hostels for any unfamiliar with them) which more than served our needs. We had arranged for a tour of old Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and a trip to the Dead Sea for the following day, so we called it an early night after enjoying soup at the restaurant across the street while watching other people nearly miss our hostel entrance.
November 11, 2022 (G) - Jaffa Gate, Dome of the Rock, The Holy Sepulcture, The Western Wall, Bethlehem, and the Dead Sea
5 AM hits early, but we had plenty to fill the day, so starting early was a must. Now, if you were to visit Jerusalem and you have a great deal of time to spend there, much of this could be done without the use of a guide or tour. Some of it would be difficult and not particularly safe, such as visiting Bethlehem, which is in Palestine, and there is now a wall with security checkpoints that must be crossed to visit the western bank where Bethlehem is situated. For that reason, if you want to maximize a short amount of time and have a hedge against some of the risks, I would highly recommend the use of a tour company. We used Tourist Isreal and things went smoothly for the most part.
We arrived at the tour’s muster point in the predawn light. From there, we were taken by bus to see the Jaffa Gate just as the sun rose. The Jaffa Gate was built by the Ottomans as one of 7 entrances to the ancient portion of Jerusalem. The Gate itself and the surrounding area is steeped in history as one might expect, but seeing it in person gave me a deeper understanding of all the changes this place has experienced in its extensive history. After breaking for a quick coffee, we dove into the winding streets of the old city.
The place felt like a maze, as many old cities do, and after several twists and turns, we proceeded up a flight of steps to a rooftop with views of the Dome of the Rock and the Mount of Olives with its many graves behind it. We inquired about seeing the former up close, however it was currently closed to visitors which is why it had not been included in the original itinerary.
Back into the maze of streets, we crossed past the main market area which displayed every array of goods imaginable. So many smells and colors presented themselves to us in an amalgamation of stimulation that was at once exciting, interesting, and slightly offputting. Delighted as we were by the now familiar smells of a spice shop we equally struggled after walking past a butcher shop that seemed to specialize in the extraction of sheep brains as exemplified by a tote full of brains on display (sorry, we didn’t snap a photo of that). Still, it was an interesting, unique, and mostly enjoyable experience.
Our next stop was the Holy Sepulcture Church. This place was built where the empty tomb of Jesus Christ had once been. A portion of the church that was built over the tomb itself was partially carved out of the rock of his tomb. There was a fascinating bit of history regarding the location of Christ’s crucifixion and the tomb being outside or inside of the ancient boundaries of city walls. Given the location, one may think that events occurred inside the city. Spoiler alert, they didn’t. At the time the city wall was to the east of the crucifixion and burial location.
Speaking of walls, our next stop was the Western Wall. The wall itself is regarded as holy due to it serving as part of the foundation of the Temple Mount built by King David. The full history of the wall is a deep and painful one, that I will not recount here, but I encourage everyone to read it in its entirety. As I touched the wall, I admittedly felt no spark or power from it. Instead, I felt weight. Perhaps just a small portion of the weight of all the pain, suffering, and bloodshed seen by the wall. What a tragic, painful place. We should weep for each other and the cruelty we force upon one another and plead forgiveness from each other before things we call holy become haunted.
Leaving the wall behind, we once again boarded the bus. It was now around 10 AM and we headed off to Bethlehem. As we passed into the western bank we saw the walls and pill boxes, complete with razor wire frosting on top. The appearance of the buildings and streets changed, and litter was more prevalent. We stopped just after the border to change guides as it was no longer safe for our previous guide. Our new guide introduced himself and welcomed us to Bethlehem. We were allowed some time to peruse some products which had been made exclusively in Bethlehem.
After leaving the shop, we proceeded to the Church of Bethlehem. The door of the Church was a rather entertaining feature by itself. Through the years, the various victors of whatever conflict seemed to think the door had been too large and would make it smaller. If the trend continues the entrance will soon be restricted to children, dogs, and cats.
Another interesting point regarding the Church is that it had been built on top of the cave that had once served as a donkey stable. Due to the climate, it was common for caves to be used to keep livestock. Somewhere along the way, the term cave seemed to be changed to be called a manger. Yes, this was that manger. The manger where Jesus Christ was born. Forget all those nativities with a cute timber-framed structure, turns out, it was a cave. The important thing is that a child was born all the same. We spent a little while oogling the church itself then exited.
It was now around noon and our stomachs were informing us of that fact. Fortunately, our guide had arranged for lunch at the square directly across from the church. A falafel sandwich and a few potatoes later and we were in great shape to continue to the Dead Sea. We reboarded the bus and set off through the desert.
There had been terrible traffic on the way to the Dead Sea, but the upside was that we were able to catch the Dead Sea in the last brilliant hues of daylight. We very much enjoyed floating around at the lowest place on earth. As the sun’s last light vanished, we showered in fresh water and headed back to the bus. We had enjoyed Bethlehem, but if we had to repeat the day, might have opted to spend a bit more time at the Dead Sea.
After returning to the shadowy street of our hostel, we found the soup restaurant was pretty empty, so we dropped in to enjoy dinner there. The hummus was spectacular and the owner even spilled the beans on the secret to making great hummus. It turns out you have to wait for the right smell to come from the cooking chickpeas before turning them into hummus. It was a wonderfully slow way to finish an action-packed day.
November 12, 2022 (G) - Blogging, bumming, and rebooking
We hadn’t made any concrete plans for this day. We toyed with the idea of walking back to Old Jerusalem, as it was not particularly far away, but eventually decided to spend the day in the common area of the Hostel. It was a cool place and we thoroughly enjoyed having a down day to write about our past experiences in the blog.
We had booked a tour to visit Jordan for the following day, but had learned well in advance that the pick up time would be 3:45 AM so rather than remain at our hostel for part of a night we decided to book a more affordable Pod hotel for the night. This would prove to be a poor decision. After finishing up writing we set out to find our new pod accommodation.
We found it. Instead of clean secure pods where we could catch a quick nap before the pickup time, we were greeted with dirty, flimsy plastic pods with “locks” that had clearly been tampered with and were completely useless. All you had to do was lightly press on the door and it would slide open. The material the pods were made out of could easily be cut with a box cutter. It was surprising given the positive reviews we had read on Google and other sites prior to booking it, but we unanimously vetoed our stay there though it meant surrendering the price we had already paid for the pod. We had been fortunate in arriving at our pod very early, around 6 PM. After the decision to opt out of staying there, we made an excuse to leave and decided to seek out better accommodation. We do not recommend staying at Capsule and Dormitory Space-X. We found a nearby Ibis hotel, and decided to burn one of the free nights we had earned from Hotels.com to offset the cost. After a shower and laying down in the clean sheets, we both gave a sigh of relief and were certain we had made the right call.
November 13, 2022 (G) - The Red Sea, Wadi Rum, and the Bedouin Camp
Three fifteen in the morning arrived and we begrudgingly made our way to the pickup point like zombie lurkers on the vacant streets. The bus arrived, we boarded, and promptly returned to slumber.
We stopped at a gas station next to a McDonald’s just after sunrise. While not hungry, I decided to step out of the bus for some air. While outside I met and chatted with a few of the other passengers of our group before returning to the bus. We rode on through the desert until we reached Eilat which touches the Red Sea and would be the location of our border crossing into Jordan. The border crossing was interesting. We had been informed in advance of the cost associated with acquiring a Jordanian visa and an additional border crossing charge, but the whole process seemed peculiar. We were given specific instructions on who to look for after completing the crossing. Methqual would be our guide for the duration of our time in Jordan.
With the crossing completed and Methqual found we entered the city of Aqaba. We spent part of the afternoon here. We enjoyed lunch at one of the newly built resorts and later visited the Red Sea which was beautifully blue.
After this slow afternoon, we headed off into the desert. The ruggedness of the mountain regions rivals that of the American Southwest with only subtle differences. Methqual at the head of the bus used his microphone to provide a detailed history of Jordan and the surrounding areas. He deftly sprinkled in humor to prevent most of us from nodding off, though T might have caught a wink or two.
We arrived at last to Wadi Rum. The term Wadi is roughly equivalent to the word valley. Wadi Rum in particular has famously been featured as a film location for several major films, such as Star Wars and The Martian, and it is gorgeously hemmed in by looming cliffs. We hopped off the bus and into the back of smaller 4x4 trucks. Methqual offered to help anyone who wanted to wear a scarf like the Bedouins to put on their scarf. T took him up on the offer. Zooming across the sand we, at last, stopped at a large sand dune that had formed next to a rocky cliff plopped like an island in the middle of the sands.
T and I raced up to the top of the cliff as the rest of the group began taking turns sandboarding down the large dune. T and I had been fortunate enough to try our hand at sandboarding at the Great Sand Dune National Park in Colorado during the summer of 2020. There were quite a few people in our group and only a few boards so we let them have their fun and just enjoyed the view.
After this, we stopped at a small natural bridge, had tea with a bedouin, watched a beautiful sunset, and found interesting petroglyphs. There can really only be one explanation … Aliens
As we returned the bus, a storm kicked up in the distance. We watched the clouds build as the sunset. A short ride later and we had made it to the Bedouin camp that would serve as our accommodations for the night. As we walked toward the camp we could watch the lightning storm display its power over Wadi Rum. Fortunately, the rain stayed well away from the camp that night and we were able to enjoy a large bonfire with Zarb which is essentially Bedouin pit-cooked barbeque.
After dinner and the fire, we said farewell to Methqual for the evening. He had originally planned to spend the night with the group at the camp, but unfortunately, there had been a mix-up and there was no room left for him. before leaving he made final arrangements for T and me to go on a little camel ride at dawn the following day. T had already inquired about the welfare of the camels and was assured by Methqual that they were very well cared for, which as we would find out the next day was absolutely true.
November 14, 2022 (G) - Camel ride, Petra, and the long way back
It was fresh and cool as we met our camels the next morning. The sun was still tucked beneath the sandy mountains in the distance. Three Bedouins had helped a small group of us mount our camels. My camel was a large mellow fellow. He seemed older and uniquely calm which is probably why he had been chosen as the camel to lead T’s camel. T’s camel was a diva. As soon as I sat on my camel, T’s camel very gently and, looking back on it, playfully, put my whole upper arm in her mouth. It did make us a bit nervous but she really was just spunky. She was very vocal and only seemed content when she could push her head against my camel’s back leg or rest it on mine. So it was that we started our journey by camel towards the rising sun.
Happily, our group plodded along the sand, the silence was only occasionally broken by the billow of a camel. Usually, it was the diva that T road. After a while, we stopped, dismounted our unique steeds, and enjoyed a cup of morning tea provided by our Bedouin leaders. During this break, we got to see more of the camel’s personality. The Diva relentlessly nudged my camel. He responded by laying down, placing his head on the sand, and going back to sleep. T collected grass for her Diva while the rest of the group finished their tea and returned just as we began to mount our camels again. Unsurprisingly, the Diva only accepted a small amount of T’s gift. Good effort, T. None of the camels were ever yelled at, hit, poked, or forced to lie down, and they were all treated with respect.
Upon our return to camp, we found Methqual. He appeared quite tired. I questioned him and he admitted that he had slept very poorly on account of mosquitos. However, he quickly used his sharp wit to lighten the mood and then stated that he would get some rest on the bus ride to Petra.
As we approached Petra, Methqual perked back up and began to highlight points of interest such as the place where Moses struck a rock to create a spring or certain holy monasteries that were perched on far-off mountain tops. We wished we had more time in Jordan. Around noon we arrived at the entrance of Petra. We had four and a half hours to explore. It wasn’t nearly enough. Petra itself was built (or carved) by the Nabateans. The Nabateans thrived on the silk road spice trade. They had been master engineers as well, they built a complex aqueduct system to provide fresh clean water to the city.
The entrance to the city is a long narrow canyon. At the very top of the canyon, one can spot the Djin blocks, which are in truth tombs of wealthy Nabateans carved into solid sandstone. As we proceeded deeper into the canyon the walls became much sheerer with occasional alcoves carved above us for guard stations. Originally, I had suspected this slot canyon lookalike had been the result of flash floods and the mechanical erosion that results from such flooding, but I was wrong. The canyon had been the result of an earthquake. Enough about geology though, back to the city.
At the end of this long narrow canyon can be found the “Treasury”. The reveal of the spectacular structure felt near magical. It appears suddenly and with very little to indicate such a structure would be present. The “Treasury” was used in Indiana Jones, The Last Crusade as the final resting place of the Holy Grail. There is also a local legend that the Urn at the top of the “Treasury” hides a pharaoh’s treasure. Tales abound of the location’s use as a bank or historic treasury in the ancient city of the Nabateans, Although this seems unlikely, though only about 5 % of Petra has been excavated by archeologists, what has been discovered is that the “Treasury” was the final resting place of a Nabatean King during the city’s heyday of prosperity and for no other purpose. Any treasure that may have been there seems to have vanished long before the city became lost to all but the Bedouins. By the time a Swiss explorer rediscovered the city, several other empires (greek, roman, etc) had visited the location and likely removed any such valuables.
The location certainly captures the imagination and we could have spent days wandering the rest of the ruins there. We were pressed for time but still managed to make the thousand-stair trek up to see another of the location’s famous buildings known as the Monastery.
The hike was well worth it and the hike back down was much quicker and easier.
Too soon the time came for us to return to the bus and ultimately start the long ride back to Jerusalem. The journey back was quiet. At the border, we said our farewells to Methqual and the border crossing was accomplished without any hiccups. T and I both nodded off after watching the sunset and spent the rest of our trip to Jerusalem sleeping.
November 15, 2022 (G) - Late arrival, Onward to Tel Aviv
We did not arrive in Jerusalem until 1 AM in the morning. T had known that our return to Jerusalem would be late and had made sure to book a place with a 24-hour front desk and check-in. We crashed and woke up in time for breakfast before heading off via train to Tel Aviv.
It was not until we arrived in Tel Aviv that I discovered my grave error. I had left my travel hat on the bus the night before. I was bummed but hopeful that a city the size of Tel Aviv would provide me with a replacement. We walked from the train station to our hostel. The Florentine House has been one of my all-time favorite hostel stays. The place had a very modern minimalist industrial vibe, it was extremely clean, and provided everything a traveler’s heart could desire including a huge number of wall pegs for hanging up clothing and gear.
We ventured out into the neighborhood and hit up a local taco place for dinner. The Florentine neighborhood is sort of the artist’s district of Tel Aviv and displays that influence in the form of urban artwork. It’s a fun area with an earthy artsy sort of grunge feel to it.
November 16, 2022 (G) - The hat search begins
We enjoyed sleeping in late. The restaurant below the Hostel provided a late breakfast in exchange for a voucher the hostel provided us. We then spent part of the morning writing and relaxing before we began our search for a replacement hat.
After a bit over an hour of searching and several shops later, we had come up empty. It seemed that the hat I was in search of was not currently in season at any of the shops we searched. We halted the search and instead refocused on writing for the remainder of the evening.
November 17, 2022 (G) - So long Israel!
Breakfast seemed to take forever, with a young man who took our order apologetically giving reasons for the delay that didn’t quite seem to make sense, but eventually, we received our food and coffee and ate quickly before setting off once again to the airport.
This time we were bound for Oman, with a long layover in Bahrain. After boarding, we were delighted to find that our plane was equipped with the game Angry Birds which kept us suitably entertained for the duration of the flight. We made it through all the travel-themed levels. Hopefully that was a good foreshadowing for us.