day 23: our final day

Sigh...well, today's our last day in Israel. We got up and stuck our bags in a storeroom at the hotel after checking out. We had a lot of time to waste, and frankly we're kinda exhausted after this long, busy trip. Anyway, we decided to check out the Carmal Market in Tel Aviv, a bustling crazy place selling everything from bras to fish. After that we walked along the sea-front to the nearby port city of Jaffa. It was about a 45-minute walk, and we wandered around the old city's artist quarter until we decided to stop for a nice lunch overlooking one of the oldest ports in the world (dated back 4000+ years!). After some more wandering around this charming city, we headed back up to Tel Aviv and then into the city to a little cafe for some coffee. Eventually we made it back to the beach and had some beers and watermelon at a little outdoor bar. In the early evening we gathered our bags and caught a taxi to the airport.

Joe and I went through the very strict El Al security process, including a complete unpacking/unfolding of all our bags (and then frantic re-packing) and a brief interview. While waiting for our flights we all had sandwiches and a few beers and did some last-minute souvenir shopping with our leftover Israeli money. Finally it was time to board the 14 hour flight to Newark (damn it!)...bye Israel! ;)

day 22: Tel Aviv is intentionally confusing (fuckers)

Today we got up, packed up the rental car, and headed back across the southern Galil towards Tel Aviv, on the Mediterranean coast. We stopped only once for lunch in Hadera and rolled into the biggest city in Israel around 2:30pm. Immediately we realized that Tel Aviv is not a cool place to drive in...its super-congested and, despite being the only city in Israel on a rectangular grid, it is difficult to drive in. This is because, despite many streets being 2-way, you can only turn onto them in one direction...which is fucking ridiculous. Anyway, we eventually found our way to the Bell Hotel right on the beach and checked in after parking in a very precarious position in a nearby garage. After relaxing for about an hour, Joe and I decided to drop off the rental car at a nearby Hertz, after filling up with gas. This driving adventure took us about 90 minutes, and then took us 15 minutes to walk back to the hotel (does that clue you into how ridiculous this place is?). Anyway, after that mess Danielle joined us on the beach for some swimming, reading, and beers. Afterwards we hit up an Ethiopian place for dinner...there are a lot of Jewish Ethiopian immigrants in Israel, in case you weren't aware. During the Roman period many extremely religious Jews fled Jerusalem (mostly out of anger at a pagan idol erected in the Jewish Temple) and established an enormous community and temple complex in the middle of Egypt on the Nile. Eventually that community moved over to Ethiopia and many locals there converted. Some scholars actually think that a Church in Ethiopia contains the Ark of the Covenant which was smuggled out of the Jerusalem temple along with these angry Jews. Anyway, Ethiopian food is ridiculously good...just thought I'd throw that out there. Afterwards we smoked hookahs on at a chilly beach bar.

day 21: "beach" day at Jesus Lake

The original plan for today was to drive up north to the Lebanese border town of Kiryat Shmona and go on a kayaking adventure down the Jordan river. We opted out of this plan, though, and thank goodness for it. The Hizbullah militant group in Lebanon decided to start attacking northern Israel with rockets that morning (in a foreshadowing of the craziness that's going on now). So, instead we drove to the East bank of the Sea of Galilee and spent the day relaxing on the completely empty Dugit Beach (its really more like a gravel mixture than sand, though). Of course, this is the body of water that Jesus supposedly walked on, but its really not nearly as nice as it looks in my pictures (thanks to a polarizer). Anyway, we just had a nice long, hot day of relaxing and swimming...it was really nice considering how busy this trip has been all the way through. We had some Italian food for dinner (and more gelato) and then drank some whiskey while packing up for the last "movement" of the trip in the morning.

day 20: hello, syria & honeymoon crashers

We got up this morning and took a drive up through the beautiful Hula Valley to the north, and eventually wound our way up into the northeast corner of Israel, the Golan Heights. This area was captured from the Syrians in the 1967 and 1973 wars, and the picturesque fields of grain and vineyards are, unfortunately, covered in land mines. Signs explaining this along these roads are only one indication of the apparently peaceful place's past...there are also a lot of bombed-out Syrian bunkers and Druze villages all over the place. The Golan is a volcanic zone, and there are nice little craters everywhere...it kinda reminds me of Mauna Kea, actually. We made it to this excellent viewpoint called Har Bental, a distinct peak about 1000 yards from the Syrian border, where you can catch a glimpse along the road to Damascus. There were nice views of Mt. Hermon, the distant mountain with snow still on it (even in the Middle East's summer) and surrounding farmland. You can wander around in old Israeli army bunkers up there (as Danielle demonstrates by descending a dark tunnel), but the real purpose is to see the dramatic natural beauty here. Nevertheless, its hard to forget that this is a place of conflict, as the barbed wire hiding in the red poppies reminds you. We had lunch up there at a place called "Coffee AnAn", which we found hard to believe was not a pun on the UN leader's name.

After a quick stop in Tiberias we headed back to the Mediterranean village of Limat to pay a visit to Adam and Moriya on their honeymoon (they insisted!). We took a dip in the hot tub and then relaxed with a nice spread of cheeses, olives, fruit and other snacks and some Cuban cigars that Adam's uncle bought for us in Jerusalem. After the sunset, Moriya performed the prayers for the end of Shabbat, and then we all walked to a nearby up-scale steakhouse for a nice dinner (part of a gift from Moriya's cousins - it was very tasty). Eventually Joe, Danielle, and I headed back to Tiberias for another night in the Galil.

day 19: holy shit its hot

We woke up late this morning to a knock on our hostel door (Danielle, Joe, me, and another friend of Adam's who had recently immigrated and joined the IDF)...it was check-out time! All panicked that we were going to get charged an extra night, I ran down to pay the bill. I laughed out loud when I realized it was 89 shekels (about 20 USD) between the four of us...funny. Anyway, this was where Joe, Danielle, and I parted ways with Sam, Anne, Dave, and Lior - they were headed to Tel Aviv for the day and then flying home. I dropped the soldier guy (Dave?) off at the train station in Akko and Joe, Danielle and I started to head for the Sea of Galilee. But, we got a phone call from Shoshie (Moriya's friend) asking if she could come along. So, we picked her up in Nahariya and then finally headed across the hilly and green Galil region (north central Israel) and into the city of Tiberias on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. We stopped and checked into a hostel there and the four of us had lunch at a cafe on the main market street in this little city. After that we drove a little ways to meet up with some other midrasha girls that Shoshie and Moriya go to school with (including Shani, who we hung out with earlier). They were jumping off the banks of the Jordan river (or some branch of it) and swimming to cool off...it was scorching hot, 106 degrees F. At the end of the day the girls all left to a nearby kibbutz for Shabbat, and Joe, Danielle, and I went to the hostel to shower and relax while watching Arab satellite TV (from Kuwait).

I should point out how hilarious the shower was in this place. The bathroom was about 3'x3' with a toilet and sink. The showerhead just stuck out of the ceiling...no curtain, no nothing. You showered and soaked the shit out of everything. The two people in the bedroom always got a chuckle out of the giggling of the person in the shower over how silly it was. Anyway, when the sun set and it cooled off we found a Christian-run restaurant on the waterfront that served delicioius local fish. We capped the night off with gelato (mm...pistachio gelato is sooooo good) and then crashed, having barely slept the night before.

day 18: the wedding!

Well, we finally hit the day behind all of us flying halfway around the world...the wedding! Adam and I got new rental cars today (sadly we had to turn in the purple minivan). Joe and I took one car and Adam and Dave took another (Sam, Anne, and Lior had left earlier) and we headed up to the "end of the world", Rosh Ha'Nikra, at the northern Israel/Lebanon border. We stopped for lunch somewhere north of Tel Aviv (near Akko?) and eventually made it to the little village of Limat, at the cottage where Adam and Moriya were going to spend the first weekend of their marriage together (cute little place on a small farm). We all got ready and had a little arak to calm our nerves (or, maybe Adam did...Dave, Joe, and I just wanted a drink). Around 5pm we headed up the last 15 minutes to Rosh Ha'Nikra, right on the Mediterranean coast. The view down the coastline was stunning, and we admired it while waiting for a few relatives to join up. To get to the actual wedding, however, you had to take this cable car over the side of these white chalk cliffs to a large natural patio right on the water's edge. The area is filled with sea caves with amazingly clear water where you could see 20-30 feet to the sea floor. The location and the setup were really wonderful.

After eating some snacks and mint lemonade, the guests had all arrived and the sun started to get low, so it was time to begin the ceremony. Moriya had been sequestered in a nearby cave with all her girlfriends singing songs to her and praying. Adam and the two dads walked out first to the chuppah (the canopy where the ceremony takes place) and waited (patiently). Eventually Moriya and the moms came out surrounded by a throng of loudly singing girls...it was all very dramatic. The ceremony itself was beautiful and lively, and finished right after sunset. Aww...what a happy couple ;)


Anyway, the food was really, really, really good and the dancing and entertainment were also a lot of fun. It was certainly the most unique and beautiful wedding I'd ever been to (sorry everyone else, but come on...you have a wedding on the Mediterranean and we'll talk). Around 2am we packed up into the cars (I mean really packed up) and drove about 10 miles east to a hostel in a little village called Shlomi for the night (mmm...bunkbeds). What a great day.

day 17: last day in Jerusalem

This morning we woke up and headed back from Arad to Jerusalem to pack up the apartment in Ramat Eshkol. We took the long way back (around the West Bank) and stopped in bumblefuck (again) to get the Israeli version of a breakfast sandwich. Called a "popeye" (don't ask why), this delicious concoction is basically scrambled eggs and vegetables with plenty of z'chug (that green hot sauce I make) stuffed into a pita. We came up through the Latrun corrider in the hills around Jerusalem, where a lot of important battles occurred in the 1948 and 1967 wars. Lior decided we should stop at this tank museum...that's right, a tank museum...that contained every kind of tank Israel's ever used or fought against (captured tanks from Arab armies). I was amused by the bright pink (hello kitty pink) tanks from Lebanon: what the fuck is that about?

Anyway, in the late afternoon I went to the Muslim quarter of the Old City with Lior and Dave for some souvenir shopping and another quick visit to the kotel. I had some delicious spinach/potato/mushroom burekas for dinner and eventually I drove Adam back into the Old City to relax before his big night. We spent some time up on the roofs of the Old City and watched some crazy green laser show practicing for tomorrow night, which is Yom Yerushalayim (or Jerusalem Day), the holiday celebrating the re-capture of the Old City of Jerusalem by the Israelis in the 1967 war. When I got back to the apartment (Adam slept at his dad's place) I finished packing and went to bed early.

day 16: masada and mud

Danielle took the train and bus to meet us in Arad this morning, all the way from Moriya's house in Haifa. We drove back through the desert and down to En Bokek to pick up Sam and Anne before heading about halfway back to Ein Gedi to one of my favorite places in the south of Israel, Masada. Masada is a ~2000 year old secret Jewish fortress built on top of this high plateau next to the Dead Sea. It was constructed for King Herod and was home to about 1000 Jewish fighters and their families during the Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans around 70 CE. These fighters used to sneak off the plateau and attack Roman positions, and then sneak back up...the Romans had no idea where they were coming from for quite a while. Eventually they figured it out and set up a protracted siege of the fortress. The warriors on Masada were a kind of fanatical Messianic Jewish cult; thinking they were the last free Jews on Earth (figuring the Romans had wiped everyone else out during the revolt) they committed mass suicide rather than be taken prisoner/killed by the pagan Romans. That's some ~1000 people...crazy. Anyway, we took a cable car up to the top of the plateau and wandered around the fortress ruins for about 90 minutes. The place is remarkably intact, including massive food storehouses, a synagogue (complete with a mosaic tile floor), water cisterns, family homes, a hide tanning "shop", remnant fortress walls, and much more. The views of the Dead Sea, the Moab range in Jordan, and the Judean desert cliffs to the west are spectacular. Danielle and I decided to hike down the side of the plateau rather than wait for the herd of people we were with get their shit together. It was really hot and pretty exhausting, though. But, we were rewarded at the bottom when we came across a group of ibex, kind of like a desert deer/antelope kinda thing, including a baby. After watching them for a while (its amazing how well they blend in with their surroundings), we headed to the visitor center for a well-deserved ice-cold watermelon juice drink (mmm....just blended up watermelon: that's it!).

So, in the late afternoon we went back to the mall at En Bokek to purchase some Dead Sea mud (rather than wandering along the shore for an hour until we found a hole) and got all slathered up. The stuff reaks and feels really weird (especially as it dries), but ends up making your skin feel wonderful for a few days. After that we took a dip in the sea to wash it off, where Danielle and I discovered that the sea floor was covered with these spherical salt aggregates about the size of golf balls...it was really bizarre. We had a quick dinner and then drove back up to Arad to hang out at "the point" and then Arad's other local bar before calling it a night.

day 15: bachelor party (complete with assault rifle)

Adam swung by in the minivan this morning, and we (Adam, Dave, Lior, Sam, Anne, Joe, and I) loaded it and Lior's rental car up for a several day trip back into the Negev and Judean deserts before the wedding. We made the decision to drive the short way down to the Dead Sea...and by short way I mean the West Bank. But we had walkie-talkies in case we got lost, so it was all good. So, we made the descent from Jerusalem down to 1000+ feet below sea level near Jericho and then made a hard right to the Dead Sea. The drive was at least 50% shorter than the alternative route (around the West Bank), and was much more beautiful. We drove along the sea for about 45 minutes, passing date palm orchards (one had this huge fucking ostrich running around in it...I thought I might've been hallucinating), and stark desert cliffs around the location where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. We stopped near the Ein Gedi kibbutz for a cafeteria-style lunch right on the sea, and then opted to go for a hike in the Wadi David up in the cliffs. Adam and I had done this in February 2005, and its really a stunning place...in this horrifically hot, dry desert, these cliffs are just filled with water everywhere. In fact, Ein Gedi is home to a major natural water supply that is bottled and very popular throughout Israel. Anyway, we climbed around in the waterfalls and pools here for quite a while. There are these weird animals in this area called hyraxes, and we found a baby one flopping around in the dirt for some reason. They're kinda like giant guinea pigs.


Afterwards we went down to the Dead Sea beach and swam, er floated, for a while. As it was last time, this is a very surreal experience...the water feels like cooking oil, and you can literally float standing upright. You have to be careful not to get the water in your eyes, although I have made me mistake of getting a drop in my mouth...it is fiercely salty and kinda chemical tasting: it reminds me of the salt licorice Chris and Kari brought back from Norway (but not as good). Anyway, after a while in there we stopped for ice cream, where I had a wonderful watermelon flavored popsicle that actually tasted like real watermelon (and not the bullshit fake jolly rancher flavor). We headed up into Ein Gedi to Adam's Uncle Kobe's "house" - really a self-styled Israeli hippy shack. Kobe's probably my favorite Suberi, despite his older, more adorable relatives. He just spends his time thinking, doing little odd jobs, smoking hash, and eating dates. And, it seems like everyone in Israel knows the dark little Yemenite dude in Ein Gedi. After some Turkish coffee and watermelon we dropped Sam and Anne off in one of the resort villages called En Bokek and the rest of us drove to the southern side of the Dead Sea and then up back to sea level and into the little Negev Desert town called Arad.

Arad is where Adam lived for a year in Israel, and also where he met Moriya. And, consequently, where we planned to drink it up for his bachelor party. We first stopped at this great outdoor souk (market) before grabbing the best falafel in Israel in the center of Arad. Then we caught the beautiful desert sunset from "the point"...a cliff edge on the outskirts of town that peers down onto the Dead Sea and into the Moabite range in Jordan (where I was less than a week ago). Adam's contemplating his upcoming marriage (actually he might've been on the phone...but whatever). This place was awesome...but the best part was that if you chucked rocks at other rocks they sparked. We did that for a little while...it was a very man-ish (or boy-ish) moment. After checking into the immigrant absorption center where we were staying (and where Adam used to live) and a quick shower, we walked over to this guy's apartment to pre-party. This guy's an American immigrant who joined the Israeli army. We're sitting around drinking at this place and talking...the TV's kinda on in the background, but then we notice that the show we're watching is showing really horrific graphic pictures of sheep and horses being hacked apart and mutilated. We were all terrified and turned the channel (in retrospect is was so surreal it was funny). We also noticed that this guy's M16 was just leaning against the wall...at some point someone said "We better play with that sucker now before we're too drunk." Always a good idea.

Anyway, we finished off the night at one of Arad's 2 (or 3) local bars, drinking, playing pool, eating, and just relaxing. It was a good night, and nice chill way to finish a pretty long day. That's Joe, Lior, Adam, Dave, and me...

day 14: holy sites part deux

This morning we were joined at the Ramat Eshkol apartment by Lior, a friend of Adam's who also came for the wedding (although he's half Israeli, so has been in Tel Aviv for a few days now). Adam and Moriya had wedding stuff to deal with today, so Lior, Joe, Sam, Anne, and I decided to do the whole Old City of Jerusalem thing (attempt number 2 for Joe and I on this trip: see day 2). We literally basically did the same whirlwind tour, but spent a bit more time on the Temple Mount. When we got up there this Muslim guy offered to give us a detailed tour...I'm always wary about such things, especially when they don't give you a price up front, but they all wanted it, so I figured what the hell. He was very informative and pointed out a bunch of stuff I didn't notice the first time I was up there. He also decided it was ok if we peaked into the Al Aqsa mosque through an open window, although he didn't want me to take any pictures. The inside is cavernous, no walls but a lot of beautiful columns and arches...the floor is covered in Persian-style carpets, and there's a lot of stained glass windows (though without the iconography you see in Christian churces). I spent a lot more time admiring the art of the Dome of the Rock, as you can see in these pictures...its one of those neat things that the longer you stare at it, the more crazy patterns and themes you can see. Anyway, after about 45 minutes we had to leave for Muslim prayer to start...the tour guy demanded 600 shekels...140 USD. We gave him $20 and he seemed to realize that was all he was going to get...so then he was nice again and escorted us out.

Afterwards we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher again, which was significantly more crowded than any other time I've been in it. This was kinda dull to see again, but I did discover that with a flash you can really see the artwork in there a million times better than just with your eyes. Why the holiest place in Christianity has to be so ridiculously dark and filthy is completely beyond me, but whatever. We also made it back to the Western Wall again, where I took a lot more pictures because it was late afternoon and everything looks nicer in Jerusalem when the sun starts to set. Here's some shots of people praying (I love how that dude's sidecurl is blowing in the wind).



In the late afternoon we met up again with Adam and another one of his friends, Dave, who had just arrived. We then drove to the Emek Refaim neighborhood of Jerusalem (where I stayed most of the first time I was in Israel) and joined Adam's dad (Sol), his uncle (Bobby), his sister (Danielle), and his Aunt Esther and Uncle Yehuda for a huge feast dinner at a nice kebab place (which was super tasty, and we ate so many different things I don't even want to list them). At this point I was firm in my decision to make a push to kick the cold I'd had since we got to Eilat (a week now), so I went home and crashed while everyone else went out for a couple drinks. This was a mistake...being the only sober person at 3am really sucks when you're trying to sleep and everyone else is focused on being a jackass (but, I'm over it...).

day 13: a slightly more active Shabbat

This morning we got up and finished doing laundry and then decided to pay a visit to Adam's great aunt and uncle (in their 80s), Rachel and Moshe. We drove the purple minivan south through the West Bank and back into Israel proper to a little moshav (or farming village) called Matte. Moshe answered the door, and it was good to see him doing better as he had been extremely ill recently. Rachel was asleep so we sat and had tea, home-baked bread, and a spice mix called hilbe, and listened to Moshe explain how he was feeling (unfortunately weak) and his regret at not being able to travel to the end of the Earth (Rosh Hanikra) for Adam's wedding. Eventually, Moshe decided to wake up Rachel, who is really frail and pretty much blind, but adorable and very funny. I found it very cute that these frail little brown Yemenite octogenarians call each other ima and abba, or mom and dad. We talked to them for a while and ate some watermelon before heading back to Ramat Eshkol for a light lunch.

Afterwards we drove west to Tel Aviv and Adam's cousin Yigal's apartment, where we relaxed on the roof with Turkish coffee and some pastries (people never stop feeding you, especially the Yemenites in Adam's family). We drove down to the beach on the Meditteranean and walked around for a while before Yigal had to do some work. Joe, Adam, and I then drove to the airport to pick up Adam's friend Sam and his wife Anne. The five of us headed back to Ramat Eshkol (this time via a smarter route), had some more coffee, and then took a taxi into the Ben Yehuda area. As Shabbat officially ended, all the shops started popping open and we had some delicious (and cheap! 6 shekels = $1.50) falafel sandwiches before heading to our favorite hookah bar. Of course, we drank like Americans and then headed back so Adam could meet Moriya. They had to meet with the Rabbi tomorrow and so decided to just spend the night.

day 12: back to Jerusalem

It being less than 1 week before Adam and Moriya's wedding, a bunch of people are going to start arriving in the coming days. Moreover, Jewish tradition prohibits them from seeing each other from now until the actual ceremony (although they're going to cheat...you'll see). So Joe, Adam, and I catch a bus around lunchtime from Haifa back to Jerusalem. We then stopped and got a purple minivan rental and, after a wild adventure through the ridiculously confusing streets of Jerusalem found the (really nice) apartment Adam's dad will be staying in when he arrives. After that we met up with Adam's mom and aunt and uncle in the Rehavia district of Jerusalem and had coffee for a while. Because it's shabbat, most everything in Jerusalem is shut down in the late afternoon, so the group of us drove outside the city a little ways to a village called En Kerem for dinner at a Lebanese restaurant.

On the way home we made a poor route decision and ended up driving through a very religious neighborhood. Several pious Jews yelled "Shabbos" at our poor purple minivan (no driving on Shabbat), but thankfully we were not stoned (as sometimes happens). We spent the night doing laundry, relaxing, and having a few drinks in the apartment in Ramat Eshkol.

day 11: south to north

Yesterday afternoon we drove back up into the mountains from Petra to the northwest, and eventually descended back into the low flat plains near the southern end of the Dead Sea. We stopped at a little tiny roadside store to buy water and a few other last minute supplies and then drove off-road through a rocky area near a Bedouin village. Suddenly we're driving through a rapidly flowing (although shallow) river. We drive up the riverbed to the east into a narrow wadi about 1-2 miles and finally park on a small flat area next to the river. We're camping here next to this beautiful crystal-clear river tonight. We set up a nice little camp and start preparing dinner...Adam's "grilling" meat and the rest of us are prepping salads, tuna, pita/hummous, olives, french fries (that's right), etc. Its dark by the time the food's ready, and we've only got a small fire and some weak lanterns. But, Joe and I are kinda confused by the "chicken" we're eating. Adam comments that it's kinda red and much tougher than chicken normally is (and fattier). After eating for like 15 minutes Pinni informs us that we've only cooked the lamb, and not the chicken. It was funny, but you had to be there.

Anyway, there were two tents but only one set of poles (oops). So, Joe and I let Adam and Moriya have the tent and we opt to sleep in our sleeping bags in the open air. Right before we're going to bed, I saw one of those giant spiders move quickly by. That made me very unhappy, but the Israeli Nyquil took care of things, and before I knew it I was asleep. I woke up once around midnight and the sky above between the wadi walls was pretty incredible...nothing like dry desert middle-of-nowhere air to bring out the stars. What was really incredible was waking up around 2:30am thinking it was daybreak...the moon had cleared the wadi walls and was remarkably bright...I could've read, fuck I even noticed the colors of the rock walls. Joe apparently woke up once to the same thoughts. In the morning we broke down the campsite and bathed in the very cool river before taking off.

We continued a drive up into the Moabite mountain range and stopped in Jordan's second largest city, Kerak for some snacks and water. After another hour or so Pinni stopped and let us go on this awesome hike (unfortunately we only had a couple hours). The hike was through this very narrow wadi riverbed called Ibn Hammad that eventually dumps into the Dead Sea. It was a neat water hike, sloshing through 2-12" deep warm flowing water. The wadi walls were covered in these beautiful hanging gardens and there were a number of nice waterfalls along the way. After a couple hours we got back in the car and headed back up into the mountains and north (although not without some kids throwing stones at the car...and thankfully missing).

More driving north through the mountains, eventually coming to the largest canyon in the middle east, where the Aljun River is dammed (see below). After a few brief sightseeing stops we continue on until we reached a small Christian-dominated town called Ma'adaba. Here we stopped at a little restaurant and ordered fruit smoothies (a whole bunch of cold blended fruits - no filler) and hung out for a little while (walls covered in pictures of past Hashemite rulers...weird). Across the street was a little tiny Orthodox church that Pinni insisted we visit, and for good reason. Not so long back, a priest discovered a magnificent tile mosaic floor in the center of the church, showing unprecedented details of biblical holy sites throughout Egypt, Israel, and Jordan. The mosaic is so accurate that Israeli archaeologists have been using it as a guide. What was most interesting was the pictured size of the Dead Sea...which was huge 1200 years ago, but has since begun rapidly shrinking with the water demands of Israel, Jordan, and Syria.


Near the current northern edge of the Dead Sea (but up in the mountains), we stopped at an Egyptian restaurant for an early dinner. This was particularly good...there was falafel, hummous with phul (beans), various meats and kebabs, pita and a really good fried bread, roasted eggplant, etc. From there we headed due west to an amazing lookout to the Dead Sea and Israel...in fact, it was so amazing it was where God let Moses see (but not enter) the promised land before he died, a place called Mount Nebo (meaning prophet in Hebrew and presumably similar in Arabic). From here we descended quickly down to the desert plain again and met up with the highway that runs due north along the Israeli border. We drove for about 2 hours through a lot of little villages that house Palestinian refugees that were really, really poor. Eventually around sunset we made it to the border checkpoint. The Jordanian exit tax is only 8 USD (compare to day 9), and they take electronic pictures and thumbprints of you, ostensibly to speed up the process if/when you decide to come back. After changing our license plates back, we left behind Jordan after a really incredible (albeit whirlwind) trip - all of our first to an Arab country.

The Israeli border crossing was ridiculous...we had to empty the car and scan everything, including toilet paper, etc. They were kind of obnoxious to Joe and I because we could not speak Hebrew and were not Jewish...and it really seemed to confuse them why the hell we were in Israel and Jordan in the first place. But, everything chilled out when Adam explained he and Moriya were getting married...Israelis simply melt when you tell them something like that. Anyway, the crossing is at Bet She'an, a little town in the Galilee just north of the West Bank...Pinni then drove us across Israel back to Moriya's parents' house in Haifa, where we spent the night.

day 10: a hidden necropolis (my kinda place)

We woke up in Wadi Rum at daybreak. I felt very well rested and immediately went to eat a typical middle east breakfast: hard-boiled eggs, pita, labane (soft cheese), hummous, black olives, cucumbers, jam, and (that wonder of wonders) nutella. We drove off back into Wadi Rum to visit some more bizarre rock structures for the early morning. I really couldn't get enough of this place, and was sad to leave, but we had some more exciting things to accomplish while we were in Jordan. We eventually somehow plopped right out of the desert onto a highway...Pinni knew exactly where to exit: a tire shop was located right there, waiting to re-fill the air in our SUV's tires.

Anyway, we drove up, up into the Edomite mountains for about 90 minutes until we reached this viewpoint looking down into another craggy desert. We stopped on the side of the road, and Pinni pointed out this particular peak that had a weird white cap on it (not snow). The white cap is a memorial...Aaron the brother of Moses is thought to have been buried at that site, and it is accordingly revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. We met some Europeans up here who were bicycling across southern Jordan (which seems insane, given the terrain). They related that they were too scared to travel to Israel, but really wanted to go. This seemed insane to me (and even more to Moriya)...you're more comfortable in Jordan than Israel? I mean, sure there's not a lot of terrorist attacks here (except for that whole Amman hotel bombing thing...), but that just sounds crazy. Anyway, maybe Pinni convinced them to go despite their fears.

We continued driving now down into the valley we overlooked, until we reached the outskirts of the city of Petra. This is technically the reason I insisted to Adam that we go to Jordan while I was in Israel. Ever since I was young, I have been a bit taken by this place. Petra is an ancient Nabatean city. The Nabateans where a nomadic semitic people who, roughly 2000 years ago, dominated the "spice" trade routes from Yemen through the Arabian peninsula, and all the way into Damascus, Gaza, and Cairo. Their main dealing was frankincense, these weird crystals used as perfumes, medicine, and all sorts of other random stuff...it was more significant than any gold or jewel at that time. Petra was the main stop along the way...a deep valley very well protected from raiding enemies, and with its own water supply (ground water, I guess). For whatever reason, the Nabateans were excellent stone carvers, and they cleft giant tombs for their leaders (among other things) into the colorful desert stone. They never lived in these carved buildings...they camped out in the valley. The stone buildings have lasted 2000+ years because they are carved into the rock faces...so they are proctected from rain, wind, etc. Anyway, Pinni hired us a Jordanian guide from the tourism ministry, and we headed off on a dusty road into the historical park.

Almost immediately, you start to notice little holes in the stone walls. And then you start to see these weird staircases above the holes, meant to represent some ascent to the Nabatean version of heaven for whomever was buried in the tombs. I just couldn't believe how well-preserved this stuff was (and had no clue what was waiting for me). Eventually the road curves into this huge, narrow cavern called the siq. The cavern is about 15-30 feet across and has rock walls going up at least 100 feet on either side. Along the siq walls are these stone-carved gutters, used to siphon water into the main area further into the city. The original cobblestone ground was still there in some places, complete with wedges worn in by the carts hauling the Nabatean goods. More impressive were the amazing colors of the rock walls in the siq, all sorts of brilliant yellow, orange, red in weird swirling patterns (reminds me of Jupiter, dorkily enough). Well, we wandered through here for about half an hour before we rounded this curve and got to see the view that's enchanted people for a hell of a long time...the "treasury".


Through the narrow end of the siq you catch your first glimpse of this (improperly named) ~100 foot high memorial to some Nabatean leader. Unfortunately, blogspot doesn't let me post rotated images, so you'll have to use the above picture that cuts off the top and bottom for now (I'll post better ones on my IfA page). The architecture of this building is magnificent, and apparently shows how well-versed the Nabateans were in other cultures' art (e.g., Greece, Rome, etc.). Even more exciting...you can go inside! However, there's nothing left in there. The building also actually has a lower floor that is currently being excavated. When I saw this I felt foolish for being impressed by the carvings at the start of Petra. Its simply ridiculous that such a perfectly preserved piece of art like this has been sitting in the Edomite desert for two millenia. Anyway, after a while we continue on.

Another 30 minute walk through similar buildings and you're just blown away...this place is fucking covered in these beautiful stone tombs....everywhere you look! Moreover, out of nowhere there's this huge outdoor amphitheatre (will post later) too. We climbed around a lot in all these caves...my favorite room was this beautifully marbled set of tombs carved out of the rock. This stuff was just everywhere, I can't explain how surreal it was. More walking and we end up in a vast open space, that valley we saw from above when talking to the cyclists. There was a long stone road leading to more tombs, but before that we climbed up a long set of steps hewn from the stone to this monstrous other complex (no clue what it is, since Adam had to tactfully fire our guide after he demanded more money without explaining himself).


From the top of these steps, at the face of this astonishing building, you could look all over the valley in Petra. And everywhere, you saw tombs and carvings, etc. etc. etc. The Nabateans must have been an incredibly sophisticated people, at the very least the most artistic in the Arabian peninsula's known history. We walked down that stone road and checked out some more tombs and ruins, and had fun watching some camels. But it was fucking hot and we'd been walking around for 5 hours in the heat. In the late afternoon we finally wandered back out throught the siq and waited for Pinni at our meeting point. He picked us up and we headed back up, up into the mountains.

I think I'll leave tonight's adventures to tell in tomorrow's post.

day 9: chasing T.E. Lawrence

Today was a long day (and thus a long post). We woke up early in the Eilat hotel and had some breakfast. Pinni picked us up and we headed straight for the Arava border crossing to Jordan, about a 10 minute drive. First stop is the Israeli border checkpoint...you have to be fully searched and then pay an exit tax (of ~20 USD). That took about half an hour...we then drove about 100 yards to the Jordanian checkpoint, where the same thing had to happen (more checks, no entrance fee). We had to wait a while (~30 minutes) at the Jordanian checkpoint while they emptied out and searched the SUV. They changed from Israeli to Jordanian license plates (hey, there may be a peace treaty, but that doesn't mean people are going to be nice). It was a very surreal wait...this was my first monarchy, and there were giant pictures of King Hussein (deceased) and King 'Abdullah (current king) everywhere. Moriya looked very unsettled...not surprisingly, considering the country she was now in tried unsuccessfully to invade Israel and kill its Jewish inhabitants on 2 separate occasions. Eventually we got the OK (to be fair, the Jordanian soldiers were all very nice...although I think Pinni "bribed" several of them) and were off again for our first stop in the seaside port Aqaba.

We drove threw some resort-y neighborhoods in Aqaba, and saw an official Hashemite residence/palace on the Red Sea, before stopping in the downtown Aqaba area. Pinni told us to wander around for half an hour while he went into the market to buy some food. So we slowly went out on our own...3 white, obviously non-Jordanians wandering in the early morning markets. As we crossed through a little park, some men yelled at us from about a hundred yards away...that freaked me out until I realized they were yelling "Welcome!" in English. We spoke briefly to a woman near a mall about finding an ATM. After wandering past some shops (including a Brown's Chicken, believe it or not) we found our way back to the market and bought some drinks (Arab coke is just as good as Israeli coke, and has those funny pull-tabs on the cans). We stopped at a shitty little ATM in a much more lively Aqaba neighborhood and, unbelievably, I was able to withdraw 250 Jordanian dinars (roughly 375 USD). No one could believe it...why would a Jordanian ATM pay out, but not the Israeli ones? Anyway, I was happy ;).

From there we drove northeast into the mountains on one of only a few main highway arteries throughout Jordan. This was when I noticed on license plates that Arabic numerals look like our numerals...only for different numbers. For example, the Arabic "5" looks like our "0", the Arabic "6" looks like our "7", etc. That's just fucking confusing. Anyway, after an hour or so we pull into this desert/mountain area with a neat little village. We walk around in the buildings and Pinni explains that we're at Wadi Rum, the famous desert "moon" landscape where T. E. Lawrence (aka, Lawrence of Arabia) hid out during the Arab Revolt in WWI. After watching a neat movie about where we were headed, we stepped outside to see the giant rock structure responsible for Lawrence's memoir, "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" (see left). Pinni also insisted that some local souvenir shop owner fetch the "girl with the eyes." We all thought this was odd, but in about 5 minutes this Bedouin girl, probably our age, shows up with the most intense green eyes we'd ever seen. She put on a traditional Muslim hijab that only enhanced the color, and they insisted that I take pictures. Very odd, but it was interesting to chat with these people.

After intentionally deflating the SUV's tires for our off-roading adventure, Pinni drove straight into the Wadi Rum...an enormous sand desert punctuated by these incredible rock formations all over the place. Wadi Rum is nestled along Jordan's southern border with Saudi Arabia, and is home to a number of Bedouin tribes that have lived here for many, many generations. I don't really know what to say about this place, except that it personifies "Middle East" or "Arabia" in my mind, and is probably the most naturally stunning location I've ever had the pleasure of visiting.



We drove fast up and over beautiful sand dunes, hiked around bizarre rock formations carved over millenia by the winds, climbed up the crumbling mountains to fresh springs, had very sweet tea in Bedouin tents, hiked around in the sands, and saw ancient Nabatean hieroglyphs (see tomorrow's entry), herds of camels and goats, and a whole bunch of other wonderful stuff you never imagine you'd see. It really struck me how amazing this place was in the late afternoon when we stopped in a shaded little corner between a shear ~300 foot rock face and a 40 foot sand dune to relax and have some Bedouin coffee. After that we drove out to this rock outcropping in the middle of nowhere to wait for the sunset. It occurred to us that it was amazing that Pinni knew exactly how to find his way around in this place with no maps and never once getting even confused about where he was. He claimed it was the old Israeli military training that taught him to memorize landmarks. Whatever the cause, it was pretty remarkable. Anyway, a whole crowd of tourists showed up at this location for the sunset...really the first sign of non-Bedouins for most of the day. It was, as expected, beautiful, as this quick snap of Moriya shows. The most incredible scene was looking to the southeast, over the vast desert into the mountains of Saudi Arabia.

In the twilight, we drove to the northeast across that really neat dry, cracked dirt, and eventually crossed the Hejaz Railroad (built by the Ottoman Empire to connect Istanbul and Mecca/Medinah, and repeatedly bombed by Lawrence and the Arabs). Right as it got dark, we arrived at the Bedouin camp where we would spend the night (exhausted). We hung out for a while drinking that delicious sweet Bedouin tea again in this nice traditional lounging area in a goatskin tent. Eventually, some more tourists showed up, and a girl from Cyprus noticed this enormous spider right next to us...I mean, holy crap this thing was like a tarantula (ok, smaller, but the largest spider I'd ever seen in the wild). Thankfully, it was dead. We ate a big dinner of grilled meats, salads, hummous, pita, rice, etc. etc. outside in the cool, but clear and dark night. Some Bedouin dude played this crazy guitar thing and sang next to a big bonfire. After dinner we sat by the bonfire and smoked a hookah. Eventually Adam and Moriya went to bed, and Joe and I stayed and smoked for a long time just relaxing. We went to our small tent around 11pm, and I had the most amazing sleep on these thick Bedouin comforters (so warm and nice)...I wasn't even disturbed that the tent wall kept brushing my face in the desert wind.

I think its safe to say that this day in Wadi Rum was probably the most incredible "vacation day" in my life...and it'll be hard to beat.