Crossing the Border........

Israel's border security is about as tight as possible. They have good reasons for it to be that way.  I have no arguments with them or any other country protecting their borders. We were told that it could take up to three hours to cross the border into Jordan and another three hours when we returned to Israel.  Since the two countries do not completely trust each other they both have their own processes.  It ends up looking somewhat like a dysfunctional dance of redundant bureaucracy.  What makes this even more of a head scratcher is that while they're not best buddies, they are on somewhat friendly terms.  I can only imagine what it would be like if they really didn't like each other.
There are exit checkpoints on both borders, followed by short rides to the entry check point for which ever country you are entering.  There are questions on both sides about what you're doing, where are you going, where have you been, how long will you be there, etc., etc., etc.,  The questions are fired at you by rather serious looking men and women in rapid succession.  Bags have to be unloaded and reloaded on different buses because neither country allows the other countries buses to enter their country.  Everything is  x-rayed and then rex-rayed.  There is a lot of down time which at least gives you time to get to know your fellow traveler.  Hopefully you get the picture!
It took about two hours to complete the whole process leaving Israel and entering Jordan.  The time on the return was a little less for everyone in our group but me.  I was detained for additional screening as I was reentering Israel.
I don't think I'm on anybody's terrorist watch list. If I am they really need to reevaluate their data source.  The issue was that because of my pacemaker I couldn't go through the standard metal detector.  It happens all the time and usually it's just a quick pat down by some guy who really doesn't want to touch me and then I'm on my way.  I've actually gotten to where I grade the thoroughness of these pat downs.  The TSA guys at the US airports usually do pretty good, probably around an 8 out of 10. Security guys at foreign airports score a little higher. Cruise ship security rarely scores above a 4.  Stadium/Venue security.........I think I could sometimes sneak in an F-16 fighter jet behind my back.
Jordanian security was very impressive coming and going.  Israeli security was impressive on the way out and then there was getting back in that the adventure started.  With the nicest American smile I could muster I said "I have a pacemaker" and gently tapped myself on the left side of my upper chest which seems to be the universal signal for "I have a pacemaker".
My nice American smile was met with a very serious frown from an Israeli border security agent that couldn't have been any older than Ben or Sarah.  I was pulled out of line and told to "wait here".  I complied thinking the pat down would be coming quickly and I'd be on my way to reconnect with Beth and my bag which is now slightly radioactive because of the number of times it has been x-rayed in the last couple of days.
I waited, waited a little longer and then a little bit more.  Everyone in our group was clearing security. We had already been warned that if you were detained for additional screening the bus wouldn't wait (we were given a process for getting back to Jerusalem but I really didn't want to use it).  Finally after about 15 minutes a less than friendly guy said "come with me".  I was taken to a private screening room (no big deal, but I didn't ask for it).  I was asked if I was carrying a gun or knife.  I guess I could have been but I was in shorts and a tee shirt so there weren't many hiding places.  The pat down started with my upper body.  No problems and the guy is scoring a 10+ for thoroughness.  Then he said "drop your shorts to below your knees".  Now that's a new one!  My first thought was by shorts does he mean "shorts" or "shorts and underwear".  Thinking that too little would be better than too much I went with just the shorts.  Thankfully I guessed right but it wasn't quite over yet.  He made sure there were no weapons of mass destruction hidden in the waist line of my shorts, underwear or between my legs to the point that I started thinking  "I sure hope he doesn't try to verify I have a pacemaker way up here from where he is way down there".  Finally he said "you can pull your pants back up".  The hallelujah chorus started playing in my head and those shorts were up in world record time. 
Gruffly he returned my recently x-rayed shoes and without so much as a "thank you" simply said, "you can go".  Needless to say I went and I went at a pretty rapid pace.  I wanted to get out of there before he changed his mind or before Beth busted back through security in an attempt to rescue me.
As a kid Mom always said to make sure I had on clean underwear in case I was in an accident and had to go to the hospital.  The world has change a lot since then.  I guess there are a lot more reasons now why it's important to wear clean underwear.......................crossing the border back into Israel can be added to the list!


A few more pictures from Israel and Jordan as we close the book on this adventure   

Clock Tower-Tel Aviv

We did!

People waiting inside the Church of the Nativity-Bethlehem

Dome of the Rock-Jerusalem

Jaresh, Jordan

I may spell it wrong-Kunafa  It was incredible.  Goat Cheese, small crispy noodles, Pistachios and Honey 

The Bedouin Camp at night in Jordan.  The lights were on the adjacent hillside 

Our tour guide preforming remarrying us in Petra.  This was the site where weddings were performed back in the day. 

Petra

Wadi Rum

Salt Crystals along the shore of the Dead Sea

The end of a long hard hike in the Judean Desert

    

Jerusalem, Shabbat and the Lowest Place on Earth

Yesterday was a long travel day.  We were up around 4:00 AM local time in Jerusalem for our flight.  Around 21 hours later, and by way of Reykjavik, Iceland (where it was snowing) we were in Boston.
As I had previously mentioned, we flew WOW Airlines.  I was impressed with this low cost airline.  New planes, decent but not great leg room, friendly crew and excellent prices, especially if you can travel light and avoid paying luggage fees. 
We spent our last two days in Israel in and around the Jerusalem area.  If you think of the "Big Three" in organized religions as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, there is no place on earth where all three have so many significant sites.  I told Beth as we were sitting on a bench watching Jewish families stroll by during Shabbat that Jerusalem is the most interesting city I had ever visited.  Maybe I was caught up in the moment but I don't think so, it really is a great place to visit.
Friday was spent exploring both Old and New Jerusalem by foot.  Our hotel was located just off of Jaffa Road which connects the two parts of the city.  First up was a visit to the local market (The Shuk) which takes up several city blocks in the new section of the city. We really enjoy visiting these when we have a chance and this one is definitely worth checking out.  It was extremely busy with locals and visitors shopping for fresh foods and spices of all types as well as clothing, shoes and housewares.

One of the many busy pedestrian streets inside the Shuk

Fresh Olives!

From there we made our way back down Jaffa Road back to Old Jerusalem.  We wanted to spend a little more time wandering the narrow passageways and taking in some of the great views of the Western Wall and Dome of the Rock.  On our way we actually had a little unexpected surprise.  The first stage of the Giro d' Italia (Tour of Italy) bike race was taking place.  Now I'm not really sure why, but the first three stages were being held in Israel.  It was a time trial stage and we were able to watch these incredible athletes pushing up a nine degree elevation hill to the finish line.  They were averaging around 28 miles per hour over the course, which was filled with hills and tight turns. 
We also spent a little time in the City of David Archeological Site which is just east of Old Jerusalem.  It's pretty mind boggling to see these sites and to think of what they must have looked like more than 2,000-3,000 years ago.

One of the riders finishing the first stage of the Tour of Italy

Seriously?????  A University of Alabama Fan Shop in Old Jerusalem......

Inside the Dry Tunnel of the City of David.  There was also a Wet Tunnel where you can walk for 45 minutes in water about 2-3 feet deep..............we decided to pass on the Wet Tunnel!

Part of the City of David

It was getting to be mid afternoon by this time.  We were able to sit back and take in a very interesting scene, the start of Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath).  This starts a few minutes before sunset on Friday and continues officially past sunset until three stars appear in the sky (about 30 minutes past sunset).


I can't speak for the whole city but in New Jerusalem, where we were staying, everything begins to shut down a couple of hours before sunset.  Sitting on a bench on the busy Jaffa Road pedestrian mall and watching it close down, followed by watching thousands of Orthodox Jews heading towards the Western Wall and the numerous synagogues was an amazing scene.  The link below will give you some additional insight of this observance.  A few things in our hotel that happened on Shabbat were all TV's in public places were turned off, the specialty coffee machines were turned off and there was a Shabbat elevator that ran continuously stopping on every floor so anyone observing Shabbat wouldn't have to push a button.  As interesting as it was watching everything shut down at the beginning of Shabbat was watching the busy area come back to life on Saturday night.  Although many shops didn't open, most restaurants and cafes began to reopen around 8:15.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/what-is-shabbat-jewish-sabbath

Jaffa Road during Shabbat

Typical scene along Jaffa Road when it wasn't Shabbat

Saturday we used Abraham Tours to provide us with transportation to three sites about an hour out of town in the Judean Desert.  We really liked Abraham Hostel and Tours motto and tag line "Stop Working and Start Traveling and "Traveling since 3,000 BC".  First up was En Gedi Nature Reserve where several springs flow into a narrow canyon creating some small waterfalls and much needed trees and shade in the desert.  From En Gedi it was on to Masada, which is a large area on a hilltop where Herod the Great built a fortress between 37 and 31BC.  There are historical accounts of battles between Roman and Jewish settlers which led to mass suicide of close to 1,000 Jewish men, women and children. Once it became apparent that the more than 15,000 Romans were going to overtake the hilltop the residents chose death over slavery.  It was a pretty brutal time back then.  There are also accounts of the same Jewish folks who committed the mass suicide pillaging and killing other villages occupied by different Jewish settlements. The complexities of the middle east go back a long time!

En Gedi-They're called Rock Hyrax or Conies

A real oasis in the desert

An Ibex keeping an eye on us along the trail in En Gedi

Masada

Last up for the day was a visit to the Dead Sea, which at -1,450 feet below sea level is the lowest place on earth.   It was fun to take a dip in the waters which have a salt content of around 35%.  This is about ten times that of the ocean.  One other interesting fact about the Dead Sea, it's actually been a lake for around 2 million years.  It's true, you simply lean back and you're floating with just your butt and lower back in the water!  The mud along the shore is quite popular for it's mineral content so we covered ourselves with mud, let it dry, rinsed it off and we now look 30 years younger! 

Even I can float in the Dead Sea

Beauty Treatment

Beth and her beauty treatment

Folks enjoying a dip in the Dead Sea

  We honestly didn't know what to expect on our visit to Israel and Jordan.  As I previously mentioned, it's a complicated part of the world.  It's also a part of the world with a deep and rich history that can be viewed as both tragic and magic.  What we found was what we typically find wherever we go, a bunch of nice, friendly people who just want to enjoy life. 





Three exceptional days in Jordan




The Monastery-Petra

Our Monday night stay at the Abraham Hostel was nice.  The hostel is located on Jaffa Road which is a very vibrant pedestrian and street car only road through the heart of the city.  The room was clean and comfortable and there was an added bonus.  We booked our tour of Jordan through Abraham Tours which is a part of the hostel so we got a discount.  We were very pleased with the hostel, very pleased with the tour and very, very pleased with the discount.  If you're thinking of coming this way you might want to check them out.  They offer everything from dorms with bunk beds and shared bathrooms (no thanks) to private rooms with their own bathrooms.  Book early, the hostel is very popular and although it is quite large it fills up quickly.  There were a number of young backpackers but also older couples and families making it a fun experience that we'd do again.
https://abrahamhostels.com/jerusalem/
https://abrahamtours.com/
We were up bright and early Tuesday morning for our three day/two night tour of Jordan.  There were a total of nineteen (a full bus) in our group.  We met up with another nineteen from the Abraham Tours out of Tel Aviv at the Jordanian border.  Soon all 36 of us were on our way on a large, clean and comfortable bus to explore some of the highlights of Jordan.  The border crossings getting into Jordan and then back into Israel are worthy of their own blog but I'm saving it until I get back to the US.  Logistically it's complicated going both ways. I think you'll like the getting back into Israel story but that's for another time.
Our guide's name was pronounced E-mod.  A very nice Jordanian fellow who looked to be in his mid-thirties.  He was quite proud of his country for reasons we'd all come to appreciate as we learned and saw so many magnificent things in a relatively short time.  One unique thing about him was that he was of the Christian faith (4% are Christian and 96% Muslim).  The only reason I mention that is that although this wasn't a "Christian Heritage" tour he was able to share interesting things about biblical sites that are located in Jordan, such as where Jesus was baptized, where King Herod's port was located on the Dead Sea and where John the Baptist was beheaded.
Our first stop was Jaresh (sometimes spelled Jeresh).  Over the past seventy years excavations here have uncovered ruins from the time of the Greek and Roman Empires. There is a coliseum that would seat 45,000 or more for horse races and the friendly sport of gladiators fighting to the death.  The amphitheater is still used today for concerts and E-mod shared with us that Andre Bocelli  performed there last year.  Additionally, there are over 1,000 columns still standing and the Temple of Artemis that can be explored.  The Roman Empire came after the Greek reign so most of the ruins are Roman.  Roman or Greek, it doesn't matter, outside of Rome and Athens they're the best we've ever seen.

Jaresh



Still standing 2,000 years later

Entrance gate to Jaresh

From Jaresh it was on to Amman, the capital and largest city in Jordan (Approx. 4 million people).  It was May 1 which is a national holiday in Jordan that sounds similar to Labor Day in the US. The modern, clean and very hilly city was fairly quiet.  We stopped for a brief time at The Citadel which is a historical site at the center of downtown.  It offered great views of the surrounding hillsides which let us get a 360 degree view from the middle.

Amman from the Citadel

We then had a fairly long drive along the Desert Highway to Petra where we would be spending our two nights.  Along the way we learned some of the history as well as unique challenges Jordan faces.
First of all some of their neighbors don't always play nice (Syria, Iraq and Iran).  Because of these neighbors tourism, which was becoming a major part of their economy has dipped in recent years.  Unlike many of it's neighbors, Jordan has just a tiny bit of land on the sea and only one port, the Port of Aqaba.  All goods entering and leaving the country by ship do so from here and all goods on their way to or from the port travel the Desert Road, so it's quite busy with trucks!  We were amused to learn that Jordan is the Phosphate Capital of the World.  The reason for our amusement of this is that Beth and I grew up in Mulberry, Florida which always billed itself as the "Phosphate Capital of the World".  Somebody isn't telling the truth and if you want to research it feel free to do so but without looking it up just based on size, I'd put my money on Jordan.  Heck, it's a country and Mulberry is just a small city in central Florida.
Our accommodations were quite unique.  We stayed in a Bedouin Camp.  Bedouin's are defined as nomadic Arabs of the desert.  So yes, we slept in tents out in the desert!  We weren't completely nomad's, we did have running hot water and electricity, at least until midnight when they turned off the generator.  Oh yeah, I didn't have wifi either which is one reason this blog is getting so long.  It was a fun experience, except our tent was located quite a distance from the bathroom which made for a long walk in the middle of the night.
http://www.sevenwondersbedouincamp.com/

Seven Wonders Bedouin Camp

The next morning we were off to Petra where we were fortunate enough to spend the entire day.  Historical evidence shows Petra had been occupied since 9,000 BC.  Around 2,000 years ago it was occupied by the Nabateaen's who carved amazing living areas, temples and tombs in the rocks of the gorges and passes.  The most prominent structures that we visited were the Treasury and Monastery.  The first glimpse of the Treasury is at the end of a narrow gorge and without being overly dramatic it's breathtaking.  No wonder it's a UNESCO World Heritage Center site and listed as one of the "Seven Wonders of the World".  By the end of the day we had logged over 10 miles and close to forty flights of stairs.  As we headed for the exits we were deliriously happy for having experienced Petra.
http://visitpetra.jo/

Our first glimpse at the Treasury

The Treasury

Dwellings in Petra

Tombs within Petra

The Monastery-It was a tough uphill hike to reach it but well worth it!

Our last day in Jordan started with a visit to Wadi Rum, which in Arabic means Valley of Sand.  It is also frequently referred to as Moon Valley because of it's unique look of sand and mountains.  We did a jeep ride to an overlook where the movie "The Martian" with Matt Damon was filmed.  It was also the backdrop for the movie Lawrence of Arabia and the actual home of one of his camps.  Like so much we saw in our three days in Jordan, words just don't describe it adequately.
There was one more highlight as we made our way back to the Israel border and that was driving along the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea.  We're going to be visiting it tomorrow (from the Israel side) but seeing it and it's unique shoreline of dried salt and rock for the first time while still in Jordan was a fitting end to a great visit!

Jeep ride through Wadi Rum.......not sure what I'm looking at

Wadi Rum-Behind us is the location where the movie "The Martian" was shot

Jeeps we used in Wadi Rum

Mom's got a face only a baby could love!

Gives you some idea of the size of the mountains in Wadi Rum



Carving of Lawrence of Arabia in an area of Wadi Rum where he and his men camped