Jordan was amazing. I am certainly happy I decided to go there. Even the city I liked the least, Amman, which I actually really hated at first, grew on me after as the day went on. Also, I had not eaten for a really long time so my blood sugar might have just been low and put me in a bad mood. It was probably a combination of the two.
On Friday, August 15th, I took a JETT bus from Amman in the north to Aqaba in the south. I was planning on going straight to Eilat, Israel on my way to Cairo but I decided to spend a night here so that I would have time to snorkel. The snorkeling here is not be best, in fact I have read that it does not compare to that on the other side of the Red Sea in Egypt (more on this in a bit), but I had never snorkeled and wanted to try it out. Now, I bet this is an abnormal reaction to coral, but I have to admit I was legitimately scared of the coral I saw for the first several minutes. I do not know why, but I was terrified when I was moving along and saw it for the first time. But, I kept going and became more and more comfortable with it and, while I still have some issues with it, I do not think I am still scared of coral. (And yes, it is embarrassing to admit that I was afraid of coral.)
After Aqaba I leave for Egypt. I have scrapped my plans of going through Israel and instead I think I will opt to take a boat from Aqaba, Jordan to a Nuweiba, Egypt. It is a bit pricey ($60), but I think it is an interesting way to enter a country and I really do not want to pay 94.5NIS (about $24) to leave Israel again just on principle.
On the boat from Aqaba to Nuweiba I met a Belgium girl who comes to the Middle East once a year because she likes deserts and speaks decent Arabic and four guys from New Zealand. I was planning on going straight from Nuweiba to Cairo, but these five convinced me otherwise. Right now I am in an Internet cafe in Dahab, Egypt (the other side of the Red Sea). I went snorkelling again yesterday and it was better than in Jordan. The coral is deeper and my fears greatly subsided. There are also too many different kinds of fish to count. My only complaint has to do with my limited experience with snorkeling: any time I dove more than a body-length my ears popped painfully. There is a trick or sorts to prevent this, which I learned, but still have not mastered. Either way, it is stunning.
I think the plan is to spend one more night here then head to Mount Sinai. Then off to Cairo, with hopefully a stop in the White Desert, at which point I may depart from my new New Zealand friends to head south to Aswan and then a falucca (not sure how to spell that correctly) north to Luxor, then back to Cairo to catch a flight to South Africa. Well, at least that is the plan.
17 August 2009
08 August 2009
Israel to Jordan
Yesterday I took a bus from Tel Aviv to Israel's southern-most city of Eilat, where I spent just a night. (I will be passing through Eilat at least once more and maybe twice so I will have another chance to spend more time there if I wish. But, to be honest, I am not sure I will. Eilat basically consists of two groups of people: Israelis on vacation and tourists. The only reason I may spend some time there is if I decide I want to go diving or snorkeling there.) On the bus I sat next to a English guy named Edward. We shared the spare bedroom of some lady that night and headed to the Israel-Jordan boarder around noon. At the boarder we ran into another English guy, Tom, that Edward met when he was in Haifa, who had befriended a German couple, whose names I am blanking on right now. The five of us are staying in a hostel just outside of Petra, which, after paying a JD21 fee, we will be exploring tomorrow. (Yes, there is an entrance fee to the city.) The following day the plan is to go on a real camel ride (unlike the one I did with Birthright) and then to spend the night in a tent in the desert. After that, we will probably head north to the capital. Then, back south en route to Egypt.
A funny thing is that I originally had no intention on visiting Jordan at all. When I was still making plans from the States a relative convinced me to spend a day in Petra. After talking with friends of friends throughout my time in Israel I was conviced to spend more time there. Luckily for me the four people I have met all plan on spending nearly a week here, so things worked out nicely.
Jordan is not what you would expect. Everybody is friendly, which is the opposite of Israel where everybody is rude and kind of a dick. The currency is stronger than the USD, but everything is cheap. I ate an outstanding buffet meal of authentic Jordanian food at my hostel for dinner for JD4 (between $4-5). 1.5 liters of what cost JD.5 (about 60 cents) where in Israel the cost is at least 5NIS (more than $1) but usually 8NIS (about $2). A hostel in Tel Aviv is about $25/night. My hostel here is about $8 and much nicer. I have only been in Jordan for about 12 hours and I am already happy I was convinced to come here.
The Internet in this cafe is pretty slow so that is all for now.
A funny thing is that I originally had no intention on visiting Jordan at all. When I was still making plans from the States a relative convinced me to spend a day in Petra. After talking with friends of friends throughout my time in Israel I was conviced to spend more time there. Luckily for me the four people I have met all plan on spending nearly a week here, so things worked out nicely.
Jordan is not what you would expect. Everybody is friendly, which is the opposite of Israel where everybody is rude and kind of a dick. The currency is stronger than the USD, but everything is cheap. I ate an outstanding buffet meal of authentic Jordanian food at my hostel for dinner for JD4 (between $4-5). 1.5 liters of what cost JD.5 (about 60 cents) where in Israel the cost is at least 5NIS (more than $1) but usually 8NIS (about $2). A hostel in Tel Aviv is about $25/night. My hostel here is about $8 and much nicer. I have only been in Jordan for about 12 hours and I am already happy I was convinced to come here.
The Internet in this cafe is pretty slow so that is all for now.
06 August 2009
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Israel
After spending a few days in New York City with family, I left from JFK for my Taglit-Birthright trip with Israel Outdoors for 10 packed days of Israel. After a sleepless (for me) 9 hour flight we landed in Tel Aviv at 7AM and got on a bus for a few hours to the north part of the country for our first day in Israel. That is pretty much how the entire trip was: a few hours of sleep at night plus whatever sleep you could get on the bus and sight-seeing. In other words, it was a lot of fun. 40 Americans and 10 Israelis, all in their mid-20s, spending 10 days together in close confines makes for fast friends and interesting times.
I do not want to give you an hour-by-hour break down, or even a day-by-day break down, nor can I because all of it kind of blended together. We went to the Golan Heights, Safed, Mesada, the Dead Sea, the Galilee, a (fake) Bedouin tent, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and other places I am sure I left out. Water hiking, floating, climbing, hiking, and diving were also included.
When the formal Birthright trip ended, several people had extended their return flights to spend more time in Israel or elsewhere. For the that first night, Carly, Limor, Jay (twin), Jesse, , Howard, Ehud (an Israeli student that joined us for the trip), and myself spent the night in Tel Aviv. Other people did as well, but this group shared a couple of hostel rooms together. After one night, Jay (twin), Jesse, and I joined Ehud in his home of Jerusalem (he left early in the morning) for a night. I really wanted to see the other Quarters of the city and, in particular, get a closer look of the Dome of the Rock. We went on a nice self-guided walking tour of the other Quarters, but the Dome of the Rock was sealed off. We tried sneaking in through a back way but still our efforts were futile. After a full day in Jerusalem, the four of us returned to Tel Aviv. The following day we rented a couple of surf boards and surfed, or at least attempted to, on the Mediterranean Sea. I would like to think that I successfully stood up on a small wave once, but I am probably just kidding myself. After a shower and some goodbyes, I left Jay (twin), Jesse, and Ehud in Tel Aviv for Haifa on a bus to visit an old friend.
After a few nights in Haifa I am now in, and posting from, the friend's family home in Ra'anana. I will leave to the south tomorrow and then onward from there.
Sorry about all the text. I will post some pictures as soon as I figure out where I can post them that does not take 8+ hours to upload.
In conclusion: I am having a good time and I am still alive and that means somebody owes me some money
I do not want to give you an hour-by-hour break down, or even a day-by-day break down, nor can I because all of it kind of blended together. We went to the Golan Heights, Safed, Mesada, the Dead Sea, the Galilee, a (fake) Bedouin tent, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and other places I am sure I left out. Water hiking, floating, climbing, hiking, and diving were also included.
When the formal Birthright trip ended, several people had extended their return flights to spend more time in Israel or elsewhere. For the that first night, Carly, Limor, Jay (twin), Jesse, , Howard, Ehud (an Israeli student that joined us for the trip), and myself spent the night in Tel Aviv. Other people did as well, but this group shared a couple of hostel rooms together. After one night, Jay (twin), Jesse, and I joined Ehud in his home of Jerusalem (he left early in the morning) for a night. I really wanted to see the other Quarters of the city and, in particular, get a closer look of the Dome of the Rock. We went on a nice self-guided walking tour of the other Quarters, but the Dome of the Rock was sealed off. We tried sneaking in through a back way but still our efforts were futile. After a full day in Jerusalem, the four of us returned to Tel Aviv. The following day we rented a couple of surf boards and surfed, or at least attempted to, on the Mediterranean Sea. I would like to think that I successfully stood up on a small wave once, but I am probably just kidding myself. After a shower and some goodbyes, I left Jay (twin), Jesse, and Ehud in Tel Aviv for Haifa on a bus to visit an old friend.
After a few nights in Haifa I am now in, and posting from, the friend's family home in Ra'anana. I will leave to the south tomorrow and then onward from there.
Sorry about all the text. I will post some pictures as soon as I figure out where I can post them that does not take 8+ hours to upload.
In conclusion: I am having a good time and I am still alive and that means somebody owes me some money
05 July 2009
Itinerary
Here is a approximate itinerary (Dates of 15 are estimates):
July 16-19, 2009: New York City (family)
July 19-30: Israel (Birthright)
August-September: Jordan, Egypt, UAE, Kenya, South Africa
October 2-13: Mexico (with family)
October 13-November 15: Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau
November 15-January 15: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines
January 15-March 15, 2010: Australia, New Zealand
March 15-May 15: Chile, Argentina, Brazil
May 15-September 15: Europe (too many countries to list)
September 15-October 15: India and Nepal
October 15-November 15: Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize
July 16-19, 2009: New York City (family)
July 19-30: Israel (Birthright)
August-September: Jordan, Egypt, UAE, Kenya, South Africa
October 2-13: Mexico (with family)
October 13-November 15: Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau
November 15-January 15: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines
January 15-March 15, 2010: Australia, New Zealand
March 15-May 15: Chile, Argentina, Brazil
May 15-September 15: Europe (too many countries to list)
September 15-October 15: India and Nepal
October 15-November 15: Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize
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