Medīnat Yisrā'el part 1 of 2: Tel Aviv, Dead Sea, Masada & more.

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Shalom!

Well, I made it to "Medīnat Yisrā'el", the official Hebrew name for the "State of Israel". The country was another of my top-3 countries I really wanted to visit. I wanted to see and experience the capital, which is a holy place to three different religions, visit and float on the Dead Sea which is unique in the world and I also wanted to visit because I'm a Christian. I have to say that my visit to Israel doesn't automatically mean that I agree with every decision and measurements of the Israeli government in general!!! I don't like politics at all and I'm not going to discuss about any political and ethnic issues of the region. I have a friend in Israel, Gidi, who I wanted to visit too and I haven't seen him anymore since we met in Vietnam in 2008 but we kept in contact.

Security checks
After Zagreb I went to Budapest in Hungary where I spent two nights and then took a flight with El Al, Israel's national airline, to Tel Aviv. I knew about the strict security controls on every flight to Israel so I was prepared. Check-in counters opened three hours before departure and I was there a bit earlier. When standing in the line, one guy approached me and asked for my passport and ticket. He took me out of the line to a separate table and started asking a hundred questions. During the questioning he would stop, go talk to two/three other guys and come back and sometimes asking the same things again (to look if I’m going to contradict myself).

Some of the questions asked where these:
Why did you choose to go to Israel? How long are you going to stay? What's the name of your friend, how old is he, where does he work, where does he live, how do you know him, have seen him ever since, how are you going to his house? Have you been to countries around Israel? (yes, Egypt and Morocco). Do you have family or friends in those countries? Are you going to East Jerusalem? What do you do for a living? Do you have a teacher card or something to prove it? Do you have another passport? You were born in Curaçao and you have a Dutch passport, why don't you have a Curaçao passport? (I explained him about Curaçao being in the Dutch Kingdom and told him that he learnt something new today). Where is your old passport? (I don't travel with my old passport, it's at home). This passport is new, why did you got a new one last June? (because the old one was valid until August, duh!). How much money do you have with you now? (20 Euro’s cash). That’s not a lot if you want to stay in Israel. (I have money on my credit card and ATM card sir!). How much money do you have approximately on your account? Where do you get the money to travel around so much? Did you pack your luggage yourself? Did someone give you anything to bring for someone in Israel? Are you going to visit East Jerusalem?

Then my bags needed to be searched and they took me to the back and took literally everything out of my luggage, every single thing! I had a body search too, but they didn't touch body parts they shouldn't touch! The whole process of questioning and baggage search took a bit more than 2 hours! They kept my small speakers and shaving machine because they didn't have enough time to check them (if they have a bomb inside) and they sent them two days later to me. After the whole thing I was escorted through the airport security, passport control and to the gate. When I arrived in Tel Aviv the girl at the passport control started with some questioning and after about 5 questions I told her I'm not going to answer the same questions again because I've been through this whole security thing in Budapest, then she let me go. Getting out of Israel almost the same happened, except for my big bag which they didn't search. It's understandable why they do it since Israel is always threatened but I think they could have done a better research, for example by just googling my name. This blog is the first thing they would have found! I wasn't very happy at all about this, but what can you do? After all I did enjoy my stay in Israel and it was great to see my friend again and the locals were friendly, had good food etc.

Arrival & Tel Aviv
When I arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, I took a train to Ha’hagana station and walked to Gidi's house. He explained exactly how to get to his place and it was easy. He was at work and I waited for him at his neighbour's house, who knew I was coming. In the early evening he came home and we went around the old town of Jaffa and had some drinks and some food. Tel Aviv is the second largest city in Israel and has about half a million people. Economically it's Israel's most important city and here is where you find all the foreign embassies. Once I arrived, I immediately noticed how advanced and well-developed the infrastructure is. Tel Aviv is cosmopolitan and full of life, boosting several bars and clubs. It seems like Tel Aviv never sleeps. It felt like a western city but at the same time like a Middle Eastern/Arab city when you visit the more chaotic parts with a lot of small shops, vendors and litter on the street...also the markets remind you that you're actually in the Middle East. Carmel Market is one huge market we visited in the city. Israel is an expensive country and Tel Aviv is the most expensive city. It's also a popular tourist destination. Beside tourists from many different countries, I saw a lot of Filipinos who live in the city and there are many more Eritreans living too. There is a group of Eritreans causing problems in Tel Aviv and this has sparked some racist protests by extremist Jews in the city. Many Eritrean refugees and illegal immigrants from Ethiopia and Sudan arrived in large numbers to the country and a fence was built along the border with Egypt to prevent further illegal migration to the country.

The old historical city of Jaffa, with a large Arab population, is a nice area to walk around and explore. Here Gidi took me to a restaurant where they have the best hummus in the country according to many. People stand in long lines outside this tiny restaurant (called Abu Hassan) to buy hummus, which consists of mashed chickpeas with spices and you eat it with pita bread. In Jaffa I also tried a typical sweet called "Kanafeh" which is like a cheese pastry.
One of the things I liked a lot in Tel Aviv was the promenade/boulevard along the beach. There people go to the beach, relax, play beach volleyball and footvolley. Also many people play "matkot" on the beach. It's like tennis but without the net. People use racquets and hit the ball back and forth. It's a very popular sport in the country. Many people also run, walk, cycle, skate and roller blade along the promenade. I liked the simple, weight-free fitness equipment along the promenade, free for everybody to use! The promenade has a lot of high-rise hotels. I also walked a bit around the city and passed the memorial to Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister who was shot to death in 1995. One night we went to an Israeli version of the "Oktoberfest" together with Gidi's friends which was fun! It was held at a "HaTachana station', which used to be a train station but transformed into a place with bars and restaurants while keeping its appearance of a train station. I also had dinner at Gidi's parents and met other family members, including his brother Micky, whose little son had a birthday party we attended. I must say I liked Tel Aviv and if I had to live in Israel, it'll definitely be Tel Aviv!

Dead Sea
Gidi took me to the Dead Sea, which was the most exciting experience during my visit in this country. I always wanted to come here. The sea is very salty and for that reason you'll always keep floating! The area is also the lowest point on earth at -427 meters which is very interesting! When I stepped in the water, at some parts my feet sunk quite a lot into the mud. Therefore I was very careful no to fall into the water because I didn't want my face, especially my eyes, to get wet from this very salty water! When I was in the water I just laid down on my back and kept floating which was a unique feeling!!! I can't describe it. The water feels very oily on your skin. The Dead Sea is not huge and the border between Jordan and Israel runs in the middle of the sea. On the other side of the sea you can clearly see Jordan.

Masada
Before going to the Dead Sea we stopped at Masada which is a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Judean Desert. It's a very old fortified complex of palaces built on mountain, dating back to more than 2000 years ago. Romans sieged Masada and the Jews living there preferred to commit suicide instead of surrender to the Romans. It's one of the most (if not the most) visited attractions in Israel. You can go up with a cable car and there is also a path to climb by foot but with the sun and heat it was obvious that we'd choose the cable car. The whole visit took us about 2,5 to three hours. Very interesting place and some wall paintings and floor mosaics are still visible!
On the way to Masada and Dead Sea we also stopped at very nice viewpoint from where you can see the St. George's Monastery located in a canyon called Wadi Qelt. The monastery was built more than 1500 years ago. We didn't have time to go inside but just enjoyed the view for a couple of minutes.

That's all for part 1, I will post part 2 in less than a week!

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