The power of the shekel

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The shekel is a currency that stretches back to biblical times, and has been resurrected to drive commerce in modern day Israel. Although the State of Israel was only proclaimed in 1948, this is an ancient land with a powerful sense of history and a deep religious significance. It's a wonderful thing to witness a country embrace it's past with pride, and the Israelis reintroducing the shekel helps bring that rich history back to life. Israel today is a modern, innovative and technologically advanced country, but steeped in the history and tradition of their forefathers. Located within the bustling metropolis of Tel Aviv is the ancient port of Jaffa, continuously inhabited for 5,000 years and the oldest port in the world. The juxtaposition of the old and the new can be seen at every turn in the Holy Land, and I'm privileged to share in the experience.

The journal left off at the conclusion of a wonderful visit to Lebanon, and with an unusual sense of trepidation I commenced a country hop to Israel. I'd done my research, but for the first time in my travels I was concerned I wouldn't be able to enter the country, due to the Lebanon stamp just acquired in my passport. My research indicated flying to Israel via Amman to be out of the question. I've heard stories of Israeli immigration officials going through phones and computers, of three hour long interrogations, and in some cases refusal to enter the country. Therefore my itinerary from Beirut entailed waking at 2:00am for a taxi to the airport to board a 4:30am flight to Athens. From there I booked a separate flight to Tel Aviv, which included a long stopover in Istanbul. Although Lebanon and Israel are neighbouring countries, I didn't arrive in Tel Aviv until 10:30pm that evening. There were big queues at immigration, and when I reached the front of the queue the quietly spoken officer didn't miss the Lebanon stamp in my passport. He questioned me closely about my intentions while visiting Israel, and I assured him my visit is for tourism. Oh boy, was I thrilled when he finally waved me through wishing me a nice stay.

So here I am in Israel, and a late night taxi ride from the airport saw me to the Tel Aviv hostel on the beach. Hayarkon 48 hostel is an excellent establishment, and I'm settling in nicely with an interesting and friendly group of travellers and staff. After checking in I tucked away a late night beer to celebrate my arrival, and then crashed so I'd have my act together for the walking tour of Jaffa next morning. It takes around 40 minutes to walk to the meeting point at the historic clocktower, and then I joined the group for a fascinating tour of this ancient port city. The old part of Jaffa is magnificent, and features the famous St Peter's church dedicated to the first Pope. It was an excellent tour, and the history of ancient Jaffa is awe inspiring. The guide was first class, and I committed to backing up for a walking tour of Tel Aviv the next day.

After relaxing for the evening I headed to the beach in the morning, then walked out to Jaffa clocktower for the second walking tour. This is a longer tour stretching over three hours, and was quite tiring in the afternoon sun. We enjoyed dramatic changes in the various neighbourhoods of this vibrant city rapidly becoming gentrified. The council invited artists to move in by offering free studio space in Jaffa, and inevitably the students followed, followed by the middle class and eventually the construction industry looking to cash in. The prices for an apartment in the most attractive and trendy areas of Tel Aviv are astronomical, and the city overall is one of the most expensive I've visited. The guide highlighted the slightly anarchic nature of the artistic community, and it's clear Tel Aviv is on the cutting edge of art as well as technology. The walking tour of Tel Aviv is rewarding and interesting, and I thanked the guide from New Europe tours for his excellent presentation over two days.

The next day a professional tennis coach from the US arrived in our dorm like a whirlwind, after his charges had just won the singles and doubles at a tournament in Israel. He told us he was totally burnt out and needed a break, and had never stayed in a hostel before. My friend has taken to hostel life like a fish to water, and we went on a pub crawl on the first evening where it's easy to lose track of the beer prices clocking up on the credit card. There are trendy pubs and a heaving nightlife in Tel Aviv, but the prices are as expensive as anywhere I've visited. So the plan, as usual, is to load up on beers and socialise with the hostel crew before heading out so that it doesn't end up costing the earth in the clubs. Anyway, it was a fun evening in the heart of a city that's growing exponentially. A million Russian Jews have resettled in Israel, and recently 250,000 French Jews have added their own special je ne sais quoi to the cultural mix of the country.

We jumped on the bus to Jerusalem for a day trip to the historic heart of religion, whether you practice the Jewish, Christian, or Muslim faith. I was getting goose bumps just thinking about visiting the Old City, and the day was as special a day as I can remember. Travel often includes random acts that you can never foresee, and due to connection issues we missed the official walking tour. However it was while blundering around we happened across a Dutch guy. He's an historian, has a guide book, and google maps on his phone. It seemed our destiny to meet this awesome traveller who showed us how to get our bearings in the Walled City, explained the significance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to Christians, and invited us to lunch in the renowned humous restaurant Abu Shukri in East Jerusalem. We parted company after lunch, and headed off to the Western Wall to experience this world famous attraction. People of all faiths are allowed to approach and touch the sacred Western Wall, so famous around the world for images of Jewish worshippers praying at the Wailing Wall. The prayers are for the rebuilding of the temple at the centre of their religion that has been destroyed twice over the millennia. The Temple Rock is also of great significance to pilgrims, and the Old City also has great significance to people of the Muslim faith.

Tonight back at the hostel has been interesting actually. I'm back from Jerusalem and trying to focus on completing this blog entry, but for some reason I've become the most popular person in the hostel and everyone wants to talk to me. If I could say one thing to my new friends they're bound to agree with so they can leave me in peace to finish the blog, basically all of you should be here now!

I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit." Khalil Gibran

As I continue my travels, until next time it's signing off for now

Tom

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Jaffa
We enjoyed the beautiful views at the top.

[D MJ Binkley]

The Wailing Wall
Our time in Israel was eye opening to better understand this culture. We learned a great deal.