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Published: July 27th 2011
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My arrival into Israel was, as anticipated, a bit tricky…
After the flight from hell, where I was bombarded with a continuous promotional spiel from a screeching stewardess, the last thing I needed was a grilling from Israeli security. Unfortunately, a few ‘undesirable’ stamps in my passport meant that I was grilled at passport control for about 10 minutes. She then gave me a piece of paper in my passport, which, little to my knowledge, informed the next set of interrogators that I was ‘dodgy’, and so I was again pulled to one side and grilled by two security staff on the baggage collection floor, for a further 15 minutes. (This was actually quite mild I’m told… some people are held for hours, often without explanation!)
However, after pulling out my guide book, making great exclamations that I couldn’t wait to see their beautiful Country and asking if they could recommend places to visit,…I thought I was in! Sadly not, they wanted to know where I was staying my first night… I had booked a cheap place in East Jerusalem, based on the fact that it was in a great location… and cheap! Stoopidly, I didn’t think about it
being in the predominantly Arab part of town… (brief history lesson: East Jerusalem occupies the land that before 1967 belonged to Jordan. In ’67 Israel captured East Jerusalem and annexed it. Without getting too deep into the politics, Israeli law refers to Jerusalem as the “undivided capital”, whilst the International community has rejected the annexation as illegal and treats East Jerusalem as Palestinian territory).
I like to think that it was my innocent smile and nonchalant demeanor which eventually was enough to convince them that I was simply in the Country to travel – phew!
I collected my backpack and made my way past the majority of tourists heading for Tel Aviv and the beach…and I followed the locals, who were going in the opposite direction, to Jerusalem! I found a friendly local who was able to assist me with getting on the correct bus. It turned out that I needed to pick up a connecting bus between the airport and the main bus stop (a v.busy road junction away from the airport). Thanks to the friendly local, it meant that I was on my way in no time!
I read somewhere that the view along the road
from the airport to Jerusalem (about a 50km journey) is spectacular… sadly I didn’t see it, I fell asleep 😞
I arrived into the main bus station in Jerusalem in time to see a beautiful sunset! (this was after another security stop, where my backpack was searched… the poor security guard’s face was a picture as he saw me come towards him with my house on my back… it was an even better sight after he had ‘searched’ my bag… my advice to any traveler… pack your pants on top 😉 )
Got my third and final bus to the East side of town. I often think it helps to know where you’re going when you get on a bus… and, in particular, where to get off! Unfortunately, I didn’t know where I was getting off… and so hopped off at about half the way to where I needed to be… not to worry, at least the sun had now set and it wasn’t (as) hot… and there were more friendly locals along the way to encourage me that I was going in the right direction (and to probably laugh at me, lugging a third of my body
weight on my back…)
After a ‘detour’ around the block, I eventually arrived at my hostel! Dumped my bag, introduced myself to my roommates and headed out for some food!
Found a great place just next door, and picked up a ‘sandwich’…. Or as you and I would know it… a KEBAB! A kebab with EVERYTHING in it… he just kept on stuffing onions, salad, hummus, gherkins, pickles, sauces,… and then chips on top 😊 I asked for a Sprite to wash it down, and the man was very apologetic that it was ‘diet’… I couldn’t begin to explain that this was probably for the best considering the amount of food I aim to consume in the coming weeks!
I found an even better spot to eat,…on the steps leading down to Damascus gate, one of the eight gates to the Old city,… a truly awesome sight and incredible to think that it was built in the time of Agrippa, who ruled in the 1st century BC! (so my guide book tells me!) After, I took a short wander into the old city to walk off my dinner. It was very enchanting and peaceful in the strange half light of the street lamps. The only shops that were open were selling mountains of jelly sweets… my kind of place! The stone path was smooth from 1,000s of years of people walking over it, the mind boggles to think who has walked along the same street! I walked back to my hostel feeling very safe, and pleasantly surprised by how friendly and welcoming everyone had been so far (unless they had a taxi on offer… in which case they would hassle you, even if it was to get you in his wife’s, sister’s husband’s uncle’s taxi!)
I was truly satisfied,… the food had filled me and I was convinced that I had made a very wise decision to spend the next 6 weeks in this part of the world!
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Food, photos and frillies
Well the food looks substantial, the photos are amazing and I admire your resourcefulness at using underwear as a threat / diversion to interrogation ....you never cease to amaze me x