Hamas, Hummus and Hezbollah

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How I found Kees...I spent a day checking out Jerusalem then caught a bus to Tel Aviv, on the way who should I see biking along the road but Kees in his bright green Makarewa T-shirt. But the bus driver wouldn't stop. When I arrived in the city I had a feed then biked back to the motorway, found myself a comfy spot near the on ramp to the city, and kicked back reading for a couple of hours. By the time Kees came along it was dark.

Tel Aviv is a great mixture of western modernity with Middle Eastern parts. We spent that evening down by the sea enjoying some of the free open air concerts with some new, and old, couch surfing friends. The next day dawned bright and hot so we went for a run. Up through the old city area called Jaffa and down through the Yemenite streets and markets. The cafe culture, number and quality of food joints in this city is the best I've ever seen. Will have to come back with more time and money. We headed down to the beach and had a swim out to the wave breakers, the Mediterranean still its reliable self. A new friend of a friend took us out to a cool outdoor bar the following night. A benefit of predictable weather.

We bought some spares and finally fixed Kees' bike and caught a bus to Haifa, avoiding a long straight stretch of highway. Haifa we rode past more than into, but saw enough to appreciate it's scenic location, on the hills looking down on the ocean and an easy target of the recent war with Hezbollah. A few kms out of town and kees got another flatty, naturally, what do you expect when you aim for nails? While he fixed this I asked a local couple for directions, as the sun was setting they took pity on us and took us into their home for the night in some small northern Israeli town. Best wine, dinner and beds for weeks. The next day we did a little off roading down the 'national trial' of Israel and came out the Sea of Galilee. We even found a welding work shop on the way for a much needed carrier repair- who would have thought? (in the middle of no-where!!) We had a swim with the locals, checked out Tiberious town (on the shore) and found a pub down the road -but they didn't screen the rugby (luckily!), so had a quite evening there before camping in a 'nice green spot' accross the road. However, about 1am rolled around and the surrounding sprinklers started up!!. Hmm, wondered why the grass looked so green. So slight interuption to our final nights sleep in Israel!

Next day we we biked to another Jordan border and back into Jordan, the local kids throwing stones not compensating for the hot steep hills. Stayed in a city called Irbid. Biked to Syrian border the following day, caught a bus and found ourselves in the bustle of big Damascus.

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Photos

Yafo
old Jewish settlers' town, Tel Aviv

Dan and I reunited in Tel Aviv
decided to go for a run

along the National Trail
Northern Israel

with our welding Druze mate
National Trail

nice camp spot
but as for the sprinkler...

final leg of Israel
biking along the Jordan Valley

Comments

[Brititi]

Thanks for the shot of you in bike shorts. Scarred for life.

[claire]

?
I'm pleased you managed to get to Israel - has made me feel nostalgic. Those 5hr waits at borders and having stones thrown at you by locals...well, enjoy wherever you are going to next.

[DestinationAlgeria]

bike shorts
you know what I'll be wearing first day back at the NCRE