December 30, 2022 through January 6, 2023
Somehow fell behind in my posts (too much travel, I guess) so I'm going to make this one short(er). I told myself I didn't want this blog to become "work" but sometimes it is; however I do like having this record of our travels especially since the countries and the memories are starting to blend together.
1) We learned that New Year's Eve isn't quite the same in Israel since, well, New Year's was technically in September at Rosh Hashanah. They do try to make it something but it was lacking the hoopla we give it in the US. We celebrated by seeing a movie at 9:30pm (ensuring we'd be awake close to midnight), then kissing by the Dizengoff Square fountain (awww). We also celebrated on Jan 1 by going to a cool restaurant in Jaffa that is all in the dark *and* the waiters are all blind. The food was amazing.
2) I left the day after New Year's for a 6-day excursion to Eilat (resort area at the very bottom of Israel, next to the Red Sea). Took an early bus (2am) from Tel Aviv that took 6 hours (good thing I'm still young ;). I remember going there years ago and it sure is different than I remembered. More commercial now, more desalination plants, and much of the coastline being used by the military.
3) Although the water was not my temperature, I did a guided snorkeling adventure around the reef which was fun. The instructor sort of spoke English and mostly understood that I am a novice snorkeler (I guess) so he left me on my own part-way through. I had no concept of time so I snorkeled for 2 hours (much longer than the tour) and made my own way back. The beauty of the fish and the reef made up for the lacking tour logistics.
4) I also did a full day jeep ride to the nearby national park (Timna Park) which had cool rock formations (Solomon's Pillars, mushrooms, and the like) and an old copper mine. Although I was the only American in a tour group of 12 Lithuanians, I enjoyed myself (and got the front seat spot!). Didn't make any new friends though (although I was approached by a Spanish-speaking homeless guy in Eilat who seemed to just want someone to talk to 😐 and a very friendly cat at a bus stop ... so two new friends?).
5) After 2 days in Eilat, I took a 3 day tour of Jordan which is just a short bus ride from Eilat. The border crossing is a bit confusing, with even less English, and I managed to screw it up by missing a step. Luckily I said all the right things to the border agent and ran and made it to the tour bus before they pulled away. The rest of the tour had similar vibes.
6) The tour of Jordan included a stop in Aqaba (a fascade-like city designed to show off Jordan's rich side), a stop in Wadi Rum (which has sand dunes, rock arches, and a desert that looks a lot like Mars), and 2 days in Petra (an ancient city with amazing rock structures). In Wadi Rum I stayed in a cool Bedouin tent (think low-level glamping) and had a amazing elaborate buffet dinner. Lots of lamb and mixed salads. In Petra I stayed in a 4-star hotel which was just lovely.
7) I actually made friends on the Jordan tour and am pretty sure I have a place to stay in Belgium or Brazil if I ever find myself there. Picked up 2 more Instagram followers as well :)
8) The tour guide was fine but I would have liked more details about the people and the history. I feel like many places I visit are catering to the "gotta get the Instagram photo" people more than trying to teach them about the place itself.
9) The poverty and desperation in Petra is palpable. I was dismayed at seeing children selling handicrafts and postcards, and we were told that many of them don't go to school and this is their life. Not sure what would fix the situation.
10) I also learned from the Jordan trip that I should really stop climbing mountains. I am not as young as I think and I barely made it up this steep and slippery mountain in Petra. Even worse, I had to make it back down, and the thought of going back by donkey or horse was more terrifying (so I walked or slid on my bottom as needed). I even had a few local Jordanians take pity of me and hold my hand to help (I will forever be indebted to Saroya :) Obviously I survived the trek (worth it?).
11) I did one last crazy thing in Jordan because everyone insisted the view of the ancient Treasury was best seen from above. I paid a local guide to walk me up to the view which was way more treacherous than it looked from below. He seemed undeterred by my lack of balance (even though I made him fall once!) and we both survived. I'm done climbing, I swear. By the way, the photo from above the treasury really was pretty awesome!
It was good that I did those trips myself; I don't think Art would have liked them or the 6-hour bus rides. But, side note, I did notice that since I was alone, I was more willing to talk to strangers and make friends in the tour group (... none of whom helped me up or down the mountain though).
Happy New Year!
Deena and Art
The Treasury at Petra (view from the cliff)
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