* Pictures noted are bottom to top - We leave Amman early for the 45 minute ride to the King Hussein/Allensby Bridge crossing from Jordan into Israel. To get there we drove down through the deep, very dry and very barren Jordan Valley. Surprisingly once at the bottom of this valley (almost 350 m below sea level) we saw lots of mixed agriculture including bananas.
Per Eyad's suggestion we paid the outrageous fee ($200 USD) for VIP service at the King Hussein Bridge (aka Allensby Bridge on the Israeli side) to 'walk through' our paperwork as we left Jordan and escort us ahead of the passport and customs lines as we entered Israel. Even with this helpful service Susan still managed to get in trouble as she got a little too talkative (more than 'yes' or 'no') with the passport control person's questions which must have caused some concern since the border clearance person took her fingerprints and picture (not Richard's) as we exited. A real 'welcome to Israel' moment.
Once on the Israeli side of the border we looked to get a taxi or shuttle bus to our hotel in East Jerusalem. Prices were all over the place - anything from $100-125 USD for a taxi to $20 USD with a shuttle bus. We decided to take the shuttle bus since it was supposedly leaving soon and was much cheaper.
Of course as it turned out it didn't leave soon - we had to wait at least 20 more minutes in the heat - and it cost more than originally described since it was only scheduled to take us to a central location downtown where we would need to take a taxi to the hotel (only found that out once the bus was ready to leave). While we weren't happy with the situation, we did end up enjoying the 1 hour bus ride with the other 2 passengers. One conversation was with a guy who offered us invaluable information about Jerusalem since he lived there and the other included the constant babble from a lovely older Muslim woman who spoke no English but still had a long conversation with Susan about Mohammad (we think). As we started to enter the city limits of Jerusalem, Susan's new 'friend' the Muslim woman, took out some cologne, sprayed herself and then with a big smile gave us all a spray on our hands. After sharing a good laugh we thanked her for her kind offering - our first postive 'Israel moment'.
As we were the last people on the bus, the driver said he would be happy to drive us to our hotel. We thought he was feeling a little guilty since he was the one who gave the misinformation when he sold us the tickets. We were wrong. Once at the hotel when we asked what we might owe him, he charged us more than the estimated taxi fare would have been. Oh well, good, bad, or indifferent, we were in Israel.
The Adder Hotel was described as a 'boutique' hotel when in fact it was a little tired, but fine for us. We had a large suite (bedroom, bathroom, and living room), internet and English CNN - so all was good. The other positive was it's relative close location to the Damascus Gate, a 10 minute walk through the Muslim part of town and the Old City. After we checked in we decided to take a walk to the Old City to explore. We entered the massive Damascus Gate (picture 1) and started our trek through the labyrinth of vendors and shops in the Muslim and Armenian quarters. In street after street everything imaginable was for sale - food, clothing, leather products, toys, jewelry, souvenirs, etc. This 'bazaar' was so chock-full (picture 2) and seemingly endless making the Turkish Bazar in Istanbul seem like a small garage sale.
After a while we began to get hungry but couldn't find a comfortable sit-down restaurant. None of the eateries looked appealing but as we were getting hungrier, we decided on this Armenian pizza restaurant where a number of people were eating outside. Though there wasn't available outside seating we found an inside table in front of a big fan which at least kept us cool and seemed good enough. To keep things easy we ordered 2 small pizzas (practically the only thing on the menu) and freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. After what seemed like an eternity we finally got our pizzas (not gourmet, but at least hot and edible). When we finished we asked for a check and since we were still unfamiliar with the Israeli-US currencies we paid it without comment. A short time later when we confirmed the math of the currency exchange, we weren't happy to realize we just paid more than $50 USD for 2 very small pizzas and a juice. What a joke.
As it was getting late and we were tired we found our way back to the hotel where we stayed and read for a while.
With the help of the front desk person, Abraham, we developed a plan for the next day. First stop was the new outdoor mall below the Jaffe Gate on the west side of the city. Besides many wonderful upscale shops it had a full-service pharmacy where we stocked up on vitamin and toiletry supplies (many to replace those accidentally thrown out in Amman). We stopped at a cafe to enjoy a delicious iced mint and lemon drink which energized us enough to explore the Jewish Quarter of the Old City including the Wailing Wall (picture 3).
After a long day we walked back to the hotel to rest for a while before Harvey and Aviva, friends of our Napa friend Helen, picked us up for a delicious and memorable Shabbat dinner with their visiting friend Jane from Texas (used to work with Aviva and Harvey in Israel many years ago) and their terrific family. The night passed quickly amid discussions about archeology (their profession), Israel, etc. We ate at a beautiful table outside, laughed and thoroughly enjoyed their hospitality and friendship. On the way back to the hotel Harvey and Aviva drove us past the Knesset, Supreme Court, and other government complexes which even in the evening light were impressive.
Since the next day was Saturday and most things were closed, we decided to take a bus tour to Masada and the Dead Sea. Though traveling with these tours weren't our favorite activity it was easier and a lot more cost effective than renting a car or taxi for the day. We were ready to board the bus as instructed at 8.15 am. After waiting in the hot sun the bus finally arrived at 9.30 am and we were on our way 20 minutes later. Not a great start, but within 1 1/2 hours we stopped at the Qumran Caves (picture 4) where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found (after the obligatory tourist stop at the very popular AHAVA, Dead Sea products factory), then to Masada.
Masada was an amazing site which we accessed by cable car. It was located on the eastern outskirts of the Judean Desert near the shore of the Dead Sea between En Gedi and Sodom. The plateau of Masada measures 450 meters above the level of the Dead Sea and is 650 meters long by 300 meters wide. It's remote location and natural defenses were the advantages that transformed it into a fortress during the Second Temple period. Originally built by Herod, king of Judea, styled similar to ancient Roman East. After Herod, Masada was the last bastion of Jewish freedom fighters against the Romans with its fall signaling the violent destruction of the kingdom of Judea and end of the Second Temple Period (picture 5).
Next stop after Masada was an hour visit to a public mineral beach on the Dead Sea, the lowest spot on earth at 400 meters below sea level. We wandered all the way down to the 'beach' which was agony on our feet since there was no sand, just rocks and rough salt deposits. We got into the 'mud pit' with a zillion other people, covered ourselves, then hobbled over to the shallow water to try to 'float' (picture 6) and rinse off (picture 7). Then we used the showers to wash off the salt and any lingering mud before we changed into dry clothes for our return to Jerusalem.
Once back at the hotel we caught up with work on the computer, read, and relaxed by watching an old classic movie in English on TV.
After a restful night's sleep we packed, check out of the Adder and since they were sold out, moved into our new hotel, the historic YMCA Three Acres in West Jerusalem across from the King David Hotel. Once settled into our clean, basic room we walked over to the shopping area near Jaffe Gate for some lunch. Following lunch we walked back through areas of the Jewish Quarter we hadn't seen before such as the 4 Sephardi Synagogues (picture 8), the Wailing Wall (for the 2nd time) to the Temple Mount (which was closed), the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (for the 2nd time) (picture 9), then enjoyed a city view of the wall, Temple Mount, and the Tower of David picture 10), and visited a number of wine shops for tastings (and purchase) of some nice Israeli wines before returning to the hotel. For dinner we ate outside at the YMCA restaurant and enjoyed a relaxing night.
On our last day we got a taxi to take us up to the Mount of Olives so we could walk down through many sites (ie. Tomb of Mary, Russian Church, etc) to the Temple Mount - at least that was the plan. But once we made it through the traffic including at least a half mile of parked buses we took the suggestion of our taxi driver, Saddam, that after enjoying the panoramic view from the Mount of Olives (picture 11) we let him take us to the Temple Mount. We waited on an incredibly long line in the hot sun with other tourists and tour groups for about 20 minutes until the entrance gate was closed. We were disappointed and as we walked away we again saw Saddam, the taxi driver from the morning who agreed to take us to the Israel Museum where we saw the impressively large model (50:1 scale) of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period (66 CE) (picture 12) and The Shrine of the Book, home to the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Once done at the Museum we finally got a taxi to take us back to hotel where we spent a quiet evening, packed, and finalized plans for our return to Amman, Jordan.
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