26 04 08 Mizpe Ramon

LE CHAMEAU!!!!!

On th last day before his departure, Alex"s personal highlight arrived.
And this was NOT the early walk with some Israeli guys through the crater of Mizpe Ramon (like the Grand canyon, just more colourful) nor the political discussions with them....
Noooooo.....finally we had the chance to ride a camel!!! Through th desert!!!
Honestly, it sounds easier as it seems and our guide often had to tell this crazy thing "Hey, you"re a camel, you have to walk!!!"....
Fun, hot....and just the right thing for finishing the day with some cultural experience.
Walking through Avdat, a well-preserved city perched on a hill that dominates the desert skyline (part of the film Jesus Christ Superstar)...made us feel majestic....and...made us miss the latest bus back to Mizpe Ramon ,-)
So...another time hitchhiking, just right before th storm started!!

25 04 08 Masada

Coup d'Arabe de nouveau, as Alex would say....
Or...as I would say...traveling makes you aware of the beauty and the stupidity of mankind in such a short time.
Arriving at 5am in the morning at the entrance of the Masada National Park, this stupid guard didn"t want to keep his promise from the evening before. The guys in th nearby hostel told us they couldnt keep our luggage either...so we should walk up the 600 meters altitude difference with our backpack, tent, drinks etc..STUUUUPIDD PEEEEOPLE!!!
Luckily, we met as well them nice guys and were finally able to leave our luggage not only in their car, but could get a lift with them as well direction Beer Sheeba a couple of hours later.
But before we kind of ran up the hill, being able to watch a perfect sunrise just from the top of the hill....
But...what"s it all about? Masada is (a pretty well conserved) fortress on top of the hill, close to the Dead Sea, which has been used by Jewish, Romasns (Herod) in different occasions.
The fact that the Jewish - after a long long fight- prefered to commit suicide than to surrender makes this place holy for them...
Anyway, the view over the hills and over the Dead sea, just to Jordan is great!!!

After this, we got a lift to BeerSheva, taking from ther a bus to Mizpe Ramon, arriving now on Shabbath in the middle of the desert.
Not only that on Shabbath its hard to find food....but in the middle of a desert?!??!
Suffering again from hunger and thirst ,-)

24 04 08 Dead Sea

After Jerusalem, the "real backpacking" began once again...
and...to be honest, away from the cities, Israel is kind of little Africa.
Buses travel occasionally, thetouristic places are in the middl of nowhere so that people without a car hardly can manage to buy some stuff for a normal price...and shitty hostels are a rip-off.
So..Alex and me camped. Similar to traveling New Zealand with Bertram, we did it "the right" style.
camping wild, not showering, getting up with the sunrise ,-) and all that for a relaxing day on the "Kelia Beach.
Was imagining the Dead sea beaches to be more impressive.
There"s no sand, but just rocky stones...and its not really nice. People throw their garbage anywhere in the place and dont worry how it looks and smells like...

...This all seems so negative ,-)...but it was a great day. About 40 degrees on the beach...getting to know what relaxing means: Floating in the deepest place on the world ( minus 400 meter) on the sea....Good pictures, amazing sunburn....and a lot of thirst.
Hitchhiking to En Geidi in the evening, seeing that no more food was available there...we had another time luck ,-)
Just catching the bus to Masada, we set up our tents...and got invited for dinner from some Israeli tents. Good one!!!
Just right before another short night!!

21-23 04 08 Jerusalem , Betlehem

After another morning stroll around Tel Aviv and a visit of th modern art museum, we met up with my Israeli friends Shiran and Illy. Sooooo great to see them again after more than 16 months. Seemed as if we"d never quit each other.
As they were occupied with visiting some other friends in Tel Aviv, we headed direction Jerusalem, couching there 2 nights...just right for 2 1/2 power-sightseeing days.
Power-sightseing??? This means, running through the city until 10pm, getting up the following day at 5am.....this way we managed to see quiet q lot of this great city in which you could stay for weeks without getting bored.
The main attraction of Jerusalem definetely is the "Old City"....cos this best represents this mixture. Holy for 3 different religions (Jewish, Christians, Muslim), there are more mosques, churches , synagoges as you can imagine. And within 10 minutes you ar from a totally Arabic quarter, markets, chaos and dirt to a clean, ultraorthodox place....
really really strange. Combined with tons of soldiers all patroling over the city..this definetely is a crazy mixture...
Away from the old city (with the temple mount as the plac of foundation of the world..., the place of Jesus last supper), there are tons of other places to explore. The Mount of olives, the different quarters of all kinds of immigrants (Germans, French, American)....and especially Yad Vashem, a museum reflecting the hostory of millions of victims of the holocaust...deeply impressive and moving.
Meeting up with Shiran & Illy again, making them move a step forward, measn tying them in the Arabic quarters....and then alone with Alex heading to Bethlehem in Palestine, the place of Jesus birth...
Sooooo many sights...think we have to take a break tomorrow....Beach time!!!

20 04 08 Tel Aviv

After some chaotic starting of the holidays, I arrived safely at 3am on Sunday morning in Tel Aviv. And...strangely...this time I wasn't alone! Only 2 hours later Alexandre arrived at the airport from London and so "our" holidays could start.
...Not only the Ben Gurion airport is impressive (water fountains), but as well the prices were impressive.....high....higher than in Germany!!!
So, Alex & me had to save money ,-) Here we go for couchsurfing !!! Hospitality has never been demonstrated in a similar way. Our hosts for this night, Renana & Boaz, left us a key, so we could enter their apartment at 6am starting our day with a couple of hours of sleep.
After a typical Jewish breakfast for the wholy week (unleavened bred with cinammon), we made our way into downtown Tel Aviv.
Due to the holidays all shops were closed and tel Aviv wasn't that buzzling as described....
So, we took it easy, strolling to the beach first and then having a look to some different suburbs of Hayarkon, Yemenite, to the Rothschild Boulevard.
Nice places, but nothing totally special, besides of the "non-understandability" of all signs...,-)
Best thing later in the day the suburb of Jaffa, with its Arabic restaurants, the amphitheatre, wishing bridge....and the first "religious experience" in Israel. Some American guys quoting us the bible for haf an hour ,-)
Finishing the day with our couchsurfing hosts we"re now looking forward to meet up with Shiran & Illy, 2 Isralii girls I met in Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.!!