Hi everybody.
Before we continue our saga, everything seems to be okay here. We're just
24 km from the Gaza strip, but aside from the periodic bang from Israeli
artillery practice, it is quiet. Even the Israelis seem unhappy about the
big raid and have demonstrated in Tel Aviv, but it's pretty much business as
usual.
Who would have ever thought it? Tim and Rose hitting every holy site in
Israel; well almost every one. We rented a car with our friends from The
Southern Cross for three days. These guys amazingly exceed all of my
previous measures of frugality to the extent of trying to turn off the A/C
all the time to improve mileage. However, that being said, he drove and we
saved a bundle on the car by sharing. It was also a slightly better deal
for three days than a shorter period so we kept it just for ourselves the
last day as they had already done the stuff we planned for that day.
On the first day, we couldn't get the car 'til about 9, and what with doing
the paperwork, etc. (our friends insisted I put up my credit card as we
would
have the car the last day--felt like they thought theirs would melt or we
might somehow use it), we didn't get to the Old City of Jerusalem
until about 11. It's only about an hour drive--everything is close in this
tiny country. Navigation was a bit challenging. one of the few annoying
things about Israel, and I must admit I was surprised, is that almost
nothing is in English, including maps, but there was enough, minimal as it
was, to get us around. Every other tourist oriented place we've been has
had dual or treble language. So the rest of this will probably read a bit
like a travelogue because that's what it was.
We entered the Jaffa gate at the old city, finally around 11:30. Yes,
almost
lunchtime; the sites could wait. The main drag from there to the wailing
wall was one stall after another offering souvenirs. Only a few
restaurants. After a quick lunch of gyros, we walked down to the wailing
wall through tons of security. There are more guns in Israel than even the
States, and those gun nuts at home would love it here as everyone seems to
carry an assault weapon with a backup 45 automatic pistol. One restaurant
owner in Nazareth was like the old Saturday Night live routine where Ackroyd
plays a repairman with his pants halfway down showing major butt crack (and
Murray and the chick who married Gene Wilder roar with laughter), except our
guy had a 45 automatic stuck in his crack. I confess I had a hard time not
"cracking"
up. Ok, back to Jerusalem. women and men can't go to the same section of
the wall, so Rose went over to the female side and wrote up her prayer,
note, whatever, and put it in the wall while I people watched. Then we
went looking for the Dome of the Rock, the site of both Solomon's temple and
where Mohamed rose to heaven. The entrance we found to that complex was
only for Arabs so we backtracked through security and went up a special
kafir (that's Arabic for infidel) walkway. The mosque was just closing
down so we only got a quick look--pretty impressive.
After that, we walked over to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (CHS) through
the Christian Quarter, discovering along the way that, even though we had
paid less than half the asking price for some of our souvenirs, the Arab
merchants in the
other section had out-bargained us. Most of the stores in the Christian
Quarter had marked fixed prices so we could compare. The CHS is a combo
deal, allegedly the site of Christ's tomb as well as the site of Calvary.
In any event, there was not too much Christian activity going on in there as
people were elbowing each other to get closer and, all-in-all pretty rude.
Finishing there, we were to meet our friends at 5:30 to go to the Mount of
Olives and, as it was a bit early, we wandered through the Armenian quarter,
where they seem to specialize in ceramics, and the Jewish quarter. I have
no
idea why the Armenians rate their own quarter. Why not the Poles or the
French. Besides, the other quarters all represent a major religion. Maybe
they're Greek Orthodox, but then why isn't it the Greek Orthodox quarter?
So we met up, finally found the car park and took off around the old city
to the Mount of Olives where Jesus ascended to heaven. We got lost and
ended up in the Jewish cemetery. Not a total loss as Schindler of
"Schindler's List" fame is buried there, but we ended up at a dead end in a
dodgy neighborhood. Back down and around, we found the proper road up and
got to the scenic overlook for some pretty awesome views of Jerusalem at
sunset. Our driver (not me) decided not to make the turn down the hill on
the way back from which we had ascended and just followed a bunch of other
cars figuring they knew where they were going. Maybe they did, but this
route took us right off the map, and we took 3 hours to get home as we got
totally lost. Of course, the CS's (cheapskates) wouldn't think of stopping
for a bite to eat, so we arrived home famished at 10 pm. Now what would
have
made sense was staying the night in Jerusalem and avoiding all this hassle
as we were headed just north of there to Nazareth the next day, but the
CS's wouldn't hear of that either--something about going through the West
Bank territory--really just too cheap. As an amusing aside, we did another
late one the next night,
and they knew I would not be denied, so we pulled into Mcd's at about 7:30
pm. the husband wanted a cappuccino to help him stay awake on the drive
home but gagged--I kid you not, GAGGED--at the 8 shekel price for the
coffee--about $2. They couldn't believe I spent almost $10 on my burger and
fries. By the way, has the rest of McD's gone to the giant size quarter
pounder or, a la Pulp Fiction, a Royale in Israel. I should add by way of
explanation these people, the CS's,
are very nice, they are just the most unbelievably penurious individuals
I've ever met, and I've met a few. Right, Bob Doyle knows who I mean--Mr.
Window Shade.
The next day was even more chock full of activity, and the drive was about
twice the distance so we got an early start as we already had the car.
Traffic through the outskirts of Tel Aviv was abysmal---every Israeli must
drive through there on the way to work. Fortunately, we did not get majorly
lost that day. We finally made it to Nazareth where we visited Mary's
Well--a couple of them, at least, as nobody is really sure. There were some
other sights, including the 45 in the butt crack there, but one church runs
into another after a while. After lunch, we headed up to the Sea of
Galilee, a hotbed of religious sites. This was the Sermon on the Mount, the
feeding of multitudes with a bit of bread and 2 fish (Rose brought some pita
and a can of anchovies, but nothing happened), calming of the waters,
Peter's house and more I can't remember. Now, I'm not terribly religious
and am doing this mainly for the historical significance, but I do pretty
much believe, having been raised a Catholic. However, my faith was tested
here as the Sea of Galilee is not a sea at all, but, rather a very small--by
Lake Michigan standards--fresh water lake about 2 miles across. In my book,
the biblical tempest Christ calmed couldn't have been too severe as you can
almost walk across the lake!!! So what else did they exaggerate? After the
Sea Of Galilee--our friends had this master plan, you see--off we went to
Mount Tabor, semi on the way home. Tabor is the alleged site of Christ's
transfiguration where the apostles saw Him light up and also talk to God who
called him Son, and Moses. Great views, 16 switchbacks on the way up.
Unfortunately, all the monasteries and churches closed by the time we
arrived. We still got home really late for us old folks, but at least I got
McDonald's!!!!
The next day, Rose and I had the car to ourselves, but, ah, I have forgotten
another CS story. On our late return the prior evening, the CS's suggested
we fill up the car so there would be no question on the cost sharing. I
guess we couldn't be trusted to provide an accurate accounting of the fuel
costs.
Unfortunately, most of the petrol stations close by that time so they
dropped us at the marina and drove around for another hour to fill up just
so we couldn't possibly cheat them the next day. What else could be the
reason for that hassle. Then, in spite of the rental place checking off
that the tank was full, they had determined that it was a bit less when we
picked it up, so I had
to eat that. All this over a possible couple of dollars. I guess their
time isn't worth anything--Rose and I had to stay up waiting for their
return to settle the tab. So, it was with great relief that we had the car
alone.
Since we had a lot to do and relatively long distances to travel, we had
planned to get an early start but ran into some other friends who had
arrived late the day before, but we did get off at about 8:30 for Bethlehem
which is south of Jerusalem. The place to see there is the Church of the
Nativity which is the site of the manger--rrright. We got marginally lost
but someone directed us, and, when we arrived, a Palestinian guy helped us
find
parking, etc. For the prior 2 days, I had sweltered in long pants having
been misinformed by the CS's that some places required them. Nope, the only
remotely similar instance was in Nazareth where one of the caretakers
wouldn't let me cross my long pants clad legs inside that church whilst
waiting for the
others--figure that one out!!! Anyway, that particular day was meant to be
extremely hot so I wore shorts. Of course our helpful Palestinian
shopkeeper said the priests wouldn't let me in the church in shorts, so he
lent me an Arab sarong which, of course, I could return to his shop before
our departure. Turned out I didn't need that either and felt like a fool
walking around this church in a dress. We did manage to get in the back way
and avoid lines as there was some Canadian bigwig (oxymoron, I know) with
the whole nine yards of security guys--black suits, Chevy Suburbans, talking
into their wrists. We sort of snuck by them (not very good security, are
they?) and entered through the exit. Then Rose hooked up with some guy who
took her
into the cave or whatever from the end of the line. I waited in my dress.
I don't think they let transvestites in there.
Our next stop was the Dead Sea, lowest place on earth. To do that, you have
to go through the center of Jerusalem as there are no roads through the
Negev desert. Yep, got lost, but not too bad. Oh yeah, twice, but neither
time too far out of the way. The only way to get there is to drive over to
the north end from Jerusalem and then pick up the Dead Sea coast Road down
to Ein Gedi where you can swim--about halfway down the coast. Got a bite to
eat there and then walked down to the water. Rose went for a swim, and I
was
going to wait for her but it was 43 C in the shade; that's about 105
Fahrenheit!!!! I don't think I've ever been so hot. Went back to the car
and took a nap in the A/C while Rose floated. But wait, there's more.
Leaving the "spa", we headed south to Masada. Masada, you may recall was a
seventies ABC miniseries starring the miniseries king, Peter Strauss.
Around 100 AD (I refuse to use the politically correct BCE and CE), the Jews
revolted against the Romans and held out here for years before pulling a Jim
Jones and committing mass suicide by leaping hundreds of feet to their
deaths. Masada was originally Herod's resort palace and is built at the top
of a 1000 foot plateau. There were actually some crazies who walked up in
the heat but
for the old folks they have a cable car. Round trip was about $2 more than
one way; the CS's walked down when they visited earlier this month. We
paid the extra $2 since it was 105 outside. We were very hot, very tired,
and touristed out, so we made the visit pretty quick and were back at the
boat by dinnertime. Did not get lost!
Having been exhausted from all the sight seeing, we took several days off
and the time to arrange our trip to Petra. If you watched Indiana Jones and
the Last crusade, Petra was the site where the guy was with the Holy Grail.
Looks just like that, except the entry canyon is even more spectacular and
longer than in the movie. Petra is the sight of a desert civilization that
was pre Roman and ran most of the middle east around the time of Alexander.
Was rediscovered by Europeans in the mid nineteenth century and is an entire
huge city carved out of rock in the canyons in the wilderness of Jordan. It
is next to Wadi Musa which is Moses' Well in Arabic. It is a big tourist
destination about 200 km from Aqaba in Jordan which is where the border
crossing from Israel at Eilat is. Both Eilat and Aqaba are at the north end
of, not surprisingly, the Gulf of Aqaba, and both are huge Miami beach
affairs with temps in the 100's. Fortunately, Petra, in the mountains, is
somewhat cooler. It's possible to fly down there but we chose the bus which
are air conditioned modern coaches. What we didn't realize is they are also
a major mode of troop carriers for Israel, and many of the soldiers are not
too proud to elbow their way in ahead of you to take all the seats. And
they've got guns!!!
Anyway, you need to leave early as it is a long way down there from
Ashkelon, so we arranged a cab to the bus station, and, despite the language
barrier, managed to get the right bus to Beer Sheba to change for Eilat.
Beer Sheba (BS) has an interesting story in itself, and I encourage you to
rent the movie "the Light Horsemen" about Australian mounted infantry in WW
I. this city played a key role in the war here, and it's sort of a Charge
of
the Light Brigade with a reasonably happy ending. The ride from BS is
through the Negev desert south. Half the bus was armed forces with weapons,
and the bus actually stopped at about 4 or 5 bases to drop and pick up.
Once at Eilat (we were a bit worried with the Gaza raid having just occurred
that they might close the border but they didn't. Jordan, along with Turkey
were the two Muslim countries with good Israeli relations), you hop a 10
minute cab to the border and walk across. Once again you skip getting
stamped as the Lebanese can figure out you've been in Israel with an Aqaba
stamp. Then, if you are the CSs, you cab it to the bus station and take
that up to Petra. Hotter than hell, we had prearranged a car with the hotel
that picked us up right at the border. Cost about $50 more that the cheap
way.
So, based on Tripadvisor.com and a bit more checking, we had picked the
Valley Star Inn, breakfast included. Mixed reviews here. It's small (10
rooms) and the guys who own it are the children of the late mayor of Petra.
Apparently they believe this gives them the right to take liberties with
their claimed amenities on their web site. ATM on site, Turkish bath, room
service, alcohol and cocktail lounge. No, no, no, no and no. But, the
rooms were nice if a bit over priced, and the owners were super for service,
driving us all over the place on unscheduled trips. Really good sat TV!!!
The real disappointment was, at breakfast the first day, which was pretty
good, some other guests raved about the food the night before. We had
elected to eat out that night and eat in the next day figuring we'd be tired
from walking around Petra all day. Unfortunately, not enough people wanted
dinner so Mama, yes, mama, wasn't cooking and we had to eat out again.
The owner gave us a special ride down to the gates at 8 and we were to meet
him at 5pm for the ride back. It ain't cheap here and entry was about JD35
each. A dinar is $1.40 so it's about $50, but it is amazing and really
worth it. I estimate we walked about 15 km and it could have been more, but
we took donkeys most of the way to the Monastery, an equally impressive
"building" as the Treasury which is featured in the Last crusade. Otherwise
it's a two hour uphill trek with about 1,000 steps. Rose,
wimp that she is, of course, got spooked on the donkey and kept asking to
get
off. In truth, as I rode hers part of the way back down, it had a bad
saddle, and you felt like you were going to fall off. You need to walk the
last 1/2 mile to the Monastery, and it was awesome. We stopped for a rest
and drink for an hour or so, chatting with some interesting tourists, one of
whom was an old guy who had just come from Manchu Pichu. There was also a
very hot Air Emirates stewardess??!! On the way back to the donkeys, Rose
informed
me she was not getting back on and would walk. Right, this is about 2 or 3
miles most of which is steep stairs. But she was firm, so I informed the
donkey boys that we would give them half the round trip price as their
saddle sucked. They offered to meet us at the bottom of the steps so I
tried to get a discount, but Rose was still having none of it. So--it
ended up with me offering JD15, they snorted and said forget it; they would
get the tourist police. We said ok. So it finally ended up that we did
pick them back up at the bottom for JD25 total, and Rose took my donkey and
I
ultimately took the head donkey boy's donkey as the saddle really was crap
on Rose's ex donkey. It was all pretty funny but I guess you had to be
there.
By this time, it was about 2:30 and we still hadn't had lunch, and all the
food places were back where we'd come from so, being old farts and tired
and hot, we hired a horse drawn cart to take us back the 3 miles to the
gate. This guy was pretty funny as well. He, he claimed, was the last guy
of the day, JD50 was
a discount, yada, yada, yada. We went back and forth until about 4 other
"last carts of the day" pulled in and settled on JD25 for the ride.
Hungry, hot and thirsty (Rose was sure they would have drinking water fill
taps all over as they did at Masada, so we only brought one bottle of
water),
we decided to get a snack at the Movenpick hotel ($850/night; yep, $850)
which is just outside the gate. After a false start at the restaurant which
had a huge, but expensive, buffet, we were referred to the Atrium (can you
see my nose in
the air as I say Atrium with an English accent?) for drinks and snacks.
Expensive, but we were tired and hungry and treated ourselves to some good
grub and drinks. So now it's 4 and our ride isn't due 'til 5. This is a no
brainer--for less than the cost of one vodka tonic, we took a cab back to
the hotel. Shower, nap and it's dinner time. The place the guy took us
to was a bit pricey and touristy but pretty good. Oh, we had planned on
the bus back to Aqaba, but negotiated a JD35 deal to the border with our
afternoon cabbie, so next morning, bright and early, it was breakfast and
into the cab at 7. We were hoping to get an earlier bus than the 11 AM out
of Eilat.
Made it in record time to the border. Jordan side no problem, but got the
usual grilling on the Israeli side, and then Rose was so flustered she
forgot
to tell them not to stamp her in so we'll need to deal with that getting
into Lebanon. We think, as long as we're coming from Cyprus, it won't be a
problem. There wasn't an earlier bus so we sat around for an hour but at
least it was assigned seats. Not so lucky on the bus from BS to Ashkelon.
That one's luggage compartment wouldn't open so I stood for most of the
trip. Rose had boarded earlier (yeah, I had to deal with the luggage) and
saved me a seat in the back. However the aisle was jammed, and she couldn't
see that I had boarded with the bags, and there was no way I was going to
get back there. It was pretty amusing; the first 15 minutes of the trip
Rose,
and her new found Israeli army studs were all calling to me to come back to
the seat they'd saved.
Happily back "home", we chilled out for the weekend waiting for Sunday and
the workmen. Sunday, the electricians showed up on time and crawled all
over the instruments, ultimately taking both radar displays and the tridata
with them to check out. No sign of the mechanic, but the boatyard guy came
with the electricians, and there is some drama about who will clean out the
oil in the bilge prior to the mechanic working on the leak. Yesterday, I
finally gave up and actually cleaned it up myself. Need to catch the
mechanic today (Tuesday) to get him out here. Yesterday, the electricians
called with basically all bad news. the replacement radar I put in, an
RL70Plus, cannot talk to the old RL70 repeater at the nav station. In any
event, the RL70 had a blown connection and nothing at all can talk to it,
anyway. The tridata is also causing communication problems between the
instruments and neither can it be repaired here. The guys here have a
source for a replacement 70Plus, but it's way too much money, and, besides,
in Turkey, I'm putting in a plain RL80 which couldn't talk to the plus.
So--the answer is to do nothing now-everything works independently-and buy a
used RL80 or 70 display to go with the already purchased RL80. The tridata
can be repaired by Ray Marine, I assume, and I can send it off this fall--a
new one of those is about $700. Generally bad news, but the good news is
now I know what the problems are and can address them at my leisure and at a
reasonable cost.
The plan is to get the instruments back installed which happens Thursday,
get the mechanic out here--I'll see him this AM--and take off for a short
trip to Cyprus since it's difficult to go to Beirut directly from Israel.
Don't know how long we'll stay in Cyprus, part of which depends on the
marina situation--they're very crowded so if we can't get a spot we'll
shorten our stay. The idea is to spend some time in Beirut and Lebanon and
then head up to the east end of Turkey and cruise west towards Marmaris, our
home for the winter.
Cheers 'til next time.
Tim & Rose
