Sharm el Sheikh

For three days we had planned to stay in Sharm el Sheikh and take a vacation from our trip to go to the beach and relax. Sharm is located just a few hours southeast from the Mt. Sinai on the Red Sea. It is famous among Russians, Italians, and Brits and you find them staying all over the area. They all come because the Red Sea has some of the nicest beaches and bluest water in the world. It is absolutely stunning! It is a perfect place to go snorkeling or diving, as there are a million different type of fish in the water and coral reefs all around. Also, it is extremely different than most other parts of Egypt and much more secular- there are clubs, places serving alcohol, and people dressed provocatively! Hence, European tourists love it as it does not have the cultural restrictions that other places in Egypt tend to have.

The dock at the hotel's beach

It was nice to be able to stay in one place for a few days and just relax from traveling. We went to the beach, laid by the lovely pool, and did a lot of sleeping! And of course, we went snorkeling. Our hotel's beach was a bit hard to swim at, but it was really best for snorkeling and water activities. Guests only had to walk out to the dock and jump into the water with a mask and right away you can see an amazing array of fish and coral reefs down below. We took one day in itself just to be in the sea. There were so many fish of every color combination possible- big, small, scary, cute, and one even with every color of the rainbow!

Ready to watch Spain in the semi-final!

At night we ventured into Naama Bay, just a few minutes down the main road, where there are a ton of bars, cafés, and restaurants (many American!). One night we went to the old souk (market) for a change, but it was just another tourists trip filled with souvenir shops and a few places to eat. Overall it was a wonderful couple of days on the Sinai Peninsula, and we really

enjoyed our time on the sea.

The view from our balcony

On July 8th we got back on a bus to Cairo, changed our bags, and got back in the car late at night to drive north to Alexandria to spend the next 2 days! The traveling never stops!

Mount Sinai

On Sunday morning (4th of July!), after almost missing our bus trying to find a parking space near the bus station, Marissa, myself, and two of my Egyptian friends set off to the Sinai Peninsula. We had planned the trip for about 5 days. There is a lot to see and do in Sinai, but I would say two of the most popular places are Saint Catherine City and Sharm el Sheikh. The first is the city where tourists begin the climb to the top of Mt. Sinai and also the location of the Monastery of Saint Catherine. The mountain is thought to be the Biblical place where Moses received the 10 Commandments from God, and now is a type of holy pilgrimage site as well as just a beautiful place to climb and see the sunrise. Sharm is a resort area on the Red Sea, famous for its amazing coral reefs and places to snorkel and dive.

It was a long 8 hour bus ride, but luckily some of us were able to sleep along the way which definitely made it seem faster. We had decided to go the tourist route and climb the mountain at night in order to see the sunrise at 6am. The bus takes a interesting route and first goes east to the Suez Canal, then drives south along the western coast of Sinai until finally heading east into the mountains. We finally reached Saint Catherine around 7:30pm and found a deserted town with hardly any people or signs of civilization. Luckily there was a koshary restaurant which saved us from starvation! It's pretty much the best meal you can eat before climbing up a mountain, as it gives you all the energy you need from all its carbohydrates.

Passed out at one of our many rest stops

After eating we headed to the entrance point about 2km away. There is a fun point when the street lights end and everything goes dark except for the light of the stars and moon- it is a beautiful sight. Never have I seen so many stars! Unfortunately the entrance opens at midnight and we had 2 hours to wait so we slept until we could leave.

Group photo!

It takes quite a while to walk up the mountain, so we left plenty of time to get ourselves to the summit before sunrise. It is required to have a guide with you, and it was good that we did because with only two flashlights and rocks everywhere he was able to lead the way for us better than we could ourselves. The road up, though better than the second path of 3,000 stairs, is not easy and even harder when it's 2am and you haven't slept. Yet, we managed our way and stopped to rest when we had to. It doesn't take long to realize how high up you are and that the view around you is amazing. After about 3 hours we made it to the point where the path ends and the 750 stair climb starts to the summit. Honestly, this part is not fun at all- the stairs are actually made from slabs of rock and can be very slippery and difficult to walk on with no light. Also, it's pretty tough on your legs! We did eventually make it, and rested a while before finally climbing the last 5 minutes to the very top at dawn around 5am.

It's a breathtaking sight when the sun just starts to peek through and the sky gets brighter, lighting up the entire area and you can finally see the entire area around you. The sun itself rises pretty quickly, and then the heat starts immediately- a sign to start going back down. Our guide convinced us that this time we should go the other path because it is quicker and less crowded. Though I was wary of the 3,000 stairs part, we listened to him anyway (and of course it was quicker, but not easy on our legs.) The area was beautiful and we got to see a different side of the mountain this time. After about 2 hours we made it down, and were pretty much ready to collapse.

We quickly toured St. Catherine's Monastery- unfortunately my excitement to see the infamous burning bush was quickly squashed when I saw and realized that it looks just like any other bush. Hopefully the rumors are true. We then found a minibus to take us 3 hours east to Sharm el Sheikh to our lovely Sheraton resort on the beach where we would be spending the next 3 days relaxing!

First days in Cairo

This will now be my fourth time in Egypt and by this point when I come it's like returning back home to somewhere very familiar. It's crowded, noisy, dusty, and I love it. It is exciting to be here with someone who never has before because I get to see her impressions and hear her opinion of Egypt! On our first night we arrived too late to do anything but check in at our hostel, so the next morning we started out at a great welcome to the country: The Egyptian Museum.

Front of the Egyptian Museum

It's good that they are soon to open a new, modern building because the current museum leaves a lot to be desired. The two most exciting exhibits are quite astounding (King Tut and Mummy rooms), but the rest is not well organized, displayed, or labeled. There are hundreds of artifacts just sitting in various rooms but no one knows what they are because there is no name, date, or label. Nevertheless Egyptian history is fascinating and hieroglyphics and statues never fail to impress me.

After we treated Marissa to her first koshary experience (koshary is a very Egyptian food and my favorite thing to eat here! It is a mixture of all kinds of carbohydrates- pasta, rice, lentils, chickpeas, onions, and tomato sauce on top. Delicious for vegetarians!)

On the Nile

In the evening we toured the city some more- saw the Nile, Cairo Tower, and of course watched more of the World Cup! Later we got to meet up with some good friends who I only get to see once a year, if I am really lucky. We also got to eat fuul, another Egyptian specialty, which are fava beans mixed with a few vegetables and spices. A popular and now favorite place is in Garden City by the American Embassy. Just a cart in the street with some picnic chairs and tables, it has some of the best fuul in Cairo.

Our second day we dedicated to seeing the pyramids. Even though it was my second time there they never fail to amaze and impress. This time I was able to enter the second pyramid. To go inside you have to crawl down a long ramp with stairs, yet down a very small space (not good for claustrophobia!) After going down and up again you reach the tomb chamber. It is not very impressive to the eyes now because all was taken to the Museum, now all that remains is the sarcophagus of the pharaoh and the realization that you are in the complete middle of the pyramid. 100 meters up and you reach the top!

In the afternoon I got to see some more old friends and watch Argentina lose their chance at the World Cup. I also had to take another trip to the eye doctor, though this time was more successful. At least I'm getting to visit a doctor in every country that I go to. We watched more football at night, which luckily Spain one that time, and after we got ready for traveling to Mt. Sinai and Sharm el Sheikh the next day.

Cairo by night

Crossing to Jordan and Flight to Egypt

In order to move on to our next and last country, (Egypt), we had booked a flight from Amman instead of Tel Aviv to avoid the very expensive cost and hassle of tight security from the Tel Aviv airport. However, getting back to Amman was not an easy task either. The easiest way to cross back over to Jordan from Jerusalem is via the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge, yet this is always the busiest border crossing and most crowded. The process is not very clear online, but with the help of my friend John in Ramallah we were prepared for all of it. This is our story of how we crossed:

In the morning we got in a shared taxi that took us to the Israeli border for only 35 shekels (about $8). We had a pretty easy ride through the desert except that at the end where we had a strange experience: we got stopped at a security checkpoint and had to wait quite a while. After about 3o minutes the driver asked Marissa and I to get out of the car and go talk to the Israeli security guards to tell them that we had a flight to catch (so we could pass by faster). This only happened because we were obviously American tourists and they apparently would listen to us more than anyone. We were pretty hesitant to do this as no one from the other 10 buses was outside and it seemed a bit dangerous to get out! We finally did, but our American pleas didn't really get us anywhere (just as we thought!)

Next we arrived at the Israeli exit where we had to pay the hefty exit tax of 167.50 shekels and pass through passport control. (We got our passports stamped on a separate piece of paper in the beginning, which unfortunately they take away when you leave. It would have been a great souvenir.) Next we got on another bus to take us to Jordan for 5 JDs (about $8 again). Before crossing they took our passport, which had to have a Jordanian visa obtained beforehand, and later they stamped and returned them to us. Finally we had to take a taxi, which we thankfully shared, to the airport for our final stop. Our flight wasn't until 8:30pm so we had a few hours to wait, and we spent them sleeping and eating in a real restaurant! Overall it was a long day totaling about 5 hours to get from Jerusalem to Amman airport, but it was an interesting experience and hopefully cheaper overall than flying from Tel Aviv to Cairo.

We took a short flight and by 10pm were in Egypt where an old friend was graciously waiting to take us on our Cairo adventure.

Touring Jerusalem

The last few days of June we spent touring the holy city and watching football matches! Unfortunately I had to make another trip to the hospital in East Jerusalem so that took away a lot of our time to sightsee. However on Tuesday we got to visit Mt. Zion, which is outside the walls of the old city. There lies the Church of the Dormition, thought to be where Mary went into a final "deep sleep." In the underground level there is a beautiful candlelit area where a type of shine/tomb is dedicated to the mother of Jesus. Also around the corner from the church is the supposed Room of the Last Supper where Jesus spent his last meal with his disciples and so famously depicted by Leonardo DaVinci. Now only a non-decorated (and fairly unimpressive) empty room, it's still amazing to think this was where that infamous night took place.

On Wednesady we started early to make it to the Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount. Since the Dome now is a mosque, it is closed to all non-Muslims and the hours to even visit the site are very restricted to a few hours a day. Even with not being able to see much with my bad eye, entering form the Western Wall area and going to the Temple feels like a special experience. When you finally get that first view of the Dome of the Rock wiht the blue mosaic tiling outside and the gold dome on top, it is a breathtaking sight. Hopefully one day people will be able to visit inside and see the actual rock. Since the area is holy to Islam, Christianity, and Judaism it is a bit of a shame that more people do not get to visit and appreciate it. Afterwards we went to the Mt. of Olives, a holy place in itself, and entered Mary's Tomb, walked up the mountain, and searched (but failed) to find the Chuch of Ascension. There really are quite a lot of olive trees there.

That afternoon we had the (strangely) exciting opportunity to visit the West Bank and visit with a friend of mine from college, John Sakakini. We also had to get another Jordanian visa to be able to get to the Amman airport the day after, so Marissa, Aaron (a new friend from the hostel), and I hopped on a minibus to Ramallah. We had no problems getting through the checkpoint, as fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you see it) foreigners and especially Americans can pass by anywhere they want to go. The whole experience was easier than we thought an soon we were back in the Arab world- it is notable different from Jerusalem from the first few seconds. It was amazing! Seeing the difference between the two areas was really interesting and I think it's important that travelers at least make an effort to look at both sides when visiting this part of the world. With a little of my Arabic we managed to get a taxi to the consulate and got our visa with no real problems. While waiting for my friend to finish work, we got some food and took a walk to Al Muqata to visit Yasser Arafat's tomb. Ramallah is the political capital for Palestine, and so offices and government buildings are all around. Arafat's tomb is nice, but simple, guarded by soldiers and set in front of his old home and office. Next to that building now sits the office of Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority.

We luckily got to spend a few hours with my friend. A Palestinian-American now spending a year working and living in Ramallah, he showed us around the city, told us a lot of interesting info about life there as well as the current problems/improvements, and even took us to his favorite bar in Ramallah. I'm really glad we had the chance to visit him as well as enter the West Bank. We had no problems and so many people in Ramallah greeted us with a warm Ahlan Wa-Sahlan (Welcome), probably excited that a foreigner took the time to visit their city- we did not see any other tourists there.

I really enjoyed our time in Israel/Palestine, even though I could not physically see a lot of it and we missed a lot of important places that I will just have to return one day to visit. One of my goals we did managed to accomplish though, and that was finding bagels! Yum!

Seeing Israel through only one eye

It is Friday night and we are currently in downtown Cairo....we arrived last night and have spent a wonderful day visiting the Egyptian Museum and catching up with some of my old friends. However, more on that in another post. I have yet to write about our last days in Israel, which were actually filled with many cities and so many sites! I'll try to catch up....

View from the top of the Bahá'i Gardens

Sunday we decided to get out of Tel Aviv and see another city in Israel. I had heard on a podcast that Haifa was a great place to take a day trip to and that there was one main thing all visitors must see there: the Bahá'i Gardens. We got on a train from Herzliyya and arrived in Haifa just in time to make it to the gardens for the last English tour of the day. The gardens are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are a symbol of the Bahá'i faith. Set on the side of Mount Carmel, the gardens ascend with the mountain (or descend depending on where you start) so that from any point you have an amazing view up, down, and out to the Mediterranean Sea. Our tour started from the top, so got to walk down through the gardens (which actually seems to have more stairs than green areas sometimes!) It was a really unique experience to visit another holy site in Israel, yet of a different and lesser known religion that what is commonly thought to be found in this country.

After the gardens we toured the city and found ourselves at the beach in the afternoon. It's always a great way to sleep away the hottest part of the day!

The next day we sadly left Ruty and Ehud and ventured east to Jerusalem. I have been looking forward to this top on our trip very much, (I think it was the top thing I wanted to visit!) From Tel Aviv it is a very easy trip, taking only about one hour, and we were able to get on another bus to the old city and find our hostel without any major problems- except for me having to drag my suitcase through the market! Note: travelers should always think about their hotel location and what luggage they have, as I have had to drag my huge red suitcase down the stairs and through markets in Marrakech, Istanbul, now Jerusalem...

The old city is a maze of small streets with sellers trying to offer you every souvenir from Jerusalem you can imagine, yet mixed with all of the holy sites from Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and more. Even the Via Dolorosa, where Jesus walked with the cross on his way to his crucifixion, boasts some of the funniest souvenir shops we saw in Jerusalem. It is broken down into different neighborhoods by religion, as there is a Christian Area, Jewish Area, etc. Being much smaller than I imagined, we were able to see multiple things in just our first day. For example, The Western Wall (or Wailing Wall) was not so far from the Church of Holy Sepulcher, and we got to see both and walk the ramparts in only one afternoon. The sites were impressive, but different than I imagined. Maybe because there is so much hype about these holy places that when you see them for what they actually are, they can be somewhat unimpressive. The Western Wall was not very crowded when we were there, but I can imagine that during holy days or Shabbat, it is a very moving site to see.

The Western Wall

Unfortunately, that night I accidently scratched my eye by taking out my contact, (though I did not know it at the time), and the next day I had to take a very painful trip to the hospital where they told me I would just have to wait for it to heal on its own. Consequently, I am still recovering but have not been able to see much out of my right eye for the last four days. That has made it very hard to travel and visit places in Jerusalem, and now Cairo. The following two days in Jerusalem were very difficult, and even though we still visited places I feel like I did not get to fully appreciate them or see them completely. Only another reason to come back again!

More updates on Jerusalem to come with pictures, as well as our trip to the West Bank!!

Shabbat

Shabbat, literally meaning rest or cessation in Hebrew, is observed in Israel as a full day of rest beginning from sunday Friday until Saturday night. Stores shut down, restaurants close, and people celebrate this special day of the week differently in each family. For our Israeli hosts, this meant taking a day to visit older family members who they do not get to see everyday. So Saturday, Ruty and Ehud were going to spend the day visiting their parents and daughter and invited us to go with them. Wanting to see as much of the country and meet its people as we could, we of course said yes. They are able to visit their family members every week mostly, so we did not spend long in each place. Both Ehud's mother and Ruty's father proved to be incredibly interesting visits for us though!

I sometimes feel that many American people in their 20's often have grandparents in their 80's or 90's and many were soldiers in WWII (or were involved in some type of military service.) It is common for our grandfathers to have stories of his time at war either in Europe or the Pacific, and I think often we take that fact for granted. During the same period, citizens of a different population of people (Jews in Europe) were finding ways to escape the Nazis and move to the soon to be Israel (then Palestine.) In Israel, that same generation holds different stories of how they came to Israel before it was a state and how they took part in its creation.

Two people that belong to this group are the people we got to meet. Ehud's mother, now 97 years old, looks very healthy, is still walking, and even manages 2 languages still. We didn't find out much, but we know a little about how she came. Her family was originally from Austria and after she immigrated, she lived in a kibbutz back when they were really communal living areas. (We were told that nowadays they have changed drastically and the community ideal has disappeared basically.) Nevertheless, she now lives in another kibbutz south of Tel Aviv. One of the largest kibbutz with over 1,000 inhabitants, it was much larger than I imagined. To me it reminds me of summer camp, with different buildings where people live, the big dining hall, and of course the pool where everyone hangs out in the summer. I really enjoyed seeing this special part of Israeli life though. We took a walk around but it was pretty quiet because of Shabbat. We got to speak to Ehud's mother for just a few minutes, but she got to practice her English and we got to see the amazing shape of a 97 Israeli/Austrian woman.

Next we went a short distance to the neighboring city to visit Ruty's father. Only 94 , he has all the lovely charm and funny habits of a darling old man. Not speaking a word of English, he soon started speaking about how he first came to Palestine (Ruty translated for us.) Though he was only about 20 years old and over 70 more have now passed, he remembered the details as if it was yesterday. His family originally lived in Poland, and in 1939 the Zionist youth movement gave him a ticket to go to Palestine, yet only for him and not his family. He arrived, escaped from a British holding camp, and managed to start a kibbutz near the town where he currently lives. Nine years later the nation of Israel was created. Even though he had left his family in Poland, he was one of the first members and beginning founders of Israel.

Meeting him and hearing his story astounded me. Maybe it's just because I have learned about this period of history for so many years of my life and critically studied the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. So something like the youth movement brings me right back to my "History of the Modern Middle East" class from fall Senior year at GWU. It's an incredible feeling when a small piece of information you learned years ago comes to life! Of course I'm just a strong believer in the power of education, but still it was incredible to hear his story firsthand.

That afternoon after lunch and siesta, we went for a walk from their house to the beach in Herzliyya and watched the US/Ghana match, which sadly we lost (but deserved to win!)