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For 12 years, booking-tours.com has been helping travelers find their way when it comes to Israel, Jordan, and other Middle Eastern destinations — places I know a little something about, as longtime readers of this blog may recall
Being serenaded in Arabic by a blind man playing the oud in a Jordanian desert was not a memory I ever suspected I’d make.
Two final activities awaited us on the last full-fledged day of #Israel2016, the first of which was a trip to the Orchard of Abraham's Children in Jaffa. The Orchard is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 2011 by Ihab and Ora Balha; its primary mission is to create a sense of community and connectedness between Israelis and Palestinians.
Due to scheduling snafus and the fluidity of our schedule in general, we were able to drive back toward Masada this morning and climb the beast in much better weather (only in the 70s this time around). To do so, we left the hotel in Jerusalem right around 5:30 AM and made our way southeast for about an hour and a half into the Judaean Desert where Herod the Great's solitary fortress stands.
Today began on a somber note with a visit to Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust remembrance center. We were given audio tour guide devices and headphones, and then let loose to examine the exhibits in the Holocaust History Museum — one portion of Yad Vashem — at our own pace.
As opposed to the previous day, Day 14 was chock full of sightseeing and activities. In the morning we set out with our ever-faithful, ever-trumpet-toting tour guide Yair to the Mount of Olives, where a grand view of the city of Jerusalem can be enjoyed by the eyeballs. The Mount of Olives, named as such due to the olive groves that in times past graced its slopes, is, according to the Acts of the Apostles, the place where Jesus ascended into Heaven forty days after he rose from the dead.
In a word (or two), Day 13 was low key. The agenda called for climbing Masada in the morning, but, as expected, the heat kept us from attempting to do so. Instead we spent about a half hour at the Masada Museum in Memory of Yigael Yadin — an Israeli archaeologist whose many finds are on display, such as ancient water/wine jugs and some exceedingly-vintage coinage.
We awoke before the crack of dawn today, at which time the temperature was mild — only in the 80s — in Aqaba. By the time we'd arrived at the Israeli-Jordanian border, it was easily over 100 degrees. Such intense heat makes it a bit difficult to do anything outdoors, which is why it proved advantageous that a visit to the Dead Sea — the lowest point on Earth — was the only real activity on today's docket.
Our Jordanian tour guide, Mustache — whose real name is Isam — rendezvoused with us at the Captain's Hotel this morning, tearing, I imagine, into one of the made-in-front-of-you omelettes that the chefs were serving up (I know I did). Isam is privy to vast amounts of knowledge regarding the history of the Kingdom of Jordan; it spills from his lips and over the speaker system on the tour bus during our rides along the desert highways, much to the chagrin of those of us who would prefer to catch up on some sleep while we are traveling.
For probably the past year, I have been following an account on Instagram called "Visit Jordan" and the place I see featured the most is the one in the image above: the ancient city of Petra. It's made appearances in films like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Mummy Returns (2001), and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) — and it is truly something to see in person.
We rose relatively early this morning to ship out from Nazareth and undergo the comprehensive security measures at the Israel-Jordan border crossing. There were lines to be waited in, passports to be stamped, luggage to be x-rayed, and metal detectors to be walked through; when all was said and done, a little more than an hour had gone by before we'd climbed onto the new bus along with our new tour guide in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Today was our final day in the city of Nazareth, and we began by walking to the Municipal Center to have a word with Tareq. Sitting in a classroom typically reserved for the training of city tour guides like Yair, Tareq spoke about the importance of religious tourism.
Day 7 began with a trip to the mayor's office in Nazareth. Ali Salam became the mayor of Israel's largest Arab city two years ago, after serving as deputy mayor for just about two decades. With Raji — another one of our guides — translating, Mayor Salam welcomed us to Nazareth and gave a brief overview of the kinds of work he does, and what he hopes to accomplish.
Today was the big one, the Mini Mondial (Mini World Cup) put on by PeacePlayers International in the city of Herzliya. The soccer tournament is held annually to help foster peace between Israeli and Palestinian children, centered around the idea that sport can bring people together. The kids are placed on teams made up of both Israelis and Palestinians and get to know each other by participating in weekly and monthly activities leading up to the main event.
It was a hot one today, folks. Despite that fact, sightseeing was in full force, beginning with a short excursion from the hotel to Mount Precipice, alternately known as Mount of the Leap of the Lord. Situated slightly outside the city of Nazareth, the locals believe it is the place where Jesus escaped a crowd of ruffians that tried to push him over the edge. Though I was not familiar with the story, it is apparently mentioned in Luke 4:29-30, for those interested.
We hit up two aesthetically-pleasing sites along the Israeli coast today. Stop number one was Caesarea, the ancient port established by Herod the Great, that little rascal who purportedly wanted baby Jesus dead so that he wouldn't be usurped as "King of the Jews" (obvs. things didn't quite work out like he'd hoped).
The Museum of the Jewish People was the first thing on today's agenda. Notable among the exhibits focused around the Jewish Diaspora (in my opinion) was the section that covered Jews living on the African continent — perhaps something that wouldn't normally cross your mind.
Though it was a beach day/day to get acclimated, myself and others did a lot of walking. We walked down the promenade at Tel Aviv Yafo Beach to get to a nice spot in the sand; we walked further to stop at a coffee shop called Aroma (which has this splendid little frozen coffee drink); and then we walked even further to the city's port, a commercial and entertainment district, where we found a charming park with miniature zip line included.
I landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday, May 4, right around 3:40 PM local time (which is to say 8:40 AM in Michigan). As I glanced at signs and advertisements posted along the walls of the airport, it was quite clear that I wasn't in Kansas anymore.
There are 17 countries (including the partially-recognized state of Palestine) that are typically categorized as part of the Middle East, and while some areas are dangerous for travelers, there are also many, many places that would be worthy of any travel bucket list.