Into Africa
The Eid festival had left most things closed in Amman, the capital of Jordan, a tame place anway when compared to its northerly neighbour, something I found true of Jordan as a whole, I headed for Isreal and the Palestinian Territories.
Leaving Amman for Jerusalem requires a bit of luck and plenty of 'Inshallas' (.. arabic for God Willing). Theres no transport that manages the whole route in one hit, its a bus to the border, another across the Jordan river between the Jordanian exit point and Israeli entrance and another to Jerusalem. Not the brightest idea to go for this during Eid but a few extra dinar paved the way.
The Israeli border is one of the most secure in the world. There are more than half a dozen stages to get through, including a machine that puffs air at your clothes, many x-ray machines a search and an interview for me at least. The staff are mostly young Isrealis on military service - young and hip 20-somethings with trousers half way down their arses and a gun barrel scraping the ground. Presenting myself for my visa application my Syrian visa earnt a frown and immediate security check. I was hoping for the standard issue 3 month visa I had read about, I got 2 weeks.
Some 3 hours later, I was Jerusalem bound in a modern, european service taxi. Past the settlements on the West Bank and start of the wall around Jerusalem city its difficult to avoid the tensions of Isreal and Palestine, guns this way, walls the other...
Jerusalem, the old city at least, is a tense place. Whereas many cities in the Middle East have a fair selection of different religions in the mix, Jerursalem is the first were their borders are so well defined. The difference between the faces, shops, restaurants and wealth of the Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Armenian quarters of Old Jerusalem are distinct. Turn a street and it all changes.
For religous sites your hard pushed to beat Jerusalem - whether its Judaism, Christianity or Islam. From the wailing wall, the remains of the Jewish 2nd Temple, one of, if not the most important Jewish sites, its a 5 minute walk to the Church of the Holy Sephulchre where Jesus was crucified according to the new testament and then another 5 minutes to the Dome of The Rock where Mohammed ascended to Allah for 40 days and nights. Its a fascinating place historically, but dififcult to escape the tensions, a sense of unease excabated by the forthcoming elections and after 3 or so nights I headed my way back to Jordan and Egpyt, via Aqaba, some 15 km from the Saudi Arabian border.
After a few hours travel on the Gulf of Aqaba's 'speedboat' I had hit the warm weather of Sinai, on the east of Egypt, a traingular shaped, a desolate landscape, sandwiched between the Meditterenean, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Gulf of Suez. Heading for Dahab, following the footsteps and tyre prints of most overland travellers heading south into Africa from Europe. A diving, windsurfing resort on the coast, bikinis, lager, diving and windsurfing - a drastically different place from my 3 or so months in the conservative Middle East.
Fearing the worst of package holiday bound tourists it was good to see little of the sort (bar myself). Peaceful, easy, little hawking, beautiful weather - but absolutely nothing to do, bar diving or windsurfing, and I only had a snorkle. Leaving the bike in Dahab, I headed to Cairo and a whistlestop tour of Egpyt...
Leaving Amman for Jerusalem requires a bit of luck and plenty of 'Inshallas' (.. arabic for God Willing). Theres no transport that manages the whole route in one hit, its a bus to the border, another across the Jordan river between the Jordanian exit point and Israeli entrance and another to Jerusalem. Not the brightest idea to go for this during Eid but a few extra dinar paved the way.
The Israeli border is one of the most secure in the world. There are more than half a dozen stages to get through, including a machine that puffs air at your clothes, many x-ray machines a search and an interview for me at least. The staff are mostly young Isrealis on military service - young and hip 20-somethings with trousers half way down their arses and a gun barrel scraping the ground. Presenting myself for my visa application my Syrian visa earnt a frown and immediate security check. I was hoping for the standard issue 3 month visa I had read about, I got 2 weeks.
Some 3 hours later, I was Jerusalem bound in a modern, european service taxi. Past the settlements on the West Bank and start of the wall around Jerusalem city its difficult to avoid the tensions of Isreal and Palestine, guns this way, walls the other...
Jerusalem, the old city at least, is a tense place. Whereas many cities in the Middle East have a fair selection of different religions in the mix, Jerursalem is the first were their borders are so well defined. The difference between the faces, shops, restaurants and wealth of the Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Armenian quarters of Old Jerusalem are distinct. Turn a street and it all changes.
For religous sites your hard pushed to beat Jerusalem - whether its Judaism, Christianity or Islam. From the wailing wall, the remains of the Jewish 2nd Temple, one of, if not the most important Jewish sites, its a 5 minute walk to the Church of the Holy Sephulchre where Jesus was crucified according to the new testament and then another 5 minutes to the Dome of The Rock where Mohammed ascended to Allah for 40 days and nights. Its a fascinating place historically, but dififcult to escape the tensions, a sense of unease excabated by the forthcoming elections and after 3 or so nights I headed my way back to Jordan and Egpyt, via Aqaba, some 15 km from the Saudi Arabian border.
After a few hours travel on the Gulf of Aqaba's 'speedboat' I had hit the warm weather of Sinai, on the east of Egypt, a traingular shaped, a desolate landscape, sandwiched between the Meditterenean, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Gulf of Suez. Heading for Dahab, following the footsteps and tyre prints of most overland travellers heading south into Africa from Europe. A diving, windsurfing resort on the coast, bikinis, lager, diving and windsurfing - a drastically different place from my 3 or so months in the conservative Middle East.
Fearing the worst of package holiday bound tourists it was good to see little of the sort (bar myself). Peaceful, easy, little hawking, beautiful weather - but absolutely nothing to do, bar diving or windsurfing, and I only had a snorkle. Leaving the bike in Dahab, I headed to Cairo and a whistlestop tour of Egpyt...
Food Market, Jaffa Road - Jerusalem
Bedouin Tents, Aqaba
Gulf of Aqaba
posted by BORIS at 09:50
1 Comments:
Boris, Did you block the toilet in Dahab? Sitting there reading your trashy novels.
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