This seems a little late to write about our trip this year to Israel and Jordan, but over the past 9 months, we have been able to reflect over the trip. The memories keep flooding back about our 2 week stint in the Middle East. I would like to share about our time in Israel first, and then talk about Jordan in a separate post. Two totally different countries and just too much to write about in one post.

All in all, the trip cost us about $4000 for 17 days in both countries with airfare, car rentals for the entire trip, food, excursions, and all the above. Honestly, I was expecting Israel to be slightly cheaper than it was. It had more of San Francisco and New York prices compared to our typical budget traveler destinations. Fortunately, we had budged enough for our travel, and were able to spend about $100 a day to live in country. Also, at the end of the day, we were already there, and we were not going to pass up on seeing Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, or Palestine.

Our first stop was Tel Aviv, and we got in country around 11PM our first night as usual, and crashed in our Airbnb. We woke up, visited some local markets, and got lost for a few hours trying to find the bus station. We then finally caught a bus and made our way over to Jerusalem. The first thing I noticed about Israel is how small it is, how technologically advanced it is, and how much they have jammed packed into one country. Their commerce, trade, businesses, military, were all top notch. Of course you are in the Middle East, but most people who go here understand Israel’s history, and know how protected they have become. We felt safer here that back at home.

Once in Jerusalem, we stayed in the most Orthodox section of the city that one could stay in. Shabbat was soon upon us, and we knew that everything would close down Friday and Saturday night. We were starving so we went to get pizza at a nearby shop. Morgan orders a pizza and what appeared to be sausage pizza. Of course it wasn’t sausage, but was mushroom, and we had our first….. “Oh yeah, they don’t eat that here moment.” We did all the typical things in Jerusalem and the Old City that any tourist or traveler could do. We visited the Jaffa Gate, Tower of David, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, King David’s Tomb, Room of the Last Supper, Dome of the Rock, Western Wall, and walked the Via Dolorosa. There was so much history in one area, in just a few square miles, that it was mind boggling. I noticed so many different people from so many different religions all reacting to these sites in so many different ways. How people responded to seeing these places and historical pieces was very interesting. You could tell that some people had spent all the money they had to visit the spot where Jesus was said to be buried. Jerusalem is one of the greatest historical cities in the world for people to visit, religious or not.

We did get scammed once in Jerusalem when we ate lunch outside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. No prices on the menu= they get to charge whatever they want. A $15 meal turned into a $75 meal. Oh well, it has to happen at least once on the trip. We ended up staying in Jerusalem for 2 nights, and then got a rental car, and traveled over to the Dead Sea area. We finally found the Budget Rental car location around 9 AM in Jerusalem. We told them our route, and where we would return the car. Only rule, don’t drive into Palestine.  Jericho and Bethlehem were off limits. For those who don’t know, Palestine contains the West Bank (bordering Israel and Jordan) and Gaza Strip (bordering Israel and Egypt). The State of Palestine has been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967. Palestinians and Israelis don’t really get along, as well as the Israelis and Jordanians. None the less, there is highway 90 that runs north to south through Palestine, but is Israeli controlled and you can drive on it. Just DON’T get off that road they said. We took highway 90 down to visit the Dead Sea and Masada National Park. We climbed the mountain and took in the sites all around us of desert and history laden mountains. We spent a day in this area, and then drove the car north along the Dead Sea to Tiberius. While on the way to Tiberius, we stopped at the Baptism site in the River Jordan. I wanted to take some water from the Jordan, but all I had was an empty airplane bottle from the plane flight over. I now have some water displayed at our house in a Smirnoff bottle. It was the best that I could do at the time.

Tiberius sits up near the Sea of Galilee. By far, I think this was my favorite part of the country. The scenery, history, and people made it the best. The Sea of Galilee is where Jesus spent most of his ministry, and we got to visit all the major sites. We went to the Mount of Beatitudes (Sermon on the Mount), Capernaum, and Tabgha (where Jesus served the bread and fish). We stayed in a great Airbnb set up on the hillside operated by such a gracious host. She took us horseback riding one evening, and was there to help when we got a flat tire on the side of the road. One of my most memorable mornings was when I drove down to Tiberius and ran 6 miles along the coast of the Sea of Galilee as the sun rose over the water. Very cool and energizing experience.

From Tiberius, we took small day trips to Safed, an artsy town, and also hiked some nearby mountains. From Tiberius we took our car over to Nazareth and spent one day checking out the city. It was not my favorite city, but we at least got to see it. We dropped our rental car off here, and took a bus over to Jordan. I will skip over the Jordan section of the trip, but we did pop out of Jordan and ended our trip in Eilat along the coast of Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. It was in Eilat that we laid out on the beaches overlooking the Red Sea, and relaxed for a few days before returning to Tel Aviv. Eilat is the beach town of Israel where a lot of people go to relax. We drank wine, laid on the beach, and just took it all in. We were a stone’s throw from Egypt and Jordan.

The last part of our Israel trip was spent in Tel Aviv where I ran the Samsung Tel Aviv marathon. It is the largest sporting event in Israel with about 40,000 racers, and starts promptly at 5:30 am almost in the pitch black. It was such a cool event, and the race took us along the coast and through the downtown area. Morgan was of course my biggest cheerleader, and I finished the race in decent time. It was my first time running overseas, and would definitely do it again.  The last day in Tel Aviv, we walked along the coast near Jaffa, ate seafood on the boardwalk and just relaxed. It was time for us to just be in the city and not have any plans. The next morning we flew home.

I would suggest traveling to Israel for anyone who is deeply involved in history and religious events. Wherever you go, there is just a feeling that something big happened in this country. Whether you are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, or other, you feel this.  It is surrounded by so many countries and people that want it destroyed, but yet you feel so safe, and you know that it is a protected land. It was definitely one of the top countries on my list.

Until next time,

David and Morgan