So Eilat......Eilat. Eilat. Eilat. Eilat was not our favourite city. But, to be fair, we came to it from an absolute highlight of the trip, Mitzpe Ramon and the Succah Ba Midbar where we enjoyed the wilderness, the stars at night, a vegetarian retreat, and the wonders of the desert. And then we plunged into this loud, touristy, 24/7 resort town with all the trimmings of any such place. The first day there we went to the coral reef reserve where we rented snorkeling equipment. In our, oh so Canadian way, we inquired about the cleanliness of the the mouthpieces. We were assured that all clients returning equipment are required to dip their mouth pieces into a special cleansing bath next to the front desk. We stepped outside, and the first thing we saw was a not-so-hygienic looking man washing his feet in said “cleansing bath”. We headed straight to the washrooms and we each thoroughly cleaned our mouthpieces with warm soapy water! After the cleaning fest we headed out into the sparkling blue waters of the Red Sea where we snorkeled for a couple of hours, admiring the coral and the gorgeous fish. It was really fun to swim together as a family, pointing out various things to each other as we went along.
The next day we took a tour to Petra, Jordan - the ancient Nabataean city carved out of a soft stone canyon. Crossing the border into Jordan was an event unto itself. We were given all kinds of instructions from the Israelis: you can’t bring any food or water with you, your tour guide will be in cahoots with the horse and camel handlers and will try to get you to pay for things that are already included in the price, etc. As it turned out, we brought food and water in, and our tour guide did not try to get us to pay for any extras! More on the actual border crossing: the oddest part of the whole thing was that we handed in our passports to the Israelis who gave us some stamped piece of paper. Then, with no instruction, we were left to walk across this 500 meter, fenced-in, no-man’s-land between the two countries. On the other side, we went through security a second time, and had our passports stamped up some more.
After a brief and very boring tour of Aqaba, Jordan (where they pointed out various hotels, most of which are still under construction, and one of which is considered a “six star hotel” - whatever that means) we headed off to Petra through some amazing desert terrain. Along the way, we stopped at a truck stop where we peed in real middle eastern toilets: two foot rests and a hole in the ground + a spray nozzle to tidy up afterward. We also had outstanding Arab coffee - they put cardamom in it, and it is so good. After the stop Aaron decided to use the toilet on our bus (mostly out of curiosity), unfortunately he proceeded to get stuck in the washroom and we had to get the driver to stop the bus and he and the tour guide worked for several minutes on freeing Aaron. Ultimately it was Aaron himself who worked the lock and got the door open!
When we arrived in Petra we got a very good, low key Bedouin guide named Madji, who toured us around the place. At the outset there was a bit of an altercation between Madji and one of the horse handlers who offers rides down the last 800 meters through the canyon and to the entrance to the city itself. No one on our tour opted to go by horse, and as a result, one of the horse handlers started yelling at Madji in Arabic. The only word we could glean from his tirade was “Arba”, the number 4. We all figured he was saying something like this: You schmuck! You promised me at least 4 of these suckers would ride my horses! ......or words to that effect.
We walked down to Petra through this amazing canyon, while Madji explained how the Nabataeans figured out a way to bring water down to their city through these extensive clay water pipes that they carved into the canyon walls. We learned about their gods and some of their rites, although much of this is still speculation as there are many questions remaining about this ancient people.
The last major site we visited while in Eilat was a hike in the Red Canyon as well as taking out kayaks in the laguna. Both were low key, but fun activities. Of note, the Canyon was completely deserted, so we wondered if everybody else knew something we didn’t about the Canyon. We emerged unscathed, had an amazing meal in a Pan Asian restaurant called Ginger, and headed off a bit late for bed. Little did we know that Thursday night would be party night in Eilat and that the “Sport Hotel” across the Laguna, would be blasting loud Arab/Israeli pop music and shouting over the mic until 4:30 in the morning. Noah and Aviva were finally able to fall asleep after midnight by moving themselves onto the floor in the hall of our apartment, Diane fell asleep around 2:00 on the living room couch; Rob was only able to fall asleep after the very last performer closed the show at 4:30 in the morning......and Aaron slept through it all.
We drove straight from Eilat to Tel Aviv the next day; traversing a huge swathe of desert, and transitioning into farm land as we got further north. We dumped our car at the airport and took a cab to our apartment. About where we’re staying: we are on the fourth floor in this amazing penthouse right in the heart of the city in a very funky neighbourhood. Also staying with us in our place are Bubu and Schnitzel, the owner’s cats. They spend most of their time on the roof outside, petrified of us, and we have worried on several occasions that Schnitzel had died due to dehydration. Another of our responsibilities is to care for his plants. Every morning Rob or Diane send Aviva out to the roof top garden, watering can in hand, to water the marijuana plants. Yes....you read it right, our landlord has a number of marijuana plants that he is licensed to have in his garden. Why? Because he is a film maker working on a documentary about the medicinal uses of marijuana. His film will air in early October in Israel and through the process of making the film, he has become quite involved in advocating for the medicinal use of marijuana in Israel to treat a number of medical disorders. He now also attends medical conferences, and brings the plants along for demonstration purposes.
Here in Tel Aviv we have visited with family and friends, dined amazingly well, and enjoyed the sites and sounds of the city. We saw our family friends, the Bar Selas for a delicious Friday night dinner and a 21st Birthday party; we are now in the 4th generation of a friendship that dates back to Budapest!. We spent shabbat with the Kofetz family; Rob’s dad’s cousin’s family. Michael (Rob’s dad’s cousin) and his wife, Sarah, made a huge feast for us. Once again, we have a long history with them also dating back to Budapest. A theme here. While there, Sarah told a story about when Rob visited them when he spent the summer in Israel at the age of 19. Apparently while waiting for the bus, he had taken off his shirt. Once he got on the bus, someone told him in Hebrew to put his shirt back on, at which point he claimed not to speak Hebrew (ah, the recklessness of youth).
The next day we rented bikes and rode all over Tel Aviv and to Jaffa. It’s a very bikeable city, and they have done a lot in the last few years to create bike lanes that are safe - a good thing given that you take your life in your hands when you go on the roads here....and that’s in a car. As per our experience in the past, the bike rental guy was able to give us an outstanding dinner recommendation (a place called “Sheila’s”) when we returned our bikes to him.
Yesterday we hung out at the beach. We took two chaise longes and an umbrella. At some point Aviva and Diane were approached by a guy who asked them in Hebrew to pay for the spot, at which point they claimed not to speak Hebrew (sound familiar?). Unfortunately this time the guy spoke English....so we told him we had no money and he went away.
Last night our family friend, Yoram Barsela took us to Mini Israel, a reproduction of much of Israel’s major sites and regions, but 25 times smaller than the real thing. It was the perfect way to wind down this amazing trip, as we saw so many of the places we had been to. After, we went to Abu Gosh for incredible, authentic Lebanese food.
Today we went to an arts and crafts market here in the city and we are now heading out for our last dinner. Tomorrow we fly out!!
Love RANAD.
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