I love roadtrip!!!
Unfortunately, we were returning our car at Aqaba, the border town, as we were crossing over to Israel.
Thankful to PY who guided us for the past 2 days.
Landscape of Petra.
Petra is hiding inside the gorge in the center.
Closeup view of Petra's Landscape.
The Siq is the one at the center.
Aqaba town (Jordan), which looks a bit like California with its palm trees.
Sitting under the warm sun and drinking a hot chocolate in Winter.
That's happiness!
Bye Jordan!!!
First sign of Israel - Hebrew and Israeli Flag
It was nice of them to provide trolley between the terminals. And somehow, I found the walk from Jordan to Israel to be exciting. In fact, the idea of stepping onto the land of Israel excites me.
Hello Israel!!
I love the Peace Sign on the left.
Instead of having the arrival stamp on my passport, I requested to have the stamp on the sheet of immigration paper as seen above. Having an Israeli stamp in my passport would be troublesome in the future, as it may cause unnecessary trouble if I want to enter Muslim countries like Malaysia & Indonesia. In fact, Malaysians are not allowed to enter Israel (it is explicitly written in their passports).
The security check at the Israeli custom is quite thorough - Metal Detector Scan, Bag Scan & Bio-hazard Test. The Isreali custom also went through my passport to check if I entered into any unfriendly territories. We saw a group of Singaporeans studying at Oxford were held back, as a few of them toured Lebanon & Syria prior to Israel. Having a Singapore passport and being a non-muslim does help. And interestingly, photos of international political leaders were hang in the custom (e.g. Bill Clinton shaking hands with Israeli leader), not sure if the implicit message is that Israel is supported by USA.
The impression of Israeli was formed immediately when we were haggling with the cab-drivers. My impression of Israelis is aggressive and straightforward. (Yup, I know that my sample size is small.)
The next impression: Efficiency!!!
Bus Schedule and Vacancies are displayed, and credit cards are accepted.
Eilat (Beach town of Israel)
This place reminds of California!! Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, Venice Beach. We were delighted to spend 2 hours exploring the town. In fact, I do not mind spending 1 or 2 days chilling out in this town. What a pleasant surprise!
Beach and the Red Sea (The Water is clear and not cold).
Civilian Attire with M16 Rifle (with loaded magazines)
We were quite surprised to see this, but after sometime, it was such a common sight that we were quite used to it. It just shows that Israel is prepared for war anytime anywhere.
Ordering Fast Food with a M16 Rifle
Kippah - traditional head-dress
Another common sight in Israel (esp. Jerusalem)
When the bus arrived in Jerusalem in the evening, I thought I went back to the past. I saw lotsa people seemingly wearing medieval clothings - tall hat, black outfit, long side hair for guys, a full black dress for ladies. It was actually the ultra-orthodox Jews' outfit. I have never seen anything like that, and I think it is very cool. The feeling of seeing and learning new things is awesome.
Alley of the Old City in Jerusalem.
Love the cobble street!
Nice!
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