Part 1
Part 2
We bike to Yad Vashem in the morning - it's only about 5 kilometers away from our place. No commets on museum itself.
It's time to go to the Old Quarter though, or we won't be able to reach it before dark.
We get separated on our way, and I end up walking aroung the Old Quarter by myself. It's getting dark.
I walked through the street with souvenir shops, which were exactly as you would find in any other city. One shop really interested me though: it was filled with a bunch of old crap, which I love. The owner was a cool old man who talked some old-man-wisdom to me and gave me a bracelet (I don't really wear jewelry and such, but how could I decline, he was such a nice old man).
Somehow we ended up on the wrong road anyway. Construction was in process, and soon I was behind. And then police appears. Apparently it was prohibited to be on that road on a bike. Oops. I tell them I got there by mistake and can't get out now, so they told me to get behind the fence (to the separated part of the road) and then get off the road as soon as possible.
I reach some construction workers, and, not surpsisingly, they explain to me in Russian how to get off and reach Tel-Aviv using safer roads (turns out that Noga, out Jerusalem host, talked about these roads as very nice and recommended me to take them).
The rest of the way I fell euhoric: these roads are indeed some fine roads featuring great views.
When I reach Tel-Aviv, I have to wait for my couchsurfing host Linor to get back from work so I have a couple of hours to bike around: I ride along the beach to Carmel market (it's not as interesting as the one in Jerusalem) and go back.
I meet Linor and soon his brother stops by for dinner. As Tel-Aviv has many couchsurfing participants, I decided to try a vegeterian. And succeeded. He was also very fond of cooking and cooked some delicious pasta for us.
Most interesting things in traveling are getting to know how locals actually live: their houses, interests, mentality, food. Yeah, sure, various tourist attractions are a part of culture, but it's secondary, it's not important to me. That's why backpackers saying stuff like "so we did [insert city name], and then we did [insert tourist attraction]". Just another way of passive consumption.
Day 17. February 24. Tel-Aviv
Day 18. February 25. Departure
That's it. In the end, despite an unfortunate start, I enjoyed this trip a lot. Israel is a beautiful country and I would love to go back to Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem to spend some more time there.
Part 2
Day 14. February 21. To Jerusalem
So today we made a second attempt to reach Jerusalem. We decided to come to the bus station a bit earlier and try to buy a ticket for the first bus after sabbath. Eilat was still deserted when we arrived. After dark town was supposed to liven up again, but at this point only a couple small shops are working (run by Arabs, who don't care about sabbath).
We learn that there are no tickets left for the first but (which departs at 16:30 and arrives at Jerusalem at 21:30). So we get tickets for the next one (at 19:30, arriving around midnight). Suddenly I have an idea: what if someone doesn't show up? Should we try to wait and get on a bus in this case? I ask around and some Israeli girls tell me that there's definitely a chance, even if there are no seats, drivers often let you ride on the floor.
So we wait around for an hour or so. There are two buses. Some people in the crows are trying to sell their friends' extra tickets. Unfortunately, we already bought outs, so we just wait until all people get in and ask the driver. First one tells us there are no seats and no chance to ride with him, but the second one tells us that if we hurry we can get on his but with our tickets. We run to get our bikes, and the bus takes off. I guess the driver didn't quite understand us and thought that we decided against it. Oh well, so we have to wait for the next one.
We go by the supermarket (it's not clear whether it worked all day that day or if it just opened), get some snacks for the road, and then go to the mall - Slava, my companion, wants to buy some souvenirs for his girlfriend. Then back to the bus station. We put our bikes in the baggage compartment and watch (with some pain) them being covered with bags. Our fault, of course, we should have disassembled them, so they wouldn't take as much place. I guess we didn't expect as many big bags for such a short trip. We are lucky we didn't get any hate from other passengers.
Jerusalem meets us with some snow on the streets. It'c freezing, and we are happy that Noga, our host, lives close to the city center and not far from the bus station. We quickly bike to his house and we are welcomed by several people. Noga is finishing up his master's program and there house is always filled with friends: other students, roommates' friends and couchsurfers. We meet Tamar, an Israeli girl, two Italians (Erica is studying in the Hebrew university and her boyfriend Dimitry recently arrived for an internship as a journalist). Erica offers us some of the best pasta I ever tried (she even had a vegeterian option for me). We have dinner, talk, having a pleasant evening.
We plan to visit a Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, and to walk around the Old Quarter. This is the must-see program we came up with for our one full day in Jerusalem: Slava leaves on 23rd with the rest of the group, and I plan to spend some time in Tel-Aviv (my return ticket is for 25th).
Day 15. February 22. Jerusalem. Yad Vashem. Old Quarter
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We bike to Yad Vashem in the morning - it's only about 5 kilometers away from our place. No commets on museum itself.
On the way back:
We stop by the apartment, have a quick lunch and plan to go by foot to the Old Quarter. There's a market nearby: we try some dates and olives and buy some sweets. Exciting place: spices, bread, fruits, halva...
It's time to go to the Old Quarter though, or we won't be able to reach it before dark.
We get separated on our way, and I end up walking aroung the Old Quarter by myself. It's getting dark.
I walked through the street with souvenir shops, which were exactly as you would find in any other city. One shop really interested me though: it was filled with a bunch of old crap, which I love. The owner was a cool old man who talked some old-man-wisdom to me and gave me a bracelet (I don't really wear jewelry and such, but how could I decline, he was such a nice old man).
There was this famous Wailing Wall thing too. There were people praying. Tourists putting in pieces of paper with their wishes (oh like that would help). Not really interesting stuff.
At night I came home to find Noga by himself, we talked for a bit and then Slava arrived. Noga suggests going to a nearby cafe: they are having a promotion giving away free humus. Free, you say? Let's go. Loving free stuff is international. Italians also show up: Erica will perform in a nearby Abraham hostel (she plays violin). We make a plan to go for hummus and then to the hostel.
As one might expect, hummus was long gone by the time we arrived, so we decide to get some food. It's time for falafel (at least once we should try the local falafel). The stall's owner recognises Dimitry, as he's been there many times already. He treats us to some potato chips. 15 shekels for a falafel in pita.
At night I came home to find Noga by himself, we talked for a bit and then Slava arrived. Noga suggests going to a nearby cafe: they are having a promotion giving away free humus. Free, you say? Let's go. Loving free stuff is international. Italians also show up: Erica will perform in a nearby Abraham hostel (she plays violin). We make a plan to go for hummus and then to the hostel.
As one might expect, hummus was long gone by the time we arrived, so we decide to get some food. It's time for falafel (at least once we should try the local falafel). The stall's owner recognises Dimitry, as he's been there many times already. He treats us to some potato chips. 15 shekels for a falafel in pita.
Then we head to Abraham hostel (the group we were with planned to spend one night there, but they were supposed to be gone at this point). It's a nice place; we go to the common area where there is live music tonight (with Erica joining them). We listen to some music, drink some tea, play kicker.
On our way home we stop by a small cafe located at the nearby market and I try a weird local appetizer which name I don't remember: it's some sory of fatty omelet roll. Tired, we come home.
We need to get up early to make it on time to the airport (it's on the way to my next stop, so we agree to go together).
We need to get up early to make it on time to the airport (it's on the way to my next stop, so we agree to go together).
Day 16. February 23. Reaching Tel-Aviv
Last night Noga recommended us to take another route (not the one we planned), because there are some construction works and the one we were going to take would be slower and a bit dangerous as well. We wake up on time and get on the road.
Last night Noga recommended us to take another route (not the one we planned), because there are some construction works and the one we were going to take would be slower and a bit dangerous as well. We wake up on time and get on the road.
Somehow we ended up on the wrong road anyway. Construction was in process, and soon I was behind. And then police appears. Apparently it was prohibited to be on that road on a bike. Oops. I tell them I got there by mistake and can't get out now, so they told me to get behind the fence (to the separated part of the road) and then get off the road as soon as possible.
I reach some construction workers, and, not surpsisingly, they explain to me in Russian how to get off and reach Tel-Aviv using safer roads (turns out that Noga, out Jerusalem host, talked about these roads as very nice and recommended me to take them).
The rest of the way I fell euhoric: these roads are indeed some fine roads featuring great views.
 |
| Local bike rental service |
When I reach Tel-Aviv, I have to wait for my couchsurfing host Linor to get back from work so I have a couple of hours to bike around: I ride along the beach to Carmel market (it's not as interesting as the one in Jerusalem) and go back.
I meet Linor and soon his brother stops by for dinner. As Tel-Aviv has many couchsurfing participants, I decided to try a vegeterian. And succeeded. He was also very fond of cooking and cooked some delicious pasta for us.
Most interesting things in traveling are getting to know how locals actually live: their houses, interests, mentality, food. Yeah, sure, various tourist attractions are a part of culture, but it's secondary, it's not important to me. That's why backpackers saying stuff like "so we did [insert city name], and then we did [insert tourist attraction]". Just another way of passive consumption.
Today was very relaxed: I went to the seaside again (so many people are runners in Tel-Aviv, well, it's not surprising with such a beautiful place to run...), to the flea market and to the Old Yafo.
We had some dinner, played backgammon (shesh besh they call it, and it turns out there are at least two variations - I only knew one from childhood). Anyway, nice and relaxing evening before departure.
Day 18. February 25. Departure
I needed to head to the airport pretty early in the morning to make it on time. While the forecast predicted some rain for today, it was sunny and the weather was perfect. Very euphoric ride to the airport.
I got there as planned, and didn't hurry disassembling my bike. When I got to the chech-in (I even had online check-in done!) everyone was surprised that apparently I was very late (why I thought I had enough time). I guess I didn't take the country's specificity into account... And I probably seemed weird arriving to the airport not 3 or 4 hours befor flight, with some metal sticks packed in a weird tarp cover.
They asked me some tough questions (tough because it was quite hard to remember some of the stuff they asked about), like, what have you been doing in Malaysia (I was there for like 4 days as a visa run from Thailand), where did you live, whom have you talked to and do you keep in touch? What about Turkey?
Then they took my bicycle away to scan it (it was oversized so they had to take it to a bigger scanner) and after that took their time looking through all the stuff in my carry-on. I barely made it on time! So be sure to allocate enough time for that just in case you seem suspicious and they decide to really take their time with you.
I was still able to get to the boarding gate before the boarding started and had to wait a bit. Then - to the plane. Hello, cold Saint-Petersburg.
I got there as planned, and didn't hurry disassembling my bike. When I got to the chech-in (I even had online check-in done!) everyone was surprised that apparently I was very late (why I thought I had enough time). I guess I didn't take the country's specificity into account... And I probably seemed weird arriving to the airport not 3 or 4 hours befor flight, with some metal sticks packed in a weird tarp cover.
They asked me some tough questions (tough because it was quite hard to remember some of the stuff they asked about), like, what have you been doing in Malaysia (I was there for like 4 days as a visa run from Thailand), where did you live, whom have you talked to and do you keep in touch? What about Turkey?
Then they took my bicycle away to scan it (it was oversized so they had to take it to a bigger scanner) and after that took their time looking through all the stuff in my carry-on. I barely made it on time! So be sure to allocate enough time for that just in case you seem suspicious and they decide to really take their time with you.
I was still able to get to the boarding gate before the boarding started and had to wait a bit. Then - to the plane. Hello, cold Saint-Petersburg.
That's it. In the end, despite an unfortunate start, I enjoyed this trip a lot. Israel is a beautiful country and I would love to go back to Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem to spend some more time there.
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