Final Transit

My plane too off the runway and as I watched the land of Israel from my window growing smaller and smaller, I inadvertently found saying to myself:
“येतो मी…” (yeto mee) - An informal ‘good bye’ in Marathi which roughly translates to ‘I shall return.’ *

Sounds melodramatic to me too but if my 20+ blog posts on different travel experiences in Israel were any indicators of how thoroughly I enjoyed that country, the actual feeling was many times more.

Israel is heavily Americanised (obviously) but their style of working is wayy more Eastern. I claim this after having worked with an Israeli company for five months and ofcourse you are welcome with insights. They have about the lowest city crime rates but extremely sensitive borders. The people appear to be rude but infact are simply straightforward. With Jewish immigrants from all over the world, one can never tell what an Israeli looks like. A traveler in Israel is often confused about what the country really is. The more time I spent, the more confused and curious I got

Exiting Israel is tedious. All non Jewish non Israelis are subject to questioning at the time of departure. I was interviewed for forty minutes straight. Repetitive questions are asked and someone had advised me to lie and not disclose details of my backpacking - esp going to West Bank. Thankfully I replied honestly because it is simply impossible to lie and lie again for that long! It is natural to have so much security given how much problems the country is subject to. Once the interrogation was done, they assigned a guy who bypassed all standard airport barriers and took me straight to the immigration. That was cool. The Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv is wi-fi enabled and okay comfortable.

An average Israeli is extremely aware about India. But then don’t forget - there are more Israelis in India than in Israel itself. hahaha, I’m kidding ofcourse. There are very few travelers who travel to Israel on an Indian passport and time and again the security guards simply let me pass without checking, ‘Oh you are from India?’. They added a comment like ‘I am going to India next year’ or ‘Goa is very beautiful’ or ‘Namaste’ etc.

So much still to do in Israel:
- Golan heights: See Syria from the forested mountain top
- Negev Desert: Camp in the beautiful sand and natural formations
- Eilat: It’s more of a romantic place so I won’t go alone
- West Bank: Explore more cities
- Gaza: Whenever possible…

All this shall be done soon *

At Mount of Olives, with Dome of the Rock in the background, Old city of Jerusalem.

°   Here is the link to all travelogs on Israel.
°   Here is the link to the Photo Gallery.

I hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing this travel series. Your comments/critique is solicited and greatly appreciated. I am sure there will be bits and pieces that I will keep writing about.

cheers,
Priyank.

* I will be going back to Israel in the Fall of 2009 for a whole semester at Tel-Aviv University!

Related posts

• Views of new Jerusalem (8)
• Trip to the Holy Land (17)
• The Western Wall (9)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 9 : Beit She’an (25)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 8 : Cycling around Sea of Galilee (26)

Jaffa, western port of the Canaanite empire, 1470 BCE.
Pharaoh Thutmose III sought to regain Egypt’s control over the lands as far as Syria. He presented large baskets full of ‘gifts’ to the governor of Jaffa, an important port city of Canaan. Little did the governor know about armed Egyptian warriors hidden in those baskets.

Jaffa (जाफा, also called Yafo), located south of Tel Aviv, is among the oldest cities in Israel and consequently has a very turbulent and bloody history.

Jaffa port and a Turkish Minaret

History:

Archaeological evidence shows that Jaffa was inhabited some 7,500 BCE, which is really really old It occurred in recorded history only around the time of Canaan’s and was subsequently controlled by various powers - Canaanites, Egyptians, Philistines, Jews, Arabs, Mamluks, Christians, Turks, Napoleon, British etc. (not necessarily in that order!).

In 1947 when the UN plan to divide Israel and Palestine was declared, Jaffa, being a Arab town, was designated as an Arab enclave inside Jewish Israel. Riots followed and in 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the Jews conquered Jaffa. Arab residents fled. In 1954, Tel-Aviv and Jaffa were united under a municipality and Jaffa, or Yafo as it is called today, was converted to a cultural and historical center.

Today, Yafo has a mixed population of the three religions of the book.

Clock tower built in the honor of the Ottoman ruler

Welcome to Jaffa - the place from where I blogged months ago.

Seen in the picture is the clock tower of Jaffa, a monument erected in the first decade of 20th century in honor of the Ottoman Turks. By local standards, this is a brand new structure! In the old days, the clock square served as a welcome plaza to people who arrived to the town. There are markets (called shuk/शूक्) and narrow streets all around.

Guarding the sea port

Tourism:

Parts of the Old City have been renovated, turning Jaffa into a tourist attraction featuring old restored buildings, art galleries, theaters, souvenir shops, restaurants, sidewalk cafes and promenades. Several remodeling projects were underway and I think the government is actively promoting this area as a pleasant drive away from the hustle and bustle of Tel Aviv. Large number of visitors are seen during evenings and weekends, hanging out on the spiraling paths looking over the Mediterranean sea.

A typical alley. An art store appears suddenly in one of those little rooms

The old town itself is a maze of narrow stone streets and buildings. There were expensive cafes, restaurants, art galleries, souvenir shops and even a couple of museums. There are a couple of Churches and chapels, remainants of the Crusader era and a large Mosque that broadcasts a melodious morning azaan.

The Wishing Bridge. Apart from world peace, I wished for lot of money for myself. Neither came true

Doing ‘nothing’ in Jaffa

Since I was very stressed at the end of my travels and work, I simply cooled off for two days and did nothing but hangout on the stone façades soaking the breeze from the sea.

One of my most pleasant memories was having a breakfast in a rundown eatery. It was full of cab drivers are wage workers but the food was heavenly. Simple pita bread, spiced hummus, falafel, fried eggplant and other assorted vegetables. Inspite of having similar kind of food for two weeks, this place somehow remained etched in my memory. I watched people moving stuff in carts and shouting from one end of the street to the other, signaling by hand gestures that the truck can pass. It made a great animation while writing my journal and sipping endless cups of mint tea. Occasionally someone would pass by and say hello. A simple ‘Walikum es salaam‘ reply would bring a wide grin on their faces.

On my last day

Series to be concluded in the next post.

Pictures and slideshow: Tel-Aviv and Yafo Photo Gallery

Related posts

• Views of new Jerusalem (8)
• The Western Wall (9)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 9 : Beit She’an (25)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 8 : Cycling around Sea of Galilee (26)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 7 : Tiberias (20)

“Haifa to work, Jerusalem to pray and Tel Aviv to play.”
That’s what they say!

I was in Tel Aviv (तेल् अवीव्) for 9 whole days! Doing what? Ah, school work, the reason for which I went to Israel in the first place As a result, I was unable to see anything worthwhile in the city other than my hotel and the Tel Aviv University and uh the road commute!

Tel Aviv, seen from Jaffa

Happy New Year 2008!!

I can’t believe it’s October already. I was partying at a club in Tel Aviv while having a glass of Champagne for 10 NIS ($2.5) followed by some bar hopping. The reason I mention this is because it is weird to have champagne in a noisy place, never done that before. My Israeli friends said that I cannot return before seeing the sunrise, and I laughed. I am not 19 anymore but that day was different

Tel Aviv is a party place. The city doesn’t sleep. I walked over with some friends to the beach well past midnight on a Friday night and the place was quite busy. Brazilian drums only make the weekend homecoming from military service more fun. Most Israelis in the 18-22 age group are in the military which is pretty stressful, so imagine their excitement when on break. Needless to say, sex is easily available and Israelis are extremely approachable overall.

The Ha Carmel Market

Ha’Carmel Market
(open everyday except Saturday)

Seen too much touristic stuff? Here is the place where you get to see the real side of Israel. Ha Carmal is a huge bazaar (shuk) with rows and rows of hawkers who put up stands on the street. There are more stores hidden behind those on display in the middle of the road. It makes for an excellent walk - very noisy, smelly and crowded. The market has clothing, footwear in addition to fresh fruits, vegetables, bread, desserts, fish and meat. There are stores that bring spices from Asia and Africa. It is amusing sight to watch women haggle over stuff with the vendors This market is very small compared to an average bazaar in India but still enchanting enough.

Boreka is a Turkish-Bulgarian puffed pastry filled with cheese and potatos (and other fillings). I had fresh ones at a place and they were heavenly. I also bought a bag of assorted candies which have a universal taste.

Vegetable vendor भाजीवाला

Nachalat Binyamin
(open Tuesday and Friday)

Arts, crafts and street performances. Those words are enough to describe Nahalat Binyamin, the artists’ bazaar. Blame me for not carrying enough batteries but I will try to paint a visual image of this place.

A street plaza dotted on both sides with colorful people exhibiting very interesting wares. A painter who drew landscapes, next to him a craftsman who made designs from broken pieces of glass, next was a Guitarist playing Kletzmer music. Suddenly I was stopped by a man dressed excellently like Lord Shiva who said ‘Om’ and left after I handed him two Shekels. An interesting array of delicate jewelery, handicrafts like glass wind chimes, woolen dolls, furniture crafted from bark of a tree, matchstick models of houses and ashtrays shaped like birds.

It is such a pleasure to walk through this market and stop by to appreciate their art. I must have spent a couple of hours picking up souvenirs

So many types of bread!

Safety

I must mention that Israel is one of the most safest places in the world to travel - when talking about petty crimes on the street or problems to tourists. They seem to have only big scale problems - like wars and bombings.

Unlike Peru or Russia (hearsay), policemen are invisible in Israel. Except at places where you expect them - bus and train stations, entrance to the university, and ofcourse the border checkpoints with West Bank. I haven’t been to Gaza because it was risky (almost prohibited) for tourists to enter that area. While in Israel, there were rocket attacks and retaliation and stuff like that which is seen as ‘normal’. Security largely depends on intelligence reports and is tightened if required.

Market Street, Ha’Carmel Shuk

Neighborhoods

Tel Aviv streets are great for walking - since I did not go to the crowded downtown area. I loved especially the area around Allenby and Rothschild streets. That is an area with a young population and consequently has good places to eat, have coffee and drink. My hotel was on the beach close to the Tel Aviv port - now remodeled to an entertainment block. A walk along the sea is always pleasurable. I understand that to the reader this may make no sense oops.

Candy!

Bene Israelis

The Jewish community living in Maharashtra, India, predominantly the Konkan coast are known as Bene Israelis. Most of them have emigrated to Israel but they maintain a strong link to their roots, including annual India festival, danceforms (lavni, kathak etc) and even a quarterly publication (मायबोली). They speak Judæo-Marathi (जुदाव मराठी) which is Marathi characterized by a few loanwords from Hebrew and Aramaic.

I had the pleasure of visiting a Marathi Jewish family for dinner. It was indeed a pleasure to have a delicious traditional meal - with खोब-याची चटणी, पुरी, बटाट्याची भाजी, उसळ, श्रीखंड (some traditional foods of Maharashtra). And little did I imagine that I would be speaking Marathi in Israel !

A हलवाअी and his Desserts! मीठाअी. Ask for a free sample!

Tel Aviv is like any other international city. It has both, upscale and fancy - and rundown and boring areas. The airport is located about 30 minutes from downtown and is conveniently connected by comfortable train. The city is served by a very good bus network called Dan.

Blue blue Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is very beautiful. In December-January it was OK cold and I saw people swimming. Tel Aviv beach is very long and beautiful. There is a nice promenade along the coast that leads straight up to Jaffa, the old port town. I will be heading there next, my last stop.

Pictures and slideshow: Tel-Aviv and Yafo Photo Gallery

Related posts

• Views of new Jerusalem (8)
• The Western Wall (9)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 9 : Beit She’an (25)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 8 : Cycling around Sea of Galilee (26)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 7 : Tiberias (20)

After having first, second, third, fourth and fifth post about the old city of Jerusalem, here are some views of the new city from the old city.

View from the citadel of David

Jerusalem (जेरुसलेम) is the capital of Israel and also the largest city in the country. Located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern tip of the Dead Sea, modern Jerusalem has grown up outside the Old City. The history of the city goes back to 4th century BCE, making it one of the oldest cities in the world.

View from the citadel of David

The city is full of hills and dry valleys and a crisscross road drive is interesting. It is about an hour’s drive from Tel Aviv, takes little less to reach the airport and half-hour away from the dead sea. Going to Palestinian areas such as Bethlehem or Ramallah or Jerico is facilitated by an Arab bus network that connects these places to the city. The rest of Israel is also well connected since Jerusalem lies more or less at the center of the country.

View from the citadel of David

Jerusalem stone is a name applied to a family of pale limestone, dolomite and dolomitic limestone, common in and around Jerusalem, that have been used in building since ancient times. The city looks very ‘pale’.

Typical houses, pale Jerusalem stone

Jerusalem is considerably conservative compared to Tel Aviv - be it the shutdown on Shabbat or the presence of night life. Ofcourse if you want to know, you would know of the right places to go My interaction was limited mostly to the old city and I did not venture out to explore the new city.

As I wrote in my Peru travelog, something should be left unseen for the next visit

Chaos on the street

Pictures and slideshow: Jerusalem Photo Gallery

Related posts

• The Western Wall (9)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 9 : Beit She’an (25)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 8 : Cycling around Sea of Galilee (26)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 7 : Tiberias (20)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 6 : Old City of Jerusalem (17)

Kotel - the Western Wall. Looks like just another wall. But really?

Magic of the Kotel: Narration of my first hand experience at the Western wall on a Shabbat day.

The western wall is a Jewish religious site in the Jewish Quarter of the old city of Jerusalem. The wall itself dates from the end of the Second Temple period, being constructed around 19 BCE. It is often referred to as the Wailing Wall, in connection with Jewish practice of coming to the site to mourn the destruction of the Holy Temple.

The disputes over the wall date back to the destruction and not until the 6-day war of 1967 did the Jews get an unrestricted access to the Wall. Even today, there are numerous disputes, the latest one erupted in 2004 when a stairway was being built to approach the Temple mount, which falls on the ‘other’ side of the wall, i.e. Muslim Quarter. Wikipedia has a fantastic blurb on the history of this place.

Kotel at night. Orthodox Jews dress in black

Why is it called The Wailing wall?
In Judaism, the Western Wall is venerated as the sole remnant of the Holy Temple that stood here. It is actually a remnant of the Herodian retaining wall that once enclosed and supported the Second Temple. It has also been called the “Wailing Wall” by European observers because for centuries Jews have gathered here to lament the loss of their temple.

Praying:
It is thought by Jews to be the most sacred of places, because the temple itself was thought to be the place where God resides on earth. Praying at the Wailing Wall signifies being in the presence of the Divine. Jews from all countries, and as well as tourists of other religious backgrounds, come to pray at the wall, where it is said one immediately has the “ear of god.” There is a much publicised practice of placing slips of paper containing written prayers into the crevices of the Wall. It’s as if the Buddhist prayer flags that carry the prayers all around.

Kotel during the day

Since I already wrote an intimate personal experience at this place, this post is mostly informative. Here I am reproducing a snippet.

[...]It was a sea of people at the Western Wall plaza, predominantly dressed in black. Honestly, I hadn’t seen so many people at the same time since I left India about a year back. I was also a little shocked to see many young soldiers with huge guns at the entrance, a sight so ubiquitous in Israel that I didn’t notice it after a few days![...]

[...]This was the wall whose pictures had mesmerized me for months, and finally I was standing right in front of it. Ok what should I do now?

Nothing complicated, I did what anyone else would do – touch the wall. I was picturing a bolt of divine energy zapping into me or me getting transformed suddenly to some other dimension, but (alas) nothing such happened.[...]

People praying at the Synagogue attached to he Western Wall

Western Wall Tunnels:
The Western Wall Tunnel is an underground tunnel exposing the Western Wall in its full length. The tunnel is adjacent to the Western Wall and is located under buildings of the Old City. A free tour can be booked via the Kotel tunnels website. It is very heartening to see the profound history of this place, excavated as early as 1987. The kotel tunnels tour is highly recommended for anyone who wishes to understand the wall closely.

A soldier and a civilian: Mourning / Praying at the Wailing wall

Visitors:
The Western wall is situated very much in the Old city (see map here.)

Visitors of all religions are welcome to approach the Wall and to pray silently beside it. Men who would like to go to the wall must wear a hat or take a free head covering (kippah) from a box beside the entrance to the prayer area. I don’t know the requirements for women but I would presume that they are expected to dress conservatively. Pictures cannot be taken on Shabbat day (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) but a shabbath experience at the Kotel is highly recommended. I visited this wall on three separate occasions and I would love to go there again. The whole place has a buzz of energy about it.

View of the Kotel plaza from the path that spirals up to the Dome of the Rock

This post concludes my travels in the Old city of Jerusalem - one city, three faiths. You might be (I was completely) surprised at how closely the religious structures of these Abrahamic religions are located to each other inside the old city. There is a battering religious environment everywhere you go

Pictures and slideshow: Jerusalem Photo Gallery

Related posts

• Views of new Jerusalem (8)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 9 : Beit She’an (25)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 8 : Cycling around Sea of Galilee (26)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 7 : Tiberias (20)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 6 : Old City of Jerusalem (17)