Post-Birthright Day 11: Red Sea to Jerusalem

I started the day in Petra, Jordan, spent most of it in Eilat, Israel, and ended it in Jerusalem. I traversed desert landscapes, drank Arabic coffee in the middle of nowhere on the side of the road with the Jordanian Bedouins, had my passport checked more than once by the Jordanian police, shopped in a morning Israeli market and learned how to say the number "four" in Hebrew after getting it shouted at me by several parties, swam in a coral reef, drove past the Dead Sea for the umpteenth time (it's like an old friend at this point), and caught the tail end of a Challah baking in the holy city. I will treat the rest of this entry like a photojournal, and let the captions do what little talking the photos still need, but it was a whirlwind of a day to be sure.

My cab driver from Petra to the border stopped to show me views over Wadi Araba and offer me cigarettes, which I politely refused, explaining in broken English and hand motions that I was a saxophone player and did not smoke, but didn't mind that he did.

Typical Jordanian road scene - mountains, desert, and a camel crossing sign. We stopped at that tiny shack-looking structure in the distance for some Arabic coffee - sketchy as all get-out, but I trusted the driver, and it was the best coffee I have ever had in my life.

After a lengthy border crossing where I had to list everyone I'd ever met in Israel and fully recount my dealings in Jordan, and after checking my luggage at the bus station, I wandered the Eilat market. After considering some jewelry and browsing the skirts, I settled for purchasing a few oranges for breakfast and eating them by the water, looking out at the mountains I'd just come from.

After walking the beach most of the way to the Egyptian border (stopping for a breather at the Dolphin Reef and getting hit on by the Israeli ticket-taker), I stopped at the Coral Nature Reserve, where I spent the afternoon.

I rented some snorkel gear and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and diving down into the coral reef. Eilat's reef is the northernmost coral reef in the world, and it was beautiful.

A view of the top of the reef from the dock, looking back at a hotel outcropping, and wayyyy beyond/behind it (where the mountains are), the main city of Eilat where I'd started walking.

More vivid picture of the reef, looking out towards Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

I didn't have an underwater camera, so here are some photos I found on Google Images that are most representative of how I remember it.

I didn't have an underwater camera, so here are some photos I found on Google Images that are most representative of how I remember it.

I didn't have an underwater camera, so here are some photos I found on Google Images that are most representative of how I remember it - I actually saw one of these! It's a lionfish.

My bus journey started at sunset, so most of it was spent in the dark and hence, no photos. The moon reflecting off the Dead Sea was beautiful, though.  I made it back in to Jerusalem, and after a long struggle with my luggage back in to the old city in the rain, I was back at the Heritage House. The madrichot were disappointed I wasn't there for their exciting Shabbaton weekend, but were nonetheless happy to see me, and included me in wrapping up the evening's festivities of reading a poem about baking Challah and taking some pictures. None of the guests staying there were ones that had been there when I'd left at the beginning of the week, but it was still nice to relax in what felt like home, sharing stories with other travelers and seeing the hosts again. I had the entire downstairs to myself as well, which was lonely, but nice because I didn't have to abide by lights-out or curfew and could organize and prepare for my next segment without disturbing anyone.

Me and travelers at the Heritage House with the Challah they'd made that afternoon. The girl in the middle next to me is Chana, who recently made Aliyah from Germany and is a madricha at the Heritage House. Photo taken by Shira, another madricha.

The next few posts will be about the highlight of my entire Holy Land experience: four magical days (including a Shabbas) in Tsfat!

As always, I do not include all (or even close to all) of my photos here in my blog.  To see all my photos from my post-Birthright travels, see my Flickr album:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtashalocke/sets/72157628990457609/