We're Not In Jordan Anymore...

Hello.

I literally cannot express how frustrated I am.  I have spent all day working on this blog post (I'm not exaggerating) and now it has deleted itself.  I don't know what happened, but I have spent the last ten minutes crying about it, wanting to pull my hair out.  The last thing I want to do right now is write it again, but I am forcing myself to sit down and just do it.

Today was a good day (before all of this happened).  We had an unexpected rest day (but I will get to that later).  Where we last left off, we were leaving Jordan and heading for Israel.  The good news is we made it to Israel, the bad news is, it's definitely not Jordan.  As soon as we crossed the border, we noticed a difference.  Mostly that people here are not very friendly and go about their business withot any regard to the people around them.  Side note to all the people reading this: if you pass by a woman struggling to get a bicycle up a bunch of steps, on a bus, down a ramp etc. HELP HER.   Or at least offer to help her.  It's not like I'm some weakling that can't do anything, but every now and then, the bikes become very cumbersome and a simple helping hand can make all the difference.  Here, people just watch you struggle or pretend you don't exist.  It's not that I dislike Israel.  It has some good qualities.  The road signage is better, there is a much wider array of food options, women are actually considered full members of society-all good things!... but it isn't Jordan.  Oftentimes, Dad and I say phrases like "Yeah, this food is good.  It's not Jordan good, but it's good." or "Yeah, that guy was nice.  I mean he wasn't Jordan nice, but he was nice." and "Wow, it's really beautiful here.  I mean, not Jordan beautiful, but it's ok".  You get the idea.  I can't believe after only nine days in the country, I am feeling homesick for Jordan.  What?  I think the people there had such a uniquely welcoming spirit and I miss their kindness.

Leaving Jordan

Getting to Israel was an ordeal in itself.  Obviously, the relations between Israel and its bordering countries are quite tense, so there were a lot of hoops to jump through.  First, we had to go through three checkpoints on the Jordanian side of the border (checkpoints often included taking the bags off the bikes, letting people search through them, putting them through a scanner and then loading them back up again).  Then, we went through a military zone (where amazingly, there were STILL wild dogs barking at me.  What?), and then eventually we went through the Israeli border which had multiple steps to it.  I think in total we showed our passports 8 times that day.  Crazy.  Anyway, we were happy to make it to the other side. 

At the border crossing

We realized I had a flat tire as soon as we got to through the border.  We just pumped it up a bit because we only had to ride a few kilometers to our motel.  It was called the "Sea Princess Motel" and it was SKET-CHY.  In addition to the fish tank in the lobby, the cigarette butts and broken glass in the yard, and the snoozing dog on the couch, there was a flashing neon blue sign across the street from our room that was on all night just like a James Dean movie from 1956.  Dad loved it, I was just hoping to survive it.  Oh yeah, and there weren't any phones so you couldn't call anyone if you had any complaints.  Fabulous.  Anyway, we ended up getting to the hotel too early to check in, so we left our bags there and rode down to the Red Sea.  We had to pump up the tire again because it went flat (this tire proved to be a complete pain over the past two days).  Eventually, we made it to the coral nature reserve where they have incredible snorkeling.  Dad was in heaven getting to swim in the Red Sea on a hot, sunny day after riding.  He saw about 20 different species of fish and I enjoyed relaxing on the sand.

Happy Camper

The Red Sea

That night, Dad replaced the tire and we went to a food stand for dinner.  We had hamburgers (quite a change from all the Arabic food we had been eating) as well as an Israeli vegetarian dish consisting of fried eggs and spicy tomatoes.  We even had ice cream afterwards! (Score!)  The next day, we were going to be waking up at 5:30 AM to catch a 6:30 AM bus to Masada where we were going to see the famous Masada fortress.  Afterwards, we were going to ride our bikes the 40 km to Arad.  We were not expecting the elevation gain that we encountered, but there are some things you just can't plan for-especially on bike trips.

We got to the bus station bright and early thinking that there wouldn't be that many people on the bus, but we were wrong.  Thankfully, we got there early enough to put the bikes in the bottom with the luggage.  However, it was quite difficult to do so.  Thank goodness all the bystanders gave us some help.  Oh wait, they didn't.  Instead, they just stood there and watched as we struggled. Amazing.  It was interesting to see how many people on the bus were military personel.  It seems the army is everywhere here.  It's crazy to see these 18 or 19 year old girls casually texting on their phone in one hand while they carry a machine gun in the other.  What?!  I think Dad and I saw more machine guns in 20 minutes on the bus than we had seen in our entire lives.  After a three hour bus ride, we made it to Masada,

Masada (the Hebrew word for fortress) is a Jewish icon as it was the last place that the Jewish stronghold against Roman invasion stood.  It is located on the top of a rock cliff at the western end of the Judean desert overlooking the Dead Sea.  In short, King Herod built the fortress as a palace, completely furnished as a place of refuge for him between 31 and 37 BC.  It included enormous cisterns to hold water, storage rooms for food, and a wall around it to protect it from outsiders.  About 75 years after Herod's death, at the beginning of the Jewish revolt against the Romans in 66 AD, a group of Jewish rebels invaded the abandoned fortress and set up camp there.  After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, they were joined by more Jews and their families who had fled from Jerusalem.  There were over 1,000 Jews who lived in the fortress for three years.  However, in 73, the Romans set up camp at the bottom of the Masada and were determined to conquer it.  They built a wall around the fortress so that no one could get out and laid siege to it.  They tried many different ways to break into the fortress, eventually building a massive ramp (out of stones and dirt) and moved a battering ram up the ramp to breach the wall.  When the wall was breached and it was clear that the Jews would have no choice but to be prisoners of war to the Romans, they decided it was better to commit suicide.  The defenders and their families were all dead by the time the Romans got in except for two women.

It is difficult for me to imagine why the Jews felt committing suicide was a better option than entering slavery for another period of time.  However, the words of the Jews' leader, Elazar ben Yair, at the end of the battle when it was clear there was no way out, may better illustrate their point of view:

"Since we long ago resolved never to be servants to the Romans, nor to any other than to God Himself, Who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, the time is now come that obliges us to make that resolution true in practice ...We were the very first that revolted, and we are the last to fight against them; and I cannot but esteem it as a favor that God has granted us, that it is still in our power to die bravely, and in a state of freedom."

View from the top of the fotress (overlooking the Dead Sea)

This was the original paint and columns from Herod's time

One of the large cisterns used for holding water

Synagogue

Remnants of the ramp the Romans built that eventually led to the breaching of the wall

It was pretty cool to see the fortress as it saw a lot of life and death.  This is the second most popular place to visit in Israel after Jerusalem for Jews and Christians alike.  We saw a ton of tour buses there full of Chrstians from the Southern United States.  It was the first time we were around tourists again, and I was reminded of how annoying we can be.  I think there is definitely a difference between Canadians and Americans when traveling.  We were in the cable car with this group of Southerners and they literally could not stop talking.  Not only were they talking loudly, but they were also talking about NOTHING.  I was trying to figure out what the point of their conversations were and then I realized there never WAS a point, they just love to talk.  LOUDLY!  I'm a chatterbox myself, but even I keep quiet in situations where there are other people around trying to enjoy themselves.  Anyway, I got really annoyed. 

At around 12:30 we started cycling.  We knew we were going to have to go all the way down to the Dead Sea again (gag me) and then do some climbing to get to Arad.  Everything was going well until, surprise surprise, my tire went flat.  Dad pumped it up again hoping that it would last for the rest of the way to Arad (it was only about 40 km).  However, 5 minutes later it was flat again.  So, in the blazing sun on the side of the highway, we changed the tire.  Not a great start.

After going 20 km, we had about 26 km left to go.  At this point, the ride had been quite enjoyable.  However, the elevation came fast and hard.  We were walking up and up and up...and up.  It's like you THINK it's coming to an end, and when you turn the corner there's another hill waiting for you.  I think the most discouraging moment was when we had been climbing for a few hours and I finally see a sign that says "Sea Level".  So basically we had made it to "0" by that point and still had a few hundred metres to go.  However, we pushed through for a few hours and just barely made it into town as the sun set. 

Trying to smile while I feel like I'm dying

Camels were the least of my problems...

This was taken about halfway up-we started at the road right by the sea so we had climbed quite a bit!

By the time we got to town, Dad and I were sweaty, exhausted, and looking forward to resting.  However, we could not find the place where we were staying.  Usually, we are staying at a hotel (or motel, rather, let's be honest) but in Arad we were staying in the basement at an elderly couple's house.  This was a little more difficult to find.  We ended up going to the bus station and I used my charm to borrow a guy's phone and call the man we were staying with.  He told us he would come pick us up at the station, and of course I tried to explain that we had bikes but it was a bit of a lost cause.  He showed up and we ended up just following his car to his house.  It was dark, I was tired, and it seemed even his HOUSE was up a hill.  I don't understand it.  Anyway, we made it and I thought it was finally time to relax.

However, when Dad was upstairs checking in, I logged into my e-mail and saw I had a million messages from my mom telling me that my Dad had left his passport at the motel in Eilat.  (Even when she is a thousand miles away, she is still taking care of us).  I immediately tried to go upstairs to tell Dad but I couldn't figure out HOW to get upstairs from this basement for the life of me!  I knew he was probably frantically looking for his passport, but I was literally trapped!  Eventually, the woman came down to set up my bed and I asked her if she could take me upstairs.  She just shook her head and said something in Hebrew.  Awesome.  I just decided to FOLLOW her upstairs and finally got to my dad.  Eventually, we figured out that he would take the bus back to Eilat and we would stay and extra night here in Arad after he returned.  My dad was so frustrated with himself, my heart broke for him a little bit!  I asked him how he felt about things after we'd had dinner and made a plan for the following day.  He said "I just hate making mistakes." and I said "Well, sometimes you have to join the rest of us humans and make one every now and then."

Feeling a little defeated, but he's still got a smile on his face!

Personally, I am thankful that we had this rest day.  I think our bodies needed it.  At least mine did.  Tomorrow, we are headed to Jerusalem where we will stay for four days.  We are going to take the bus to Jerusalem, ride our bikes to Bethlehem and back.  Despite the stressful day we had yesterday and the inconvenience of the passport situation, we are both safe and have a roof over our head so we are grateful!