The previous day – and my last post – had been cold & rainy in Tel Aviv, which, during the summer, is warm and has great beaches. Next time I visit it’ll be summer – hot, not cold, and I’ll spend more time at the beach. And, God(s?) willing, there will be no killing! Please, peace!

But here I was, so off I went. Several suggested destinations in mind, camera in phone in hand, I started with the “old cemetery” near my hotel. Ah, the humanity – and that one cool bird…

Then, I walked to the Carmel Market, top of the local “to do” lists. In contrast to Jerusalem, a holy land pilgrimage site, Tel Aviv is more of a city, with a bit of the gritty – like the cops rousting a homeless guy, an actual fight I witnessed in the market, and unlike religious Jerusalem, more secular sexiness.

Carmel Market was bustling & crowded, with lots to buy, or to eat, or both. So, take a look…

I walked through the whole thing and kept going to the Neve Tzedek neighborhood, then turned left and walked the length of Rothschild Boulevard. Lots of art, and politics, and tragedies to be overcome, and other stuff, found everywhere…

After a long day walking, punctuated by cafe breaks, I stopped by Kikar Dizengoff on my way back to the hotel and took these pix of a large memorial to the hostages taken on October 7th. Not coincidentally, it’s right near Hostage Square, where the next day three hostages came home.

Next, I popped over to Mike’s Place for some dinner, took in the kite surfers, and on the way back took that pic of the US Embassy which caused me to be stopped and interrogated. No problem. (Arresting model from a magazine in my hotel room.)

Next day…

As I am departing Tel Aviv on this 8th of February 2025, three hostages are being released by Hamas and, according to CNN, hundreds are gathering at Hostage Square, which is near where I was walking yesterday. Sadly, some of their family members were killed and they are not in good shape. Israel is returning over 100 Palestinian prisoners in exchange. And the backdrop is Netanyahu’s visit to Trump, $7B in weapons for Israel, and Trump’s audacious suggestion that the US take over and transform Gaza. Ah, to live in interesting times.

Shift?

Indulge me in this whacky idea… I occasionally tell a joke which I call racist, but is not, yet does engage some cultural stereotypes. It goes like this: Heaven is where the Germans are the mechanics, the British are the police, the Italians are the cooks, the French are the lovers, and it’s all run by the Swiss. Hell is where the French are the mechanics, the Germans are the police, the British are the cooks, the Swiss are the lovers, and its all run by the Italians. Truth and/or consequences?

I used that as a heuristic to find out about the cultural stereotypes of the Middle East. My Jordanian guide Adnan suggested that the Egyptians were the builders, the Syrians were the techs, but also maybe the Iraqis (once upon a time), the Lebanese were the lovers, the Saudis and/or the Kuwaitis were the businessmen, something about the Iranians I can’t remember, but he wasn’t sure about the Turks, the Jordanians, the Emiratees, Qataris, etc. He did not love my suggestion that it should all be run by the Israelis, and offered the Omanis instead.

However, it occurs to me that the Middle East would do well to at least let the Israelis be advisors, or the brains behind the power structures. Think about the fact that as stewards of Jerusalem they support multiple religions, including and especially Islam. Consider the Nobel Prize. Unlike Muslims and Christians, Jews do not proselytize. They’re actually pretty laid back, or would like to be. But when it comes to surviving in the desert, or in a hostile neighborhood, they rock. Of course, that’ll never happen, but we can exercise our imaginations, no? The world is a tragedy to those who feel, a comedy to those who think. Think more, laugh more – hate less, get laid back! Lots more to this nuanced & fraught discussion. Care to engage?

The same driver, Itzik/Isaac, who picked me up at the Israeli border and took me to Jerusalem, then took me to Tel Aviv, also took me to the airport. Each time we had a good conversation. This batch has dawn breaking through a dirty (salty) window, more on the hostages – including one released today – and views of Mount Olympus? etc…

Because I had a long layover in Rome, I spent the night at the Hotel Tiber (which provided a nice shuttle service from and to the Leonardo da Vinci airport) and had a great walk and a good dinner in Fiumicino.

From the plane – some Alps, etc…

Back home in La Honda CA, with some turkey courtship on my return bike ride, and another one of Mary Lynn’s excellent music productions at LHE…

Closing credits blooper reel?

Something’s wrong with my video downloads and only my time lapses seem to work. Unfair enough, I’ll close this post with some of the quick clips from my 2025 trip to the Middle East…

I’m only home for three weeks before my next trip. Unless…?

I had booked two more tours, but both were canceled (Bethlehem & Jericho and Masada & the Dead Sea). The former for safety reasons, the latter for rain/flooding reasons, but both because there are not enough other tourists. So, I was on my own to explore, and I did want to see more of Jerusalem…

My YMCA Three Arches Hotel is right across the street from the King David Hotel, infamously bombed in 1946, so I checked it out. Then, my waitress from the previous evening had suggested I see the Mishkenot Sha’ananim neighborhood, so I did. On the way, I encountered the Montefiore Windmill. Voila…

Next, I went back to the Old City to visit the Tower of David Museum. Lots of great interactive displays, an interesting layout, and some contemporary art…

I can imagine redoing my Old City tour several times, just to comprehend it all, but I settled for going back to the Christian Churches, perhaps the more complex manifestations of a religion, what with the varieties and all? I started with the Ethiopian Coptics, but then went to the massive echoing cistern beneath the Queen Helen Church. (BTW, Helena was Constantine’s Mom and was she the reason he converted the Roman Empire to Christianity?)

Then, I went back to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, to meditate with the jackhammers, and contemplate some art. I was particularly drawn to Calvary and the Tomb of Jesus and spent some time there. The ceilings of the former are quite compelling. Neither the rich history nor the poor spirits visited me or my imagination, secular nothing that I am.

Eventually, I left the Old City and took a ride on the light rail to the end point and back – an interesting view of the city and commuters. It was raining, sometimes furiously, so rather than explore more, I groceried back to the hotel and went to bed early.

The second cancelation allowed me to go to Tel Aviv a bit earlier…

My driver, Itzik/Isaac, thought the buses here at the beginning of this batch might be Palestinian terrorists being exchanged for Israeli hostages since they were escorted by military police!? And the poster with the faces shows those hostages, and in both cities one can find the phrase “Bring them home now” refering to the on-going crisis that started on October 7, 2023.

The rest of this batch is me walking south on a distinctly lousy beach day (blustery cold) in Tel Aviv to Old Jaffa. There were some intrepid surfers trying to make sense of some chaotic waves, and lots of views. (Gotta come back in the summer!)

Old Jaffa is particularly cool, lots of history, similar to the Old City, but with a funky art scene as well…

More of Old Jaffa and a nice sunset. (Didn’t see/get the floating orange tree?) What about Uri Geller, or his Museum? Enjoy…

I’ve only got one more day before heading home, but this is more than enough for a post.

I’ll conclude this adventure from home… (?)

I know, there’s a war going on in Gaza and the Israel/Palestine situation is hostile, but I’ve been drawn to Jerusalem, a city that has been at a crossroad of the world for millennia, and when I saw how close it was to where our tour ended in Jordon, how could I not go? I’m an intrepid explorer even when I’m not on an Intrepid tour! More love, less fear!

I also like being guided, so I booked transportation, hotels, and a couple tours with Tourist Israel, and it has gone swimmingly. Of course, we drove an extra two hours to get to a more swim-worthy border crossing (albeit there was a bridge over the Jordan river), and the Israeli security was super-tight. But the guys with the machine guns were nice, and I had great conversations with both my Jordanian and Israeli drivers. More on the differences later!

This first batch shows a bit of the border crossing, the fences separating Palestine from Israel on the West Bank, my Israeli driver Isaac, a Bedouin encampment just outside the city, and my hotel, where I love to stay, at the YMCA!

In fact, the YMCA Three Arches Hotel is a beautiful building and great location. I went for a stroll around town, dipped into the old city, had a great dinner at Mojo, and took in some night life…

The next morning before 8:00, I walked to another hotel to meet my Jerusalem walking tour guide, Omer. As it turned out, it was a private tour, the only other prospective customer had cancelled. Great for me, not for the tourism business, but Israelis seem not so concerned.

This first batch starts at the Jaffa Gate, an entrance to the Old City. Note the stickers on these two doors commemorating those killed on or since the Hamas attack on October 7th. We first went to the Jewish Quarter where there is a great display explaining the history.

Interestingly, the mosaic map on the floor of the church in Madaba, which I had just been in (and is under reconstruction), is key in understanding the geography of the region. Note the other mosaic images depicting life in Jerusalem. Consider that the current restorations started after 1967…!

Most of this batch is of, from, or around the Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. (BTW, we actually started in the Armenian Quarter and some of those pix are mixed into these first batches.)

Next, we went to the Western (Wailing) Wall. Lots of history, lots of prayers. Note the bits of paper tucked in the cracks. Note the division between men and women. Note the books nearby. Note the rest of this batch…

From there, we headed to the Christian Quarter. This batch shows some of the streets (alleyways), including the Via Dolorosa, which features several spots in Jesus’s route to his crucifixion. Note my hand on the stone where Jesus put his hand, then thousands of others for many years. Note Veronica! And there’s a lot more as we eventually made it to the actual churches…

Friends, ya need to read the details. (Thousands of years to different religious traditions!) I’ll just summarize what’s here. First we went to the Ethiopian Coptic church (underfunded). Then we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which has various chapels, features, and artwork. It is under a long and arduous refurbishment, the dust and drilling not providing the most spiritual ambiance, but still a profound place of pilgrimage. Note the many crosses carved into the walls by generations of pilgrims over hundreds of years.

One can only go to the Temple Mount, next to (part of) the Muslim Quarter during certain hours – not prayer times. So we walked quickly back to there to visit the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque. Ironically (& historically) one gets another view of the Western Wall when walking the ramp up to the Temple Mount…

Here’s the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock. Interestingly, since the current leadership in Israel is religiously conservative, they’re allowing Jews to pray to their destroyed temple from the other side of the Temple Mount. Apparently, this was not allowed before, and Omer was somewhat uncomfortable with the situation. He had said that the area at the Western Wall, adjacent to the Temple Mount is the most volatile place in the Old City.

After leaving the Temple Mount, we left the Old City and headed out into the rest of Jerusalem walking up Jaffa Street to the Mahane Yehuda Market (AKA the Shuk), dipping into some neighborhood common areas along the way. This batch starts out with an artistic depiction of Jerusalem as the center of the world, it also has some soldiers doing a scavenger hunt, and some street art…

It was a long day, walking one of the world’s most fraught and fascinating places. The history, the religions, the conflicts, my aching feet – oy vey. I went and did some of it again the next day, but this is enough for now.

May peace come to the Middle East. May all our prayers be answered. And may you stay tuned for more randomvail…

Amen!

After two days of hiking all over Petra, our group was quiet on the bus ride to Kerak Castle. an ancient fortress made more of during the Crusades. Thus, much of what you see dates back to the 12th century and before. The last shot in this batch are three Islamic students from the Philippines interested in discussing religion, so we did…

Kerak Castle featured great views from three sides, in addition to all the accoutrement necessary to survive two years of seige, which it did at least once in its long history…

We pressed on, eventually driving north along the eastern shore of the Dead Sea – the lowest point on Earth (over 400 metres below sea level). We stopped at the Dead Sea Resort to go for a swim and give ourselves a mud bath. However, you can’t really swim in the Dead Sea. The ridiculous salt content (10x that of the oceans) causes incredible buoyancy and one just floats. You can swim, sort of, but getting the water in your mouth, or especially in your eyes, is very unpleasant. I know. After a thorough rinsing and refreshment, we motored on to Madaba, stopping briefly for a pitch about Dead Sea skin care products..

This batch starts with random shots out the window of the bus, shows the royal patriarchs of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and various views of our Dead Sea experience…

Our hotel in Madaba was great, and the next morning we set off for the ancient (Greek) Roman (Ottoman) city of Jerash. It features theaters, a hippodrome, numerous temples, roads, shops, and monuments – variously sacked, abandoned, and repurposed over the centuries. A sprawling archaeological site, it needs more love from UNESCO…

More views of Jerash…

Second only to Petra as a most visited site in Jordan, Jerash could take days to explore. We did our best in three hours…

At some point we needed lunch (with the royal family?)…

After lunch, we went to Mt. Nebo, a pilgrimage site due to its affiliation with Moses, and another reason why our hotel (and Madaba in general) is called Mosaic City…

Speaking of mosaics, of course we visited a workshop (and giftshop) that continues to make mosaics (among many other souvenirs)…

Our final stop on another long day of siteseeing was the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George that features an ancient map of the Middle East. In fact, the site was under reconstruction and renovation…

Again, photos from my. fellow travelers in our WhatsApp group chat…

That evening we had our farewell dinner at an interesting restaurant inside one of the oldest buildings in Madaba…

Thus ended another Intrepid tour – but not my trip to the Middle East!

…?…!…

Petra is considered one of the newer wonders of the world. Compared to the Pyramids, perhaps it is more recent, but it harkens back hundreds of years before the Common Era, has a fascinating history, and is vast. One sees the images of the Treasury or the Monastery, perhaps not realizing that they are far apart and surrounded by centuries of hundreds of other carvings – temples, tombs, artwork, and caves for habitation – in a region that would be remarkable if only for the fascinating rock formations!

However, before we got there we stopped to check out an old train that harkens back (only) to the time of Lawrence of Arabia. Note the difference between first class and coach! This batch also includes some pix from a Google Maps screen shot, a roadside souvenir shop, a delicious sandwich, and more, etc…

This batch shows our first views of Petra and the surrounding area, and our tour guide Adnan droppin’ some knowledge – and there’s a lot to know. My fellow travelers insist that the last photo is not of a fossil because these rocks predate life on Earth! But hey…?

One of the best parts of visiting Petra is walking through the Siq, an ancient serpentine canyon, before arriving at the Treasury. In addition to the water system running along the side, the siq also has a variety of carvings (can you find the camel and the man?)…

After walking two kilometers from the entrance at the Visitor’s Center, one arrives at the Treasury, a comparatively well preserved carving in stone. The history is complex, but one should at least know about the Nabataeans, the people who initially built Petra over centuries, but abandoned the region after an earthquake in the fourth century AD (CE), leaving the area unoccupied for over 1000 years.

Interestingly, the columns testify to the influence of ancient Greece & Rome, although this was not always understood by the Bedouins who discovered the area later. Wrongly thinking the place was made by Egyptians, they raided the tombs looking for treasure.

The pictures at the end of this batch represent the work of David Roberts…

Going beyond the iconic Treasury, one becomes astounded at the quantity of other carvings – tombs, temples, theater, and more – that can be found throughout the area…

This next batch focuses on the Byzantine Church at Petra featuring ancient mosaic floors, and a bit more…

Again, thanks to our WhatsApp group, I’ve got a very random batch of pix taken by my fellow travelers…

The next day was completely free to go back and explore more of Petra. However, exhausted from the previous day, I got a late start and went first to the Petra Museum, right next to the entrance…

This time, to save my legs & feet – but still getting some exercise – I rode a horse for the first kilometer, then walked the Siq again to the Treasury and beyond. I went past the large temple to the base of the trail to the Monastery, and after a coffee, I hired a mule to ride up on. Note the swirling sandstone rock formations – a theme that will continue…

The mule ride helped somewhat in preserving my energy, but of course there were moments of terror when “Shakira” walked on the very edge of a wall. Nonetheless, I made it to the monastery intact, met some of our group, and walked further to the very top of the hill. The donkey at the bottom of this batch brayed loudly from his majestic spot in a huge temple near the top and across from the monastery.

This next batch shows the view from the top, and that donkey again. I gave it some water, and wished it luck. You can see a corinthian capital tucked into a niche there, as well as the main alter inside that temple.

I also encountered a Bedouin shop keeper and bought a lil’ sumpin’ from her.

BTW, the swirling sandstone beneath the “best place in Jordan” was the ceiling of that temple at the top! Lots of pix of the view from a mule…

Then, I rode Shakira back down (led by her owner/handler Audi), I had some refreshment at the bottom, then contracted with Audi and his buddy to ride a different mule, “Tequila,” up to the “High Place of Sacrifice” at the top of Jabal al-Madhbah featuring two obelisks, and a sacrificial temple.

On the way, my phone screen went dark and I fiddled with it from the back of my mule and inadvertently triggered the SOS emergency notification protocol. My new buddies fixed my phone and I texted Mary Lynn and Nancy (my emergency contacts) that all was well, it was a false alarm.

However, that didn’t happen right away and ML went into action in the dead of night in California calling the London office of Intrepid, who in turn contacted Adnan, our tour leader. Meanwhile, my mule bros had left me to walk up the rest of the very steep way on my own.

At some point I encountered a very random Bedouin family having tea under a rock. They summonsed me because Dad needed a charge from my power pack. So, I obliged, letting him plug in while I continued to turn down offers to sit and have some tea. (I had goals, and had to call Adnan.)

Then, my phone rang, the Intrepid rep wanting to know if I was OK. He overheard the Bedouins speaking Arabic and asked to speak to them. I gave my phone to the Dad, and he had a long conversation, about what I’m not sure. But the guy was assured that I was in fact OK. What a moment!

Then, having hiked to the very top of the High Place of Sacrifice, I encountered another Bedouin “shop” keeper and bought a lil’ sumpin’ from her too, and we had a long conversation.

While spectacular scenery dominates this batch, meaningful encounters with kind people make it one my most memorable in Jordan so far…

After that adventure, I made it back to the valley floor, then checked out some of the Royal Tombs, before meeting a few of the group at the Cave Bar for some well-earned refreshment.

This last batch ends at our dinner spot. After two rigorous days walking around Petra – and still not seeing all of it – I was spent, exhausted, and almost getting sick. I slept…

The next morning, we left Petra, and went…where?

Find out soon…