My own private crusade-tour is over for this time and after walking through several security checkpoints, flew over a trigger happy Turkey and Ukraine I’m now sitting at Riga airport and even if I’m not home yet I dare to say that I survived this trip too. Trying to summarize the trip it feels like Tel Aviv is the shit if you wanna go out and party. The beach is fantastic and located in the middle of the city and nightlife is awesome but for people like me who easily gets bored of hanging on the beach and the club life Jerusalem is an better option.
Jerusalem is always up to something, sometimes good and sometimes bad but there is always something happening. Its here I were escorted out of the neighborhood by some ultra orthodox jews because “We don’t like people like you”. Its here, in this tiny area you find tons of sacred places for both Islam, Christianity and Judaism and you can really feel the tension between them. The contrast from one neighborhood to another is like different worlds and as a European you cal always backtrack your countries history here.
The winner is however Jordan, so beautiful nature, great good, friendly people makes me wanna go back and explore more of this kind a unknown country. A big plus is that their police/border control does not call you terrorist just because you are traveling alone. Petra may be a tourist trap but with some common sense thats not a problem, most people accepts an no and I really recommend to go there to see this wonder of the world.
Some statistics from the trip
- Hostel costs from €15/night and up
- Food is cheap and cost from €4 and up, I would really recommend the street food like
Dede(?) which looks like a pancake with toppings
Sabish which is a pita filled with egg, eggplant and vegetables
Falafel and hummus, always good and so cheap if you stay out of the tourist traps - I walked around 20 000 steps per day, top day was 35 000 steps
- To be able to leave Israel I had to go through four security checkpoints with seperate interviews on each, x-ray scanning of me and my luggage, scanning for explosives on my luggage and clothes and I dont know what. Its totally worth it but if you plan to go to Israel, go with a clean passport and if you traveling by yourself, be prepared to be random selected.