Middle East Adventure …….. Jordan & Israel by Car

ABOUT THIS TRIP: 13 – 28 October, 2017 –
Nancy had Petra near the top of her “Must See” list so it was kind of the cornerstone for our trip. We felt as long as we were so close by, we should go and visit Israel and the Holy Land. We checked a number of tours and found they went some of the places we wanted to go and many more we had no interest in. I did some research on driving in Jordan and Israel, VISA requirements, and traveling alone and found it was not all that difficult to do. We could rent cars in both countries but could not take one across the border so we rented one in each country. Both Jordan and Israel allowed us, as U.S. citizens, to buy visitor’s Visa’s at the entry point to the country. There is an exception to that at the Allenby bridge but we didn’t go that way so it was not a problem. We made our plane reservations, worked out a travel plan, booked hotels where we planned to stay, rented cars in each country and we were set.

– Air Travel: We did not want to backtrack so we booked a Multiple city ticket flying into Amman, and departing Tel Aviv to go back to the states. There were a number of selections available so we just picked out the times we wanted to arrive and depart. We usually use an on-line search and booking system like KAYAK to find and buy our tickets, or will book directly with the airline we want to use.

– Visa’s: We flew into Amman and purchased Visitor’s Visa’s at the airport Immigration site. They accept only Jordanian currency or Credit cards so be prepared to either exchange some money right as you get there or use a credit card.

– CARS, Guidance, and Communications: We had booked a rental car through a U.S. rental company. **If you are making a long trip make sure you get unlimited mileage. As we could not take our Jordanian rental across the border we planned to turn it in at our last destination in Jordan, Aqaba. There were rental car counters in both Aqaba and Eilat, Israel so we dropped off the Jordanian car, took a taxi to the border, walked across at the Wadi Araba Border Crossing, brought our Israeli Visa’s at the Israeli immigration point, caught a taxi into Eilat and our rental car company. We picked up our rental in Eilat and drove it for the rest of the trip, leaving it at the airport in Tel Aviv. Be aware there is not a great deal of GPS maps available in Israel so we used a WiFi Hotspot and our iPads for guidance. We were able to purchase a Garman map for our NUVI for Jordan and it worked fine. As always with maps, there is a mix of languages so don’t get confused. We did download a generic map for our NUVI that did work in the GPS for Israel but it was spotty so we backed everything up with the hotspot and google maps. We did not have a telephone during this trip. We relied on WiFi signals along the way in restaurants, coffee shops, malls, and hotels as well as using our rental car Hotspotfor updating our email, making adjustments to reservations, etc. … worked well.

**A note about driving. When we rent cars they are usually small compacts that are maneuverable, fuel efficient, and don’t stand out. We very seldom have troubles with local people. On this trip, in Jordan, there were groups of single males, mostly young, that would hang out on corners and watch, or make comments. Once they attempted to stop us by stepping out in front of us. I tried my best but was unable to run any of them over … they are quick little buggers. Bottom line, stay alert, avoid crowds, don’t draw attention to yourself.

Hotels: We try to stay in 4 star type hotels. When we can’t find chains brand hotels we know and like we use Booking.com to find the rest of them. We prefer booking.com as you do not pay until you are eye to eye with the hotel management and you can negotiate problems directly. We seldom have significant problems with hotels as English is spoken in nearly every hotel in the world and by staying with the better brands have avoided unpleasantness.

THE TRIP: This was our initial itinerary:

13 & 14 October, 2017 – We departed Tampa enroute to Amman, Jordan via Frankfurt, Germany. We picked an 8 hour layover in Frankfurt and took a train from the airport downtown to the city center. Saturday is market day in Frankfurt and the down town area is delightful to visit. Having lived in Germany for many years we enjoyed rediscovering the firsts, wine, beer and atmosphere. We took the train back to the airport and caught a late night flight to Amman. The stop also broke up the many hours spent in an airplane making the trip.

15 Oct – We arrived in Amman at 2 A.M., got our Visa’s, picked up our luggage, cleared customs, and picked up our car. We got to our Hotel in downtown Amman in an hour or so, checked in and bagged five or six hours of much needed sleep.h

We got up in late morning, had some coffee and set off for our first destination; Jerash. Jerash is located about 30 miles north of Amman. We drove there experiencing the local traffic, scenery, and environment … WOW, we were in Jordan. Jerash is a very well presented ruin of an ancient civilization established around 100 BCE and destroyed around 800 CE by several earthquakes. Most of the ruins are left from the Roman culture that lived there last. There still is a Jerash, Jordan but it is a regular city, the remain or ruins is what you want to see … very interesting and a great deal of visible history. Back to Amman late in the day, dinner, and a good night’s sleep.

16 Oct: – Checked out of our hotel in Amman and started South, destination Petra. Before getting seriously on our way to Petra we did a side trip to Mt Nebo where Moses is buried and is the sight of the location where Moses and the Israelites first saw the promised land. There were a couple interesting churches and museums in nearby Madaba that we stopped in at. If you want to know more details about these places I recommend Googling them and reading about them. That has to be more interesting and much more accurate than what I can write about. If we didn’t find them interesting, I usually don’t mention them.

**There are two major ways to get from Amman to Petra. The Kings Highway and Highway 15. Highway 15 is fast and cuts through the desert, has many trucks, passes a number of towns and cities. The Kings Highway passes through many small towns, meanders through market places, residential areas, and city centers. The Kings Highway is definitely more interesting but also more frustrating to drive but, in my opinion, worth the effort. Along the way you will encounter the Grand canyon of Jordan (quite impressive).

The Grand Canyon

Many medieval fortresses left from the Crusades, numerous towns, and lots of people and local color. In spite of all the activity and things to see we still made it to Petra by late afternoon. Whew!! Driving is okay but requires close attention as the locals do not hesitate to walk into the rode, right of way rules are loosely interpreted, and road signs are sometimes obscure and often in a foreign language. I should clear up that it is safe and a little patience and a good GPS coupled with an expert navigator will get you where ever you want to go. Nancy is awesome with maps and frequently argues with the GPS. 😋 … and she is usually right! We arrived early enough in the afternoon to do some reconnoitering around Petra and found they had a special lighting ceremony in Petra that evening. We bought tickets, then went to our hotel, had dinner, and caught a taxi back to Petra (I wasn’t ready to do nighttime navigation yet!) If you get a chance to see the lighting ceremony I would recommend it. Any time you go into Petra you can walk or hire a horse, horse cart, or camel to ride in on. We walked … got the kinks out of our legs from driving all day. Great walk, wonderful show.

17 Oct: Had a good breakfast and went to Petra. Petra is a very interesting place. An ancient civilization came out of the desert and carved many very impressive stone fronts to rooms, tops, temps, and government buildings into the face of sheer rock cliffs that formed a narrow canyon. The red rock, the depth and width of the canyon, and the size of the buildings are incredible.

We spent the entire day at Petra and walked our tootsies off but had a great time. If you can, I recommend walking (make sure you have good hiking shoes) but anytime you get tired there is a dude near by ready to sell you a ride on a camel, cart, donkey, or horse. We made it all the way up to the Monastery which is a healthy climb, lots of steps and great views. Recommend the Philadelphia Beer at the rest center in the middle of Petra. Petra is a truly amazing place to see and spend some time at. If you are ever passing through Jordan, don’t pass it by. Get more details and pictures on Google.

18 OCT: Left Petra and headed Southeast toward Wadi Rum. Wadi Rum is a large National Park in the desert that features huge rock outcrops, long stretches of desert, blowing sand dunes, camels, sheep, and history. It is quite large and you cannot drive around in it. We stopped at the entrance visitors center and book a 2 to 3 hour guided tour in a four wheel drive pick-up truck driven by a local guide. Our guide was friendly, knowledgeable, and spoke very good English. We even got him to display a little sense of humor before we finished. Another “Don’t Miss’ and defiantly do a tour. We found the three hours was sufficiently long and had a great time. Longer, and shorter, tours are offered as well as groupies.

An exciting place to see. Caravans used to stop here on the way to Petra hundreds and hundreds of years ago. The colors, sand, rocks, and cliffs are astounding to see.

We left Wadi Rum and continued South to Aquba where we checked into our hotel and turned in our rental. Our hotel was on the Red Sea so we spent the evening at the hotel having dinner and enjoying the evening watch the people on the beach, the sun setting, and people enjoying themselves.

19 OCT: This was a big day for us. I had studied this maneuver carefully and while I was sure it would work, you never know. So, we got up early, had breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and grabbed a cab to the Wadi Araba Border Crossing about 15 miles north of our Hotel. We got out of the cab and walked with our suitcases in tow to the Jordanian border where we were processed out. We then walked, by ourselves, about a 150 yards across an empty “No Man’s Land” to reach the Israeli border station. The signs were clear and we followed the directions they provided. We went through Israeli immigration and got our visitor’s VISA (Israel provides a little slip of paper to carry in your passport vice stamping it), went through Israeli customs and walked out to the exit gate. A pleasant young lady there checked our paperwork, said we were good to go, and asked if she could call a cab for us. We said “yes”, she did, and 5 minutes later we were in a cab heading to Eilat. Israel where our rental car was waiting for us. It went smooth as silk. No problems, no misunderstandings, both the Jordanian and Israeli officials were professional and courteous. … Whew!!

We got our car, Nancy got some Shekels from a bank ATM, we figured out how to navigate with a hotspot, phone, and iPad, and we were on our way North into Israel. Israel is a dramatic change from Jordan. Jordan is mostly desert with towns and cities. Israel is Farms, Co-ops, industries, towns, stops, cities, and a lot more. You don’t find anyone standing around, everyone is busy doing something, going somewhere, whatever … no loitering …. and the country shows it.

We went North to the Dead Sea. An amazing body of water that is the lowest spot on earth, 400 plus meters below sea level. It is so salty there are chunks of salt floating in it. There are a number of resorts on the Israeli side of the Dead Sea that are quite nice … we drove through them but did not spend any time there.

We left the Dead sea and drove South and West of Masada to a town named Arad. We stayed there overnight because we wanted to climb Masada from the West side where the Roman Ramp was built the next morning on the shady side of the mountain. (Google the very interesting story story of Masada). There is a lift and path on the East side but that’s where all the tourists go so we went to the west side. Masada is a story of Israeli heroes who stood off the Romans for years. The walk up the ramp is steep but not too difficult. Walking around on the top is extremely interesting. There are information points throughout the top identifying what you are looking at, showing pictures of what things would have looked like when Masada was there. A DO NOT MISS.

We spent the remainder of the day in Arad, found a place to have dinner, drove around a little. Interesting place.

**A caution when visiting Israel, especially in the country. Saturday is the Sabath (Holy Day, Day of Rest), they don’t play around … they shut down from sunset Friday night to sunset Saturday. Make sure you ask about this regarding your hotel and where you plan to eat.

After Dinner we met a very nice couple from Paris who were occupying the room next to ours. They were both Surgeons and on a holiday. We sat in the evening cool, looking out over the desert, talked about where we had been in Israel and where we were going, had some wine … a great way to end the big day.

20 Oct: Up and at’em again. Off we went heading East to Jerusalem. Many more people, more traffic, bigger roads but we got to Jerusalem in early afternoon, checked into our hotel, and walked to the Old Walled City of Jerusalem. We walked around a bit, found a place that had great pizza and cold beer, had dinner and went back to the hotel. We booked a tour to Bethlehem and Jericho in the Palestinian region before we went to bed through our hotel. We were not able to drive in the Palestinian region so tours were the only way to get there.

** A personal note regarding the Old Walled City of Jerusalem. It is located in the near middle of Jerusalem (the modern city) and is surrounded by a large wall (duh) but is dramatically different from the modern city. Within the walls Jerusalem is a vast network of alleys, shops, streets, churches, places to eat and drink, steps, gates, and tunnels. It is divided into four quarters but has no boundaries within, just different gates for entry. It is crowded with people of many different faiths, ethnic backgrounds and races, as well as vendors and tour guides. If you go there looking for a religious experience you must really focus on what is motivating your search. The crowds, the vendors, the cars … all detract from the religious setting one might expect. I do not refute the religious events that have occurred in this city, only caution a traveler that it is easily seen as more commercial than religious.

21 Oct: We went back to spend the day in Old Jerusalem. We did all four quarters, the Holy Sepulcher, the Wailing Wall, a thousand gift shops, several restaurants, the Via Dolorosa (The Way of the Cross) and spent some time in New Jerusalem on the Israeli side … great train system, modern, great restaurants, busy people. We saw people praying and weeping on the Holy Sepulcher, eating nearly any type food you can name, people praying at the Wailing Wall, tour guides leading bus loads of people, churches from at least four different faiths, church groups, student groups, and a lot of worn out people. Definitely worth seeing, fighting the crowds, avoiding the vendors and leaving knowing you have been to Old Jerusalem.

A Corner of the Wall

The Wailing Wall (Far back side)

People Praying at the Wailing Wall

Dome of the Rock

Gethsemane (Where the Garden was)

The Way of The Cross

One of the Stations on the Way of the Cross

An Alley in the Old City

The Marble Slab Upon Which Jesus’ Body Was Prepared for Burial

People lined up entering the Tomb

Aahh .. A Well Earned Break!!

Part of The Wall … The Damascus Gate

The Light Rail in Jerusalem ( Great way to get around)

The City Market

Great Humus

There are countless things to see in Jerusalem. One thing not to miss is the Holocaust Museum … extremely well done, informative, and moving. Jerusalem itself is a Vibrant city with many interesting places and things to see. It is a great place to stay that is in the center of most of the things to see in Israel. We stayed at a small boutique hotel just a couple blocks from Old Jerusalem, a couple blocks from the light rail, and a block from a main street that had oodles of restaurants, souvenir shops, ethnic foods, art shops, … The Hotel Malka, Great place, nice people.

22 Oct: Having wore our legs off up to the knees yesterday, today is a good day to take a bus tour. As I mentioned, we could not drive into Palestine so the bus tour seemed to be a good option. When you book tours you must be aware that many tour operators combine their tour with others and essentially “Sell” you to a larger tour operator. Also when you book tours you should be aware that tours take you where they want to take you, on their schedule. So it was with this tour. What started out as a tour with “about a dozen people” we ended up on a large bus with maybe 40 or 50 people. We booked a tour to Bethlehem and Jericho and that is what we got. We were picked up at O’dark thirty in a small van that went to 4 or 5 other pick up points. Then we went to this area that had big buses, little buses, vans, and taxis. We were told to be at a certain station point at 9 O’clock, where we could get something to eat or drink, and where the bathrooms were. As it was still well before 8 we just hung out. Buses, vans, and taxis were dropping people off from all over the place. When we finally boarded the bus at 9 our reason for not taking bug tours was justified when one of the group on the bus asked where the bathroom was and would everyone please wait till they got back. … Then a dozen other people had to use the bathroom so waited an additional 30 minutes till that was all taken care of. Finally we were on our way to Bethlehem to see where Jesus was born and later to Jericho where some really bad horns torn down walls. First stop, was at a church that was out in the hills where shepherds tended their flocks. The church was built over a cave that was supposed to be like the one that the Shepard’s who saw the star were in while tending their sheep when Jesus was born. Interesting. Next stop, and most important to the tour operator, was at a large souvenir shop that offered “exceptional deals”. Hmmm. The goods sold at this store were the same goods you could buy nearly anywhere in the Jerusalem area. Consequently, everyone got off the bus, did a quick walk about, and got back on the bus. However, a handful of people continued to shop, chat with the owners, and generally waste every one’s time for the next 45 minutes … and everyone else just wanted to go see where Jesus was born. Finally we started again. We were on our way to the Church of the Nativity … The church was originally commissioned in 327 CE by Constantine the Great and his mother Helena on the site that was traditionally considered to be the birthplace of Jesus.

Chapel of the Shepard’s

Inside of the Church of the Nativity (Restoration
has been ongoing for a number of years.)

Fresco’s being restored on Pillars in the church

An Icon in the Church

Long line waiting to enter Tunnel

Entrance to the tunnel that goes under the Alter
and to the cave where Jesus was born

Actual place where Jesus was born .. A Silver Star on the Spot

The Road to Jericho

A Shepard tending his flocking the desert

Looking East to Jordan … Mt Nebo (Jordan) in the
background Dead Sea in the middle

Digs in Jericho

Jericho (No Walls … They all tumbled down a long time ago!)

This is the sycamore tree Zachaeus ran ahead and climbed along Jesus’ path … Really, It is!

Entrance to Jericho

Okay … So we left Jericho and rode back to Jerusalem, mostly in the dark. A long day but interesting. I would not recommend a bus tour like this, if at all possible keep the group as small as you can and make sure you understand the itinerary and schedule BEFORE you buy it. But wait!! The trip was not over. Our bus driver started getting phone calls on the way back and our guide go off the bus before we got back to Jerusalem … said it was where he had parked his car. As we approached the city the driver pulled into a large parking lot and announced everyone would have to get off the bus and find their own way back to their hotels!! It seems there were some demonstrations in Jerusalem and the police had shut off all highways into the city. The driver was not able to help much as he spoke little English but pointed to a light rail station across the way and indicated we should catch that back to the city. Guess what??? Yup, when we got to the station, the rail too had been shut down. We know the light rail went near our hotel so we just started following the light rail tracks … we didn’t really know where we were or how far we had to go, just that walking was the only way we were going to get there. Turned out it was only a couple miles … in the dark … and ironically, through the area with the demonstrations … Hmmm. Anyhow, that was the end of a long day, a lousy tour, but we got to see what we wanted to see in Palestine. Had a great Pizza for dinner and got a good night’s sleep.

If I sound skeptical, it is not because I was not impressed with the opportunity to visit the Holy Land and to see the actual places where Christianity was born. The disappointing part of the entire place is how over commercialized it is. You really loose the opportunity to “feel” the region. However, it is the only place on earth where these sites are so ….

23 Oct: We spent the day exploring the Current City of Jerusalem. Beautiful place. Decorated streets, murals, busy pleasant people. Had a great time … Visited the Holocaust Museum by taking the light rail out to it, the city market, half way back to the hotel, and some restaurants. Great day to recover and enjoy ourselves.

24 Oct: Got up early, recovered our car, and left Jerusalem. We are off to the region of Galilee. Driving out of Jerusalem towards the Sea of Galilee is like going back in time. The roads narrow, the villages become more “Rural” and everything kind of slows down. We reached the Sea and drove south the very tip of it where the River Jordan flows from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. It is at the very start that John the Baptist baptized Jesus.

Entrance to Site on the Jordan River where Jesus was Baptized

A Church Group Doing Baptisms in The Jordan

We then drove north along the Sea, through Tiberius to the town of Caparnaum where the Apostle Peter came from. There is a lovely church there in a very pleasant setting. Traveling along the shore we went past the site where Jesus performed the miracle of the Fishes and Loaves, preached the beatitudes, and spent most of his ministry years. The West side of the Sea of Galilee is very picturesque, with trees, flowers, and sea side parks. A pleasant change from the crowded streets of Jerusalem.

St Peter

Looking Down onto The Sea of Galilee

We spent the night in a small boutique hotel, The Way Inn, in Tsfat. Tsfat is a artsy kind of town located in the mountains. The Way Inn was a pleasant place to stay with easy walking to restaurants, galleries, and shopping.

25 Oct: After an excellent breakfast at The Way Inn we continued our journey West … destination Acre, headquarters for a number of Christian Crusades. Acre is right on the Mediterranean Sea, and served a a harbor and port for sailing ships bringing Ccrusaders and supplies to the holy land. It hosts a very well cared for and interesting museum and an impressive fortress that has been there for centuries. For a small fee you can wander through the entire complex visualizing life must have been like in the 14th century

A Model of the Fortress

Inside the Museum

Steps Desending to a Secret Tunnel to the Sea

Inside The Fortress

A Map Showing the City, Fortress, and Harbor

From Acre we drove South along the Med to get to Haifa. Haifa is Israel’s biggest port and and is an impressive city set between the Mediterranean Sea and Mt Carmel. Haifa is great to look at but is just a big, busy city. I’m sure there are museums and other things to look at but we had not found anything in our research that we wanted to see. We stayed at a hotel in Mt Carmel and spend the afternoon walking around Mt Carmel. Many shops, restaurants, bars, etc. Not many pictures as it is just a nice city to see.

26 Oct: We left Mt Carmel and continued South. We were on our way to our final destination, Tel Aviv, but wanted to stop in Caesarea first. Caesarea was a small Roman resort town on the Mediterranean Sea. One can tell by the types of buildings that remain, their layout, and location that it was an enviable place to go. Definitely a good stop to see some history on the drive between Haifa and Tel Aviv.

From Caesarea we continued on our way to Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is a large metropolitan city bustling with commerce, tourism, government, and religion. We checked into our hotel and took the car out to the airport to turn it in. This was the end of our Automobile experience and looking back, it was quite successful with no serious problems either with the car or driving. If we were to go back to either Israel or Jordan, we would indeed again rent a car. Best way to get around, not hassles, no schedule, no sales pitch by guides and drivers. We took a cab back to our hotel and made arrangements for the same driver to return on the 28th to take us out to the airport for our return trip home.

27 Oct: Spent the day exploring Tel Aviv. Walked South along the beach to Old Jaffa. Old Jaffa was once the port city for Tel Aviv but now just sports a marina that supports local fishing and tourism. Walking around Old Jaffa was again a walk through history. Old churches, museums, restaurants, etc. It took the better part of the day to walk don and back and spend several hours exploring. It is not that far but it was Saturday (The Sabbath) so everyone was out relaxing and enjoying their day off. We did discover a wonderful Irish Pub in Tel Aviv, The Molly Bloom. We had dinner there and were treated to a local group of musicians who gather and play Irish music every week. According to a grade school teacher we met there, it is the best Irish Pub in Israel.

28 Oct: Up early, check out, and our cabby was back to take us to the airport. Uneventful trip home in spite of the airlines messing with everyone’s schedule and flights. We did make it back and we are happy we went.

** A repeated last note. I encourage you to google to do a web search on any of the places I have mentioned. There are many, many pictures and history of each … all better than mine and my descriptions. We just wanted to share our trip with you and our driving experience. Thanks for reading.

Author: Bill

Bill Rumpel served America as an Air Traffic Controller, a Commander of forces, and as an advisor to our country's senior leadership in peacetime and combat in the US Air Force for nearly, forty years of his adult life. Raised on a Wisconsin dairy farm and living most of his early years working hard or enjoying the outdoors, he has devoted his retirement years to telling stories based on true events with an intriguing mix of fiction and adventure. His books are published in 14 countries and in 9 different languages. View all posts by Bill

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Middle East Adventure …….. Jordan & Israel by Car

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