Ambassador Eilat

... 2LE to be paid if you have a visa.<br>"So if I don't have a visa I don't need to pay." The guy just smiled and Shona paid the money.<br><br>Before we even reached the customs at the Israeli side of the boarder, we went through a strict security check the likes of which we haven't seen since leaving Australia (mind you these people were searching for explosives, not plants). Security ...

... and the dunes rise up the sides of the mountains. It was hot and dry but cooler in the open air tray bouncing along the desert floor. We stopped a few times at some sights including a souq. This is a narrow passage way between the mountains where water has carved out a narrow channel deep in the rock and can be walked along. We stopped at a dune that was very high and too hard to clamber up in the heat and also stopped at some very interesting rock ...

... und die Dusche, was selbstverstaendlich die leckerste Arbeit von allen ist. Je nach dem, wieviele Leute wir die Nacht ueber hatten, ist auch der Zustand der Klos... Also bis jetzt noch ganz annehmbar, da ich nur einmal mehr als 15 Leute pro Nacht erleben musste. Weiter gehts zu den Zelten, wo ich jedes einzelne Bett ausschuetteln und vom Sand befreien muss. Bei den schweren Decken und bis zu 50 Betten ist das eine ziemliche Knochenarbeit! Und dann kommt noch der sonstige ...

... village town, where Mohammed the Bedouin welcomed us with delicious tea and a preview of our day's adventure. The sweltering hot day was spent traveling from location to location on an off-road jeep trip, guided by a Bedouin native to the area. There was no other way to describe this place than as simply: pure desert. <br><br><br><br>Every time there was a cliff or a tall dune, I would wonder what was beyond it. And yet when finally reaching that point, I would look out and ...

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... dinner, some went to walk in the desert while others went back to join in on the Bedouin dancing. I opted for the dancing. I got pulled in to try the debke again. Usually, the men and women have their own separate debke line. However, for this dance they were combined. I found myself linked with a young Jordanian guy who was patiently trying to teach me the right steps. We carried on a short conversation, half in Arabic, half in English in regards to where I'm from, etcetera ...

... they waste in the kitchen power hosing everything - though they do compost the waste, and give left over cabbage and lettuce to the rabbits in the petting zoo. We are usually finished by 13.30, eat a hearty lunch, and then go play by the pool. There are about 20 volunteers here. Mostly in their early 20's and making me feel a bit on the old side. Quite a few are British and being around them I can feel myself developing some kind of messed up, hybrid Essex/cockney/American accent. I'm ...

... always opt for the non-motorized, more athletic back-to-nature activity. "Always"? Evidently not today, but in hindsight, coming from Miami Beach we are used to the heat and we should have just done the hike. And when I initially made the reservations, I should have questioned the activities as appropriate for the season, what are the "must see" natural attractions of the area, how much time driving, and how much time actually doing activities. Anyway ...

... the stars (which weren't quite out given the cloud situation). The night ends with a card game dubbed 'animals', taught to us by an Israeli soldier, Avihay. Another simple game that provides entirely way too much amusement, this game requires that each person pick an animal and each time your card played matches the laid down by someone else, you need to make their animal's noise ...

... I still remember him with gratitude in my heart) but I do believe that taxi driver was the last straw. Skipping and laughing my way across the border into Israel, I had a rather uncharitable thought. While I will always have pleasant memories of St Katherine's (which is one of the best places I have ever been and I would definitely go back) I totally understand the urgency that led Moses to want to part the Red Sea and escape Egypt. Admittedly I believe he had a lot worse on his tail than ...