Royal Beach Eilat

There are no pictures of our stay in Eilat. We crossed the border from Jordan and were met by our driver; Sipi. This is the name of Moses' first wife. She took us to the hotel. It was the bottom of the barrel as 2 star hotels go, though the manager had some lively conversation about his 30 years in Israel. [He never was in Jordan or Egypt! just Eilat]. The restaurant at the hotel was the "Mamman Sea Food ...

... long tents against cliffs which were used by the Bedouin people as they moved their goats or camels through the desert. There is no water out here so it is bought to the sites in plastic drums. Soon we arrived at a campsite like we had passed and there were 2 long tents and a building that had a kitchen and another with a toilet and shower. This was our overnight camp miles in the desert and a drive from the next camp. Mr Salamah then set about and tidied ...

... Das ist auch eine ziemlich Scheissarbeit, da das Wasser recht langsam aus dem Rohr kommt und man viele kurze Schlaeuche so aneinanderstecken muss, dass daraus ein grosser langer wird. Ab und zu geht dann mal eine Verbindungsstelle auf und man muss hinrennen um das Leck die schliessen. So dauert es gut und gerne drei Stunden, nur um ein paar Baeumchen zu giessen. Weiterer Nachteil des Gartens ist sein Standort etwa zehn Kilometer vom Rum-Dorf entfernt; man muss naemlich per ...

... While exploring the desert earlier in the day, for instance, we could hear the sound of the Arabian music coming from the small village town many kilometers away. On this night, the moon shone bright and illuminated the stars nearby, though I imagine that on nights without the moon, the stars would shine across the entire sky. I slept incredibly well tonight, feeling as if I had dreamt many dreams, including one involving parallel parking a car without keys in the ignition. Moving on...

... upon arrival in Egypt. It was too suspicious, so we said no thanks and made a call to the credit card company for sanity's sake. That meant we'd be here in Aqaba for 5 days--a beach and pool vacation. Biggest decisions of the day were "which pool?" "where to eat lunch/dinner?" and "do you want to go down to the beach?" We read books (I bought Queen Noor's biography and read it there) We got copper colored tans. We napped in the sun and in the shade--listening to ...

... opposite from Aqaba is Israel's port town on the Red Sea called Eilat. Our destination in Aqaba was the Mövenpick Resort. At the Mövenpick, we were dropped off by the buses and then had to walk through security before entering the hotel. At the front desk, we were required to present an ID in order to get our day passes. Immediately after being handed our day passes, we all flocked to the beach. It was already a really warm day- hotter than any day in Amman. The Red Sea was ...

There's something (for lack of a better word) ironic about sunbathing by a swimming pool in the middle of a desert. Beyond the green grass and trees, a sandy red, menacing looking mountain looms in the background - a reminder that beyond the barbed wire fence that surrounds this oasis is the oppressively hot and barren Negev desert. To the East lies Arava, a famous migratory route for birds flying from Africa to Europe. Eilat is a 30 minute drive south ...

... Bedouin camp), called Shacharut. We see the large main building that has Bedouin rugs covering the floor where people sleep and eat but we immediately take advantage of the toilets that are in a separate building with showers and are very clean. Shor introduces us to a woman from the khan. I thought we had reserved a separate unit, but shared bathrooms, which I had seen a photo of on their website. I am surprised when she walks us over to an air ...

... beaten path and I enjoy a steak that is still trying to get away as I devour it. The food is a welcomed respite from the grub we've been eating and the conversation is wonderful as well. Miki dated my late aunt many years ago, when they were younger than us, and have stayed in touch with our family since. They are entirely way too nice and we have to rejoin our group ...

... bagel and salad I've had in my life and sipping wine from the Golan Heights (hurm), I got quite emotional about the whole thing. The very existence of Israel is a complicated and messy matter and not something I want to get into here. I can't help but love the place, the people and the culture, although most news I see or read that has anything to do with Israel invariably makes me cry tears of rage, frustration, sorrow, or all of the above. A lot. Having said that, Egypt is a friendly ...