Israel>Egypt>Israel>Jordan>Israel: An Extended Middle East Jam

From Istanbul, he headed to Tel Aviv, Israel, arriving on Halloween day. Contrary to many of the reports we had heard about aggressive Israeli security, we breezed through customs and were soon on the train into the city, accompanied by many young Israelis heading home for the weekend from their various army postings. It is quite strange to see so many young adults wielding fierce machine guns in the midst of a city, but I suppose that is what keeps Israel safe.

We explored Tel Aviv for a bit and then contacted Evan Wertheim, an old family friend from Atlanta who moved to Tel Aviv about a year ago. We made plans to rendezvous with Evan for dinner and then accompany him to a Halloween party at the rooftop of one of his friends' apartment. We were psyched to be able to celebrate Halloween, as it is one of our favorite holidays. We had purchased some costumes while in Istanbul, so we were all ready to go. The following is a pictorial journey of our ramble through the Middle East (at least the sections that woudn't get us killed on the spot for being American):

Dracula (Evan) with Bunnie and Clyde.
The outlaws getting ready to head to the party. We were pleased to be able to keep up our Halloween tradition of couple costumes even though we were so far from home.Lauren in full bunny regalia in the stairwell of our Tel Aviv hotel, the Gordon Inn.
We rented a car in Tel Aviv and set out to explore a couple of places in Israel by road before we headed to Egypt to meet up with Dane. Our first stop was Jerusalem, where we rendezvoused with my cousin Michael, who is spending a year studying in that magnificent city. We had a great time hanging out with him and he really showed us some cool sights.
In front of the very holy Western Wall in Jerusalem. The prayer spaces for the wall are divided by sex, with a much larger portion alloted to the men.

A brief interlude from the pictures to tell a crazy story. We left Jerusalem in our rental car, intending to head north to the Sea of Galilee. Armed with a rental agency map, we made our way in that direction. As we approached a massive checkpoint leading into Palestinian territory, we had the frightening realization that our map was not accurate. With huge machine guns trained on our car, we had no choice but to proceed forward. We pulled up to the checkpoint and rolled down our window to speak with the guard, who was wielding a large automatic rifle. He asked us just two questions: "Where are you from?" and "Are you Jewish?" Satisfied by our answers of "American" and an emphatic and hurried "NO!" he politely lowered his gun and wished us well in our trip to Jericho and the West Bank. Yikes. We had no idea that we were driving directly through the heart of the Palestinian-controlled West Bank. With our crappy map, we ended up getting lost and finally had to stop and ask for directions. The store proprietor who helped us was very nice and also wished us well. Finally, we were on our way out of the West Bank, but not before having the scare of being tailed at high speed by a nondescript white car with Palestinian plates and occupied by four young Palestinian men. The faster we drove, the faster they drove, even over very rough roads, so we were pretty sure that we were done for. In the end, we made it across to the Israeli side, where the Palestinian car had to turn back. Phew!!!! It's always an adventure with us.

Now, back to the pictures:

One day, we headed up to the very holy and surprisingly artsy town of Tsfat, situated up on a mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee. This picture was taken at the citadel in Tsfat, the highest place in the city and the site of many battles over the centuries.
The Sea of Galilee and its environs are really beautiful. We stayed for a couple of nights in Tiberias, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Here is Lauren at dusk, with the Sea behind her.
Still next to the Sea of Galilee as the sun sets.
From Israel, we flew to Cairo, where we spent two days before picking Dane up at the airport. Egypt was incredible in sum, but the experience of seeing the Pyramids at Giza was a transcendent one. We had such a cool day there.
We elected to get a tour guide for the Pyramids, since we wanted to make sure to optimize our experience after a not-so-illuminating trip to the Egyptian Museum. Our guide recommended a camel ride to the Pyramids, which we decided was a cool idea. Here we are aboard George Bush (T.J.), Mickey Mouse (Lauren), and Michael Jackson (Dane). Yes, it was slightly cheesy and touristy, but it was also awesome.
As you can see, Dane agreed with our assessment about the awesomeness of the camel ride.
Lauren catching huge air on account of her excitement.
Lauren in front of the Sphinx, her favorite Egyptian landmark.
Another view of the Sphinx, with the Middle Pyramid in the background.
A view of the main pyramid at Saqqarah, the first pyramid ever built.
From Cairo, we took a long bus ride across the Sinai Peninsula to Dahab, Egypt, on the Red Sea. Here are T.J. and Dane relaxing one night after dinner on the seafront.
T.J. turned 28 on the second day we were in Dahab. He woke up to a table laden with birthday surprises, including candy, presents, and some cards from home. It was a great birthday, even if most days on this trip feel like my birthday.
Sunset over Dahab on November 14, T.J.'s birthday.
We had an excellent birthday meal at a very tasty Thai restaurant in Dahab called Blue House, which was a fitting locale for someone who is obsessed with the color blue.
After the Thai food, we relaxed at the Bedouin Lodge with a sheesha (tobacco water pipe).
Dane taking a turn at the sheesha.
Lauren exhaling a large cloud of apple-flavored tobacco smoke.
We did six dives on the reefs in and around Dahab. Unfortunately, we don't have great pictures of those dives. However, on one of our rest days, we went on a 1.5 hour hike to the Bedouin village of Ras Abu Galoum. We hung out with the locals, went snorkeling, and generally enjoyed the peace and quiet of the remote location. Here is Lauren with Ras Abu Galoum in the background.
On the hike back from Ras Abu Galoum, we reached a promontory with a view of Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea. Here Dane and T.J. are "saluting" our Saudi Arabian "friends."
After an eight day sojourn in Dahab, the three of us took a trouble-filled journey north along the Red Sea, crossed into Israel at the Taba border, and then reunited with the Voboril parents in the Israeli seaside resort town of Eilat. The next day, we were back on the road, with the five of us journeying into Jordan for a visit to the ancient city of Petra. Here we are in front of a site used for animal sacrifices.
T.J. and his Pops close to Petra's Treasury, which is barely visible in the crack in the background.
Family shot close to the Treasury.
You might recognize the Treasury from the final scenes of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."
We again decided to ride some camels, as we had so much fun the first time.
T.J.'s Mom on her first-ever camel ride, in Petra, Jordan.
The now-extended Voboril clan. Lauren wants to make it clear that her camel was a baby and she is not that much shorter than everybody else. She also says that her camel was the softest, sweetest, and least-smelly. That is probably true.
Another spectacular building carved into the rocks of Petra.
T.J. in an ancient archway.
Mom and the daughter she never had on the cobbled pathway between the cliffs of Petra.
After crossing back into Israel from Jordan and enduring the bureaucratic tedium entailed in border crossings, we went to bed excited for a day of diving off of Eilat. As it happened, even though the dive shop was in Israel, our dive site was actually in Egypt. So, we headed to the Taba border again for our third border crossing in three days. Even though it was a hassle, we were glad that we made the trip, as we had a fabulous day aboard a dive boat on the Red Sea. Here's the crew gearing up for our first dive.
Suited up and ready to dive. Note that our fins were made circa 1975. We felt that our equipment was sort of suspect and our suspicions were confirmed when T.J.'s regulator stopped working on the second dive. Although his primary regulator was not supplying air (which scared the crap out of him), he managed to get his emergency regulator in his mouth and continue with the dive, which was markedly shortened because he went through air at a prodigious rate due to his rapidly beating heart.
Dane exiting the water after one of his dives. He was getting practice for his impending voyage to Roatan, Honduras for several months to get certified as a Divemaster and work in a dive shop.
While aboard the dive boat, we scoped out this castle/fort, which was occupied by Richard the Lionheart during the Crusades.
Mom and Pops Voboril in front of the rented wheels, on our trip to Tel Aviv from Eilat.
On our way to Tel Aviv, we stopped off for a dip in the Dead Sea. The floatiness of the water has to be experienced to be believed.
Pops relaxing after a hard day at the wheel.
The Voboril men. "Look Ma, no hands!"
Preparing for our time in India...
Coated in mineral-rich Dead Sea mud, which actually makes your skin incredibly smooth.
Back in Tel Aviv, we met back up with Evan Wertheim, who joined the five of us for dinner at a great seafood restaurant in Tel Aviv's port district.
We took a day trip to Jerusalem, where we saw a ton of sights including the Dome of the Rock in the Temple Mount area.
For the first time in our lives, we did not have turkey for Thanksgiving. Instead, the five of us, along with our cousin Michael, had Thanksgiving dinner at an Argentinian steakhouse in Tel Aviv. Here is Lauren giving thanks to the Thanksgiving cow for a wonderful and special meal shared with family.
Mom and Pops among the ruins of the ancient port city of Yafo/Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv.
We walked around the chill atmosphere of Yafo, checking out the many art galleries, including this eponymous one.
Lauren on our last day in Israel, giving it a high kick of approval.

Istanbul

(Note: The following blog post chronicles our first visit to Istanbul in late October. As it happens, we now find ourselves back in Istanbul after being in Israel, Egypt, and Jordan for a month, as we are waiting on the unfortunate events in Mumbai to develop. We were scheduled to fly to Delhi today with a stopover in Istanbul. However, in the interest of being fully safe, we extended the stopover for a week or so to let things in India simmer down so that we may assess the situation. Perhaps this is overcautious, but with plenty of time to spend in India and our proven track record of finding trouble against all odds, we believe it to be a wise move. This decision was made much easier by the fact that Istanbul is by far the coolest city that we have visited on this trip and is certainly in the running for best city ever.)

In the planning stages of our world trip, Turkey was somewhat of an afterthought. We had heard here and there that it was a cool place, but it was not the centerpiece of our trip by any means, merely a connecting point between Greece and Israel. Now, with Istanbul in our rearview mirror and part of our hearts left in that magical city, the decision to include Turkey in our itinerary might have been our best move so far.

Our everchanging itinerary (thanks to the wonderful flexibility of our Star Alliance 'round the world ticket) left us 12 days in Turkey. From the first moment that we left Istanbul's Ataturk Airport and headed into town on the comfortable and well-routed train/subway/tram/funicular system, we decided that we would need at least those 12 days to even begin to explore the massive metropolis of Istanbul, a city of somewhere between 16 and 19 million people. Spanning two continents, Istanbul is both a literal and figurative bridge between Europe and Asia, a true melting pot of cultures and histories. The influence of cosmopolitan Europe is evident in the stylish dress of the city's young movers and shakers, but the fashion has a harder edge that gives Istanbul a flair of its own. The traditions of Asia and Europe mix with modern techniques to create an incredible array of culinary delights, from delicious street-side kebab to cutting edge haute cuisine. As usual, we ate very well and enjoyed a lot of down time in quaint cafes with a coffee, a narghile (water pipe), and a good book or Farkel by our side.

Most of the tourist sites in Istanbul are located in the Sultanahmet district, but we wisely elected to stay in Beyoğlu, a hipper and more modern part of the city, with Taksim Square and the massive pedestrian promenade of Istiklal Caddesi as its beating heart. We found a fantastic hostel called Neverland, which had just opened a month prior and was run by a very friendly international collective of twentysomethings. Our room was spacious, clean, and well-lit, and we awoke each morning to a simple but tasty breakfast of fruit, bread, and coffee. Neverland was ideally located a 10 minute (really, really) steep hike away from Istiklal Street and a five minute walk down to the Tophane tram stop, which linked us to other important parts of the city. The walk down to Tophane also led us directly past a fabulous streetside food vendor who sold mouthwatering sandwiches of lamb kebab with special spices that we probably visited five or six times in our 12 days there.

Originally, we were only supposed to be in Istanbul for seven days, but we extended our trip so that we could go to the Indian Consulate and try to obtain our elusive visas for India, our original ones having been in the passports that we had stolen in South Africa. Armed with all requisite information and fees, we set out for the consulate on our first full day in Istanbul. In sum, they were an incredible pain in the ass. They told us that we had to get a recommendation letter from the U.S. Consulate, a requirement that was novel to us and listed nowhere on any information provided by India. We tried to argue our way around this requirement, but in the end decided to head over to the U.S. Consulate, which turned out to be a 40 minute bus ride away. It wasn't all bad, as the bus took us on a scenic tour skirting the Bosporus, but when we arrived at the U.S. Consulate, it was right in the middle of their two-hour lunch. Temporarily foiled, we waited it out over some tea and Farkel. Of course, when we spoke to the officials at the U.S. Consulate, they informed us that they don't write recommendation letters, a fact that the Indian Consulate knows quite well, having been informed of this policy in an official letter written in 1995, a copy of which the official gave to us to show to the Indian Consulate. We were pretty peeved at this point, but resolved to keep our cool and make it work out at the Indian consulate, which we had to take a long taxi back to since the bus wasn't coming for another 45 minutes.

The horrible secretary at the Indian Consulate thought she had thrown us off the trail and wasn't too happy to see us return. When we explained to her and another official that it was impossible to get a recommendation letter and showed them the letter from the U.S. Consulate, they told us that without the letter, they couldn't help us. That was not going to cut it, so we demanded in no uncertain terms to see the boss. They were not happy about that and kept telling us that he was busy, when we could clearly see that he was not doing anything at all. Finally, we got to talk to the vice-consul, which conversation devolved into a full-on Abbott and Costello routine. He kept telling us that we just needed to get a letter, the impossibility of which he already acknowledged by screaming at us that he knew what the U.S. Consulate's letter said. Voices were raised to a pretty aggressive level on both sides, which left the rest of the patrons in the consulate in awe. Finally, he relented a bit and told us to come back the next day. He obviously just wanted to be rid of us. We ended up returning the next day and miraculously were able to submit our applications for a visa. One major problem loomed: our passports would not be ready to pick up until the evening before we were scheduled to fly to Israel. We were putting our faith in a system that we really didn't trust, but we had no other option. I will save you the suspense and tell you that our passports, with full Indian visa attached, arrived the day before our flight to Tel Aviv. Nice!!!!!!!! Bureaucracy sucks, but can work out eventually.

Anyway, with all of the b.s. out of the way, we still had a ton of time to spend in Istanbul. Besides a lot of time spent hanging out and walking around various parts of the city, we spent one of the first days seeing all of "the" sights in Istanbul. The Sultanahmet (Blue) Mosque and the Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia) lived up to their billing as some of the most stunning structures ever built.

The Blue Mosque on a gloriously sunny fall day in Istanbul.

Lauren covered up inside the Blue Mosque, in accordance with strictly-enforced Muslim etiquette.

The Ayasofya was also really, really pretty, but we decided not to spend the surprisingly spendy entrance fee for the museum. It was way too nice of a day to be inside anyway.

That day we also went to the Grand Bazaar and the Eqyptian Spice Bazaar, having heard nothing but glowing reports. At the risk of sounding like travel snobs, we were very underwhelmed by these bazaars, both of which were way more akin to a shopping mall than an authentic bazaar. We were definitely spoiled by the earthy and chaotic medina in Fes, which had a much livelier feel than either of the famous bazaars in Istanbul. Whereas we spent countless hours simply wandering through Fes' medina, within 15 minutes in the Grand Bazaar I had a "mall headache" and was heading for the exit.

Fortunately, the exit to the Grand Bazaar is very close to a coffee shop that really knows what its customers want: chocolate. Escaping from the bazaar, we snagged a nice window table at Coffee World and settled down to cafe mochas, which were gratuitously accompanied by a pile of chocolate-covered espresso beans in three flavors and a spoon crafted entirely from chocolate. Wow!!!

On the third night we were in the city, we were walking to dinner down Istiklal Caddesi right around Galatasaray Square when we passed a sign for a hair salon. Lauren had been dying to get her hair cut ever since I botched when cutting her hair in Morocco. Even though it was nine at night, the hair salon was open, so we decided to just go up and check out the scene. There were a couple of people in there and we were welcomed by the hairdresser, Ismail. Ismail speaks about 10 words of English, but fortunately his brother Murat was able to fill in most of the blanks in his heavily accented English. The brothers were super friendly and after being assured by Murat that Ismail was a "professional," Lauren threw caution to the wind and let Ismail craft her hair in any style he wished. While Lauren was getting her hair cut, I spoke with Murat, who was incredibly animated and interesting.

We really hit it off with Ismail and Murat from the first minutes of our meeting, an easy friendship that grew each day we were in Istanbul. After dinner, we returned to the salon and stayed late into the night, drinking coffee and talking. In the remainder of our time in Istanbul, the salon became our clubhouse and we spent countless hours there interacting with the brothers and their diverse clientele. Hanging out at the salon exposed us to a side of Istanbul that you don't find in any guidebook, with showgirls, radio personalities, TV stars, musicians, and others coming in to get their hair cut, extensions put in, or simply to chill.

Here we are in the salon with Murat on the left and Ismail between us.
Besides being great hosts, the brothers have a great and unique style and very silly personalities. It is no surprise that we got along so well.

On the sole Thursday we were in Istanbul, we visited the Istanbul Modern, a large and diverse modern art museum located on the banks of the Bosporus close to our hostel. The Istanbul Modern offers free admission on Thursdays, which was a nice treat. We spent a few hours there before realizing that we hadn't yet had lunch and it was 4 in the afternoon, close to full meltdown time for my stomach. Fortunately, we found a nice little cafe to satiate the hunger demons.

That night, we had dinner for the second time at our favorite spot, Ada, where we had established a good rapport with the manager, Oz. The food there is great, it has a bookstore within the premises, and they play really cool and eclectic music. It is a winner all around. After dessert, we strolled down Istiklal, taking in the energetic atmosphere of the thousands upon thousands of people that walk the street at all times of the day and night. Hearing raucous sounds from an upstairs establishment called Crab Bar, we ventured inside the tiny space. Securing one of the 10 tables, our ears were pleasantly assaulted (how's that for an oxymoron...) by the thrashing sounds of a Turkish metal band. We had some Efes (local beer) and rocked out, particularly enthralled by the band's cover of "Knocking on Heaven's Door," all in Turkish.

Many of our "normal" Istanbul days were spent just walking around the city, writing in cafes, imbibing too much chocolate at Coffee World, drinking tea at the salon, or taking luxurious naps. On the Saturday night of our stay, we went to the North Shield Pub in Gulhane to watch the Natal (Durban) Sharks, our adopted team, take on the Pretoria Blue Bulls in the grand finals of the South African Currie Cup rugby championships. It was cool to catch a South African rugby match in Turkey, particularly as the Sharks emerged victorious.

The always crowded thoroughfare of Istiklal Caddesi.
Beyoğlu is definitely the sweetest part of a city that has many incredible neighborhoods. We would highly recommend the area to anybody venturing to Istanbul.

The following night, we went to see "Righteous Kill," the DeNiro/Pacino movie, at the Cinema Atlas. It was sort of a comedy of errors, as even the most normal of activities can be with a language barrier. As the showtime approached, we tried to get the usher to let us go into the theater, but he kept gesticulating wildly (although in a friendly way) that we couldn't go in. After a while of this back and forth, we were starting to get frustrated, as the movie was due to start in minutes, which we tried to explain to the usher. We couldn't figure out what in the hell was going on, until the usher finally pointed to my watch and then showed me his watch. It turned out that we had spent the whole day on the wrong time, as the clocks had been set back an hour due to daylight savings time. God, did we feel stupid. We all had a hearty laugh about it and then we went and had a beer to pass the newly discovered hour in our day.

The day after that was a mostly indoor day, as it was one of the very few days on this trip that we have experienced rain. Having a cozy hostel helped in allowing us to spend a lot of time inside reading and writing. In the late afternoon, it looked like the rain was letting up, so we decided to go out for a walk. Of course, at the farthest point on our stroll, the heavens opened up in a rainfall that can only be described as biblical. We were completely soaked through, but it was an incredible experience to be outside in such a torrential downpour. The steep streets of the Tophane area became veritable waterfalls and the flat area of Istiklal was a lake in spots. Crazy.

The next day we went out to run some errands and have lunch and when we returned to Neverland, we were met with a pleasant surprise. Our Australian friend Brigitte, whom we met at the Pink Palace on Corfu, greeted us in the lounge. We knew that Brig was coming to Istanbul, but we weren't sure when. She is a very cool chick, wise and mature way beyond her 18 years, who was traveling for 6 months before heading to London to work in advance of beginning her medical studies in Sydney in 2009. We caught up for a bit and then the three of us headed to the fancy shopping mall of Istinye Park to finally catch the new Batman flick "The Dark Knight" at the huge IMAX screen in the very modern movie theatre. We had been trying to see the movie since its release in July, but hadn't found a cinema showing the movie in any of our stops along the way. We all agreed that the movie and the IMAX experience was worth the wait.

The next day we intended to go to another art museum to see their Salvador Dali exhibit, but after getting stuck in massive traffic on the bus ride out to the museum, we called-off that plan. It turned out that the day was Turkey's Independence Day and the populace was out in full force celebrating the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Republic. So, we joined in the festivities, soaking in the jubilation over a long lunch and several large beers.

Me, Brig, and Lauren at our drinking lunch.
The colorful couple in Taksim Square during Turkish Independence Day, as captured by Brig.

The three of us had a great time together during the remainder of our time in Istanbul. Of course, we introduced Brig to Murat and Ismail, and the three of us had our hair cut by Ismail at a really long salon session. We also revisited the Sultanahmet Mosque and Ayasofya with Brig and showed her some of our favorite spots, including the Cafe Inn in Sultanahmet and the Crab Bar. Like us, Brig thoroughly enjoys the process of seeing all of the little nuances that a city has to offer and she is a great addition to our zany antics and weird conversations.

Lauren, Ismail, T.J., and Brig just hanging out at the salon.
Lauren posing in the cool light of an Istanbul night, with the blue glow of Neverland in the background.
Relaxing at the Cafe Inn after fresh haircuts courtesy of Ismail.
Puffing on a narghile one night at the Cafe Inn.
Lauren contemplating the meaning of life.
Lauren with a massive banana split at Ozsut, the most amazing coffee/dessert place. They have a mouthwatering array of cakes, pastries, and ice creams, making it an obvious place for us to spend a lot of time. We were sure to let Brig in on the not-so-well-kept secret of Ozsut's decadence.
Heading home from a late night out on Istiklal Caddesi. We were really sad to leave Istanbul behind, but as fate would have it, we have a renewed chance to take in our favorite city.

Too soon, it was time to say goodbye to Brig and to Istanbul. Although we often have a hard time leaving cool spots, the inertia and goodwill created in Istanbul made it particularly difficult to leave. We knew that we would definitely one day revisit Istanbul, we just didn't realize that it would be so soon. That is the beautiful thing about our trip: we can take horrible and unexpected events, roll with them, and make the best of the situation that remains.