Sunday – October 1, 2017
Another early morning and we were on our way to Israel. It’s about 150 miles from Petra, Jordan to the King Hussein/Allenby Bridge but takes almost four hours travel time across the mountainous desert.
This is the best photo I could take from the bus of three consecutive hair-pin turns on the highway. We crossed the Jordanian highlands for a couple of hours and finally stopped at a scenic overlook.
Mohammad bought a cup of coffee and talked with the local Bedouin who set up the makeshift rest stop. Then we were on our way down the mountains to the flat Jordanian plains and farmlands.
We made another stop along the Dead Sea and looked across to Israel. Coincidentally, Raynia another tour guide who we had dinner with in Amman, was also there with some friends.
We chatted for a few minutes and then wished her well. She is the first female tourist guide in Muslim Jordan and will soon lead groups around her country. There was a lot of truck traffic leading to the border and our bus was stalled and side-lined for about an hour.
Mohammad took our passports into the office and had them stamped for us. We said goodbye to him on the Jordanian side and the driver took us across the King Hussein/Allenby Bridge. Several people in our group were stopped on the Israeli side for a number of reasons for questioning, but it was generally an uneventful border crossing.
We met our Israeli Tour Guide, Rafi Rozanes and an OAT Trainee, Alon Neeman, and our driver, Ahkmed. We boarded our new coach and we were in sunny Israel.
About an hour later, we were driving through the beautiful modern city of Tel Aviv, on our way to the Cinema Hotel. We checked in and arrived in plenty of time for free snacks at “Happy Hour” on the outdoor terrace of the hotel.
Ahh civilization…….