Born again: Traveling Solo to Israel, Jordan and the Amazing Middle East

December 28th, 2016 - the panic phase. 

Tomorrow afternoon I have my flight to Tel Aviv, departing from Rome. It is 6 pm and I am still in Naples, in the comfortable warmth of my parents' house, wondering if I should leave alone for this trip. In the bottom of my heart, I know it will be great and I know I will love it, but still something is happening to me, something that never happened to me before: I am SCARED. I am scared of traveling alone to the Middle-East, landing in Tel Aviv, only 8 hours drive from Aleppo, where the worse is happening to human beings. I am scared of going to Jordan, where there has been a terrorist attack last week, in one of the most important touristic sites of the country. I am scared of having to stay in Istanbul waiting for my connection. I get scared if I only look at that geographical area on the map. And speaking to my friends, family and colleagues is not helping me, as each one of them has a different view on the world and what risks - and happiness - mean. Foreign Affairs Ministry websites are not helping either, describing threats everywhere. But what is the alternative? Buying another ticket and go to my friends of a lifetime in Brussels? Of course, I would have a place to stay over there. Staying in Naples with friends that I don't get to see that often? None of these options appeal to me, plus I am in a healing process, once again. My trust has been abused, once again. And I need to remove from my life a toxic person that has been very dear to me, once again. I know myself and the solution, right now, is to immerse myself into another world to see, smell and feel what I have never seen, smelled or felt ever before. I am in contact with a guy who lives in Tel Aviv, from the UK, I guess, Sam, contacted over Facebook. He's been very kind to me, reassuring me all the time about how quiet the situation is over there and about how much I'll love Tel Aviv. Also, the pictures on the Facebook page I follow look really cool! So off I go, in my car, to Rome. Saying goodbye to my super worried parents that must be wondering where have they gone wrong - or right - to deserve a daughter like me 😉

I arrive in Rome pretty late and pretty tired, quickly pack my backpack, and go to bed: tomorrow I have a long day ahead.

December 29th, 2016 - the brave phase, Middle-East, here I come.

I wake up quite relaxed, and get to the airport. At the check-in desk the guy from the airline asks me: "so, are you going to Tel Aviv together with Mr. Rossi?" I look at him puzzled, then I look at a guy that was standing before me in the line and that just moved aside, he's Mr. Rossi, and he's also going to Tel Aviv. Even if we are not going together, I already feel reassured about the fact that I am not the only crazy one around. In the plane, I sit next to a Jewish guy from Rome, he studied in Tel Aviv at university and his girlfriend is still studying over there, so he goes back once a month to visit her and, of course, they're spending NYE together in TLV. We speak a lot about the country, the city, life there, religion, food, he gives me endless tips on where to eat the best humus, the best falafel, where to go out, what to see, how to move around etc...I am still sitting in the plane and I'm already excited 😊 We arrive in Israel around 10 pm, the passport control is not as bad as I had heard it would be - they only ask me if I speak Hebrew, due to my name which apparently, beside being Greek and Italian, is also Jewish. Well, they also want to know why Israel, where am I staying, why I travel alone, what will I visit and the name of my dad?!? Anyways, within 10 minutes I am sharing a cab with Mr. Rossi and a Japanese guy, we drop them off at their hostel and proceed to the Florentine Hostel in the old city of Yafo. The old city, at night, is creepy. I check-in and I realize that I am starving, so off I go to the narrow streets hoping to find something comestible. I come back to the hostel with a so called "pizza" from PizzaHut, sit next to the Mexican guy who runs the place over night and try to understand why he moved to Tel Aviv from Mexico. He's just in love with the country and the city. I am so thankful I booked a private room, this hostel is definitely a party hostel and I feel I don't have the age anymore to party all night, especially after such a long trip.

The best falafel EVER

December 30th, 2016 - I do have a guardian angel.    

I wake up to a super sunny day, have breakfast on the super sunny terrace of my hostel and decide to visit Yafo, meaning wandering around the old city and its flea markets. But before that, I need to make sure to book my room for tomorrow night - I have decided to spend NYE in Tel Aviv. I go to the Reception and Elay, one of the guys running the hostel, tells me that, OBVIOUSLY, they are fully booked for tomorrow night. He gives me the list of hostels in Tel Aviv, I quickly run thru them all only to realize that everything is sold out. Okay, I seem to have a small issue. I go back to Elay, asking him if, in case, I could sleep on the sofa in the kitchen of the hostel - anyways, I plan to go out, so hopefully I will not need to spend too many hours on that couch. He tells me that, of course, I can crush there. He also tells me that his roommates are leaving Tel Aviv for NYE, and eventually I could stay at his place, in one of their rooms. "Gaia, don't worry, I am not leaving you sleeping on the street on NYE". I already love this guy. So, problem solved, off I go to Yafo. I arrive at the Jaffa Clock Tower around 2 pm and discover that there is a Free Walking Tour to which I can take part. The tour lasts 2 hours, our guide is an Israeli girl, super knowledgeable about her country and its history, everything is very interesting and it's a pleasure to leave her a nice tip. Once the tour's off, I am walking by myself in a square of the old city, when an Italian couple approaches me telling me that they saw me on the plane from Istanbul to Tel Aviv and also they were part of the walking tour. We go get a coffee together and I tell them about my desperate situation for tomorrow night, I am homeless! They look at me, they look at each other and they tell me: "But Gaia, we have rented a super nice apartment in the center of Tel Aviv, we have a spare couch and you can sleep there tomorrow night, no problem at all. In this way, we can go out and party all together". I am already in love with them too. And with my guardian angel, of course. We spend the afternoon together "visiting" some bars in the center of Tel Aviv, we exchange phone numbers and I go back to my hostel in Yafo. That evening, the guys at the hostel are going out to a club, Lima Lima. Off I go with them. I spend all night speaking to a 22 years old guy, half from Nicaragua, half American, born and raised in Texas, Jewish and gay - the cherry on the cake, as he tells me laughing :-) We speak about that feeling of not belonging to anywhere and belonging to everywhere, about religion, Trump, families, studies, work, car accidents, being hetero, being gay and the difficulties linked to any side of the story, his coming out, my relationships etc...it's crazy how you can open up to a stranger, but my God this kid is a bright star and he'll go long way in life. This is the best memory that I have of that night out, apart from the amazing sandwich that we ate at 4 am on the way back home.

View on TLV from Yafo

December 31st, 2016 -  Celebrating NYE all day long, unexpectedly.   

I wake up almost for lunch time, and I decide to have breakfast before checking out from the hostel. While on the terrace drinking my coffee, my eyes meet the ones of a 2 meters tall, bold, kind of mysterious guy. And, as he knew me before, he asks: "Do you like fish?" "Me? Fish? Of course I do, I come from Naples, we live on fish!" "Would you like to have lunch with me? I love Naples, I've been there many times!" And off we go, to the beach first and then to a quite fancy restaurant on the harbor of Yafo. We get a seaside table, it's raining outside but we don't care as we are having a nice time, speaking about life and the universe and everything and eating the best NYE meal I could wish for: delicious humus, Greek salad, sea-bass fish baked in the oven with vegetables and potatoes, nice white wine, dessert, - almost as good as Italian - coffee. The afternoon is perfect, even if after more than 4 hours speaking to the guy he becomes more and more mysterious to me. His job(S) is not totally clear, he just tells me that he's very "creative" and I need to be too if I want to work little and make money; events from his past keep on changing, his nationality is somewhere between Russian, Latvian, German, Swiss, Israeli. He is divorced and has a kid. He's Jewish and came back to Israel to become a good Jewish. Honestly, I don't care about truth and lies in the conversation, I like spending time with this guy, and we're having a good time. Later in the afternoon, we pick up my backpack at the hostel and go to the center to meet the Italian couple where I am supposed to sleep tonight. We meet with them, have a couple of drinks, go for dinner, celebrate 12 o'clock in the cab, get a bottle of champagne into another bar and while we are all about to go partying somewhere else, the girl tells me that they are not coming, as they just broke-up and she's booked a ticket to go back to Italy tomorrow morning!!!! WHAT????? Fortunately, I can still sleep at their place, she tells me to call once I'll be home and she'll open the door. Me and my giant friend go off in the busy streets of Tel Aviv, and, while we are walking on one of the main streets, I hear good music coming from a house. "Let's see if we can get inside!" I say. 5 minutes later I'm in the garden of this house making cocktails for everyone, there is a DJ playing and the situation is exactly what I was looking for. We casually meet Elay, the guy from the hostel, who's happy I found a place to stay for the night - he even sent me a message earlier in the evening to make sure I knew where to sleep, such a sweetheart. We keep on dancing and having conversations with a group of local guys, we speak about their military service, the perfect English that they all speak, about Europe, travels etc...I come home at 8am, wishing goodnight to my new giant friend who's been an excellent company for this NYE, and by the the time I get into the house I have to say goodbye to my new girl-friend, who's leaving to the airport straight away 😢          

Real Humus

January 1st, 2017 - recovery. 

I wake up fresh like a rose - when I travel alone and hang out with people I don't know I do not drink, I just act like I am - and in front of me I have the poor guy (with whom I will share most of my trip from now on) totally depressed because he was dumped on NYE, by his beloved girlfriend, during what was supposed to be their "romantic trip" to the Middle-East. For me, the year couldn't have started in a better way: I was blossoming again, I had such a nice day and night on the 31st, totally unexpected, and I feel just happy, that happiness that I hadn't felt in long time. Unfortunately, he can't say the same, so we decide to get ready and go out to explore the city a bit more. We go eating out at the Carmel Market, have a coffee on the beach looking at the sunset and later in the evening I check-in into my new hostel (I have found a bed, finally).

January 2nd-3rd, 2017 - JORDAN.  

Petra - Jordan

On January 2nd I wake up super early and leave to Jordan. I have booked myself into a tour back in TLV and I am so glad I did so. First of all, going by myself from Israel to Jordan would have been much more expensive than what I paid with this tour (around 330 EURO + the VISA at the border). In fact, going by yourself means paying more because car rental is ridiculously expensive, plus you risk of getting lost at least once, therefore taking more time to get to your destination and getting there tired, because of all the driving involved. For sure, I would have had more troubles in crossing the border, and probably ended up sleeping in one of these commercial hotels out of Petra, as there are plenty in this world. Instead, I had the pleasure to travel with an amazing group of people, we ate the best meals we could wish for, we visited Jerash and Amman the first day, and Petra the second day. We had an amazing guide, Ayman, who I can't thank enough, especially for all the sweets and cookies he offered us during this trip. We slept in Bedouins' tents in the middle of the desert, bloody cold but totally worth it. We drank chai around the fire till late at night, and I have never seen so many stars in my entire life. Totally worth it, but still, bloody cold, cold as I had never experienced before. I don't have any words that can describe how amazing Petra is, really you need to go there and experience this place with your own senses. You wont be disappointed. After all, it is one of the new 7 wonders of the world 😊

Bedouins in Petra - Jordan

Jerash - Jordan

Jerash - Jordan

Jerash- Jordan

Petra - Jordan

Petra - Jordan

Petra - Jordan

Desert - Jordan

January 4th, 2017 - Jerusalem.      

On the way back from Petra, I ask the bus driver to drop me off in Jerusalem instead of TLV, as I am planning to spend there the next couple of days. Jerusalem is the Holy City to both Jewish people and Muslims, and it's crazy how many different neighborhoods you can have in the same city. And you see and feel the differences, you really do. You can have a Synagogue and a Mosque sharing the same wall, on one side you are in the Jewish area, on the other side you're in the Muslim side of the city, hearing the call to the prayer, which I always loved for its peaceful sound. Apart from visiting holy places of which I have heard about for my entire life - the Wailing Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Temple Mount etc..- I think that what impressed me the most in Jerusalem is the quantity of army that goes around the city. Basically, in Israel both men (3 years) and women (2 years) have a mandatory military service. They start at the age of 18, so it is pretty common to see, in the middle of the streets and in public places, what look like kids, with big automatic machine guns upon their shoulders. At the beginning, this was a bit scary if not disturbing, and speaking to other foreigners I realized that we all shared the same feelings. After a couple of days, as it always happens, you almost get used to it and you start not noticing anymore. In Jerusalem, be also prepared to a lot of check-points, especially on the way to the main sites, bus stations and big city malls. A thing that I loved to witness in Jerusalem, is the Friday prayer under the Wailing Wall, at the start of the Shabbat. I advise you to go there around sunset, it's very touching, especially the way a prayer can become a song of joy and put people one under another's arms, in a big, festive hug. If you go to Israel, for sure Jerusalem is not to be missed, for its energy, its history, its meaning, its contradictions and what it represents for so many people of different believes and origins.

Even if Jerusalem is not as much of a party city as Tel Aviv, you can still find some clubs (Video Pub, in the city center - I went there with some friends that I met on the way, was nice and kind of crowded for a Wednesday night anyways) and places to party - I loved the Mahane Yehuda Market , this market is always open in the evening, full of young people, good music and great food.

Friday prayer @ the Wailing Wall

Symbols

Temple Mount

Praying

Western Wall

January 5th, 2017 - The Dead Sea. Dead Indeed.  

Me and my Italian friend decide to experience the Dead Sea: after all, everyone we met so far has told us that this is something not to be missed. We take the bus at 11 am from the central bus station in Jerusalem and after 2 hours drive we end up in what is one of the most UGLY places I have ever seen in my life. The beach is called Ein Bokek. First of all, there is nothing in the area, apart from big tower hotels and shopping malls full of Russian tourists. You can see dozens of people in white bathrobes leaving their luxurious hotels all together to go and bath into the Dead Sea. The area of the Dead Sea is 400 meters below the sea level; maybe because of this, maybe because it's a grey day, but the weather in this part of the world is completely odd. The air is totally still, nothing moves, it's like you're in a bubble. I arrived with my jacket and my scarf on and I was okay. Then I wore my bikini and went into the water and I was okay too. Basically, either with layers of clothes or almost naked, you'd be okay, in any cases. Weird, right? Then the best part comes: the beach is made of red sand that will stain your feet, you'll get into the water passing a layer of mud - good for the skin - and then you'll get painful, huge stones of salt under your feet, so you need to be extra careful while walking. Then the floating part. If you're with your back into the water, the floating is not that evident, it's not like you can sit on water. But: if you turn belly down and try to swim, you'll quickly realize it's kind of impossible, as your legs keep on going up in the air. Quite funny. While "bathing" you need to be extra careful not to let water getting into your eyes, otherwise you'll be blind for some minutes and it'll be very painful. Also, because of all the metals that the Dead Sea contains, the water is very bitter instead of salty - strange, right? - and if you drink it you might be seriously ill. I tried a drop, I was too curious. Overall, I would not recommend the Dead Sea, but there are people that spend there entire holidays, so like everything in life, also this may be something to experience by yourself.

Dead Sea - Israel

January 6th, 2017 - Palestine, Bethlehem.       

Although it's Friday, and Shabbat will start around 3 pm this afternoon, Palestinian buses from Jerusalem to Bethlehem and back are running all day long - obviously. We (me and my Italian friend, who in the meanwhile seems to get better after his breakup on NYE) walk until the Damascus Gate, from where the bus is supposed to leave and catch the first one available. On the bus, I feel like home: full of people, many standing. Noise, laughs, big bags everywhere, families traveling all together, kids sitting on mothers' laps. We get to Bethlehem and we realize that today is a kind of special day: January 6th, Epiphany for Christians, Christmas for Orthodox. Bethlehem is full of police, and after queuing for a while, we manage to get into the Nativity Church, too busy to see anything inside, anyways. We get out and walk around the city, it's a beautiful sunny day and I really like this place. It's alive, full of colors, markets, narrow streets, it's a melting-pot of people, both locals and visitors. In the main square, the Nativity Church stands opposite to the main Mosque. To me, it's more like they stand together and complete each other, making that square a meeting point for people from all over the world. We hire a cab to go see Bansky graffiti, scattered all over the city and on the West Bank Wall. This wall is one of the saddest things that I have ever seen in my life, world should have no walls nor barriers. In the afternoon, we get back to Jerusalem, have lunch and go to the Friday prayer at the Western Wall. Although Shabbat started, we could find some restaurants to have dinner, non Kosher restaurants, expensive but good - and kind of Western. Later that evening, I manage to find a shared cab that brings me back to TLV.

Bansky

West Bank Wall

"Hate cannot drive out hate, only 💚 can"

Bethlehem

Bethlehem

January 7th, 2017 - Back to my first love, TLV.

I wake up in sunny TLV, my giant friend, with whom I had spent NYE, picks-me-up at the hostel and we head to the beach. It's windy but so so nice. We have breakfast and we wait for Alessia, an Italian girl who I had met in Jerusalem, also traveling alone. She would arrive in TLV today. Once she joins us, the 2 of us leave for lunch, we spend the afternoon together and that evening, around 12 am, I get a cab to the airport. My flight is at 5 am and it makes no sense to me to get a room for the night. After endless questions on my passport, the stamps I have on it, the reasons why I came to Israel, why did I go to Jordan, my bag etc...I manage to get into the airport. I am kind of sad to leave this country.

Surfing in TLV

January 8th, 2017 - Back to real life.

There is a snow storm in Istanbul. Fortunately, my flight is not cancelled but only delayed. I land in Rome, switch-on my phone and start receiving messages from friends and family: are you okay? Where are you? There has been a terrorist attack in Jerusalem. Right where I was a couple of days before.

Tips, advises, impressions  

- Generally speaking, I felt always safe during this trip, both in Israel and Jordan. I was trying to live like a local, taking local buses, trams, going to markets, stations, busy places etc...This is the only way of exploring the country and get a small taste of it.

- When you arrive at the airport in Tel Aviv, they do not stamp your passport. The VISA is given on a separate piece of paper that you'll have to keep with you. On the land border with Jordan same thing, your passport gets stamped by Jordan authorities, not by Israel.

- When I could, I would leave the passport locked in a safe at the hostel and walk with a copy of it.

- Overall, I met very friendly people in both countries and in all cities I visited, everyone speaks very good English, so it's quite easy to find your way.

- Traveling is easy, all places are very well connected by bus.

- If you'd like to go to Petra and you have little time, I advise you to book with AbrahamTour. All bookings can be done on-line and their service is top.

- I only booked the first 2 nights at the Florentine Hostel in TLV - this is a cheap, party hostel and if that's what you're looking for, then you're in the right place. The guys running the hostel are lovely.

- For the rest of my stay, and depending on my itinerary, I booked myself day by day into the Abraham Hostel, both in TLV and Jerusalem. This is the best hostel chain I have ever been to. Clean, quiet, great shared areas, roof top bar, indoor bar, excellent breakfast included, friendly and professional staff, big beds, big dorms, right guests, meaning not just young people looking for partying but travelers. Totally recommended, you can easily book on-line and pay on the arrival. If you're staying there, you'll get discount on the tours.

Abraham Hostel - Jerusalem

Abraham Hostel - TLV

- During Shabbat everything will be closed, shops, markets etc..and public transports do not run, especially in Jerusalem. However, there are alternative transportation means, i.e. collective cabs, in all cities. You'll find places to eat easily, and in TLV you feel it less.

- This is an expensive trip, at least it was for my standard, so be prepared 😎  

- On the way back, be at the airport 3 hours in advance. Security checks take long when you leave the country.

- If you dream of visiting this part of the world, just go. It's amazing. Even solo, you'll meet great people along the way.