As you know, our blog is titled "Adventures in Israel." And we can certainly attest to the fact that we've been on many adventures during our almost five years now in the Land of Israel. Most of the adventures focus on the work that we do with Christian Friends of Israel (CFI), and the opportunities to form relationships with the People of Israel. Mostly, the Jewish people are who we interact with, but not always. We believe God would have us help with bridging the gap - or in some cases actually building a bridge - between Jews and Gentiles. (see Ephesians 2)
This post is intended to be a look at a recent "non work" adventure. Although we are never without opportunities to form relationships...
It was Linda's goal after many long months at work to go on a trip to Eilat - Israel's southern most city - to go snorkeling. She had been tasked with completing the organization's yearly Israel tax audit - having never done this before. At the same time, an accounting staff member left, so she was training a new volunteer, and learning a new accounting role herself (she has moved from accounts receivable to accounts payable). SO - this trip was the "carrot on a stick" to help see her through this challenging season. We'd like to take you on this adventure......
We began our adventure at the Jerusalem Central Bus Station where we had pre-purchased tickets. Several IDF soldiers rode our bus which is always encouraging. The route we would take would drive due East from Jerusalem, hug the Dead Sea, and continue South along the Jordanian border.
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| On our way! |
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| Fresh breakfast pastries from a bakery in the Bus Station. |
After leaving late due to a small group of girls begging the driver to wait for one of their friends, we drove out of Jerusalem passing Jericho, sheep and camels heading toward the Dead Sea.
We turned south on Hwy 90, the road that hugs the Dead Sea and the Judean Mountains. We passed Qumran - where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Before passing En Gedi (where David hid from King Saul) we had bus trouble!!!
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| Near the very north side of the Dead Sea. |
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| The morning sun glimmering of the Sea. |
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Much of the road is like this hugging the mountains on one side
and a cliff to the Dead Sea on the other. |
While we waited for help (a new bus coming from Jerusalem) some people got off the bus for a while. Some to stretch, some for a cigarette break and this one young man to pray (with the traditional tephillin).
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| Strapping on boxes with scriptures to his forehead and arm to pray. |
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Two soldiers taking a break.
We would later on the trip buy the soldier in the white shirt a milkshake at a rest stop. |
We give thanks to God that the bus was able to run the air conditioning the entire time. Everyone's attitude was really good. Didn't hear complaining. Until...
A bus showed up and we thought it was our bus - and it wasn't. Then another bus showed up and we thought it was ours - and it wasn't. It had now been 1 ½ hours....
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| We all got off twice and got our bags thinking it was our new bus. But it wasn't. |
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| 90F is real hot when waiting.... |
And now, almost 2 hours after we pulled off the road, we are finally on our way on a new bus - same driver.
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Look at the time!!
(Linda's phone screen saver - a picture we took in Jerusalem about 3 years ago.) |
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| On our way - again! |
Then...we hit construction. And then our driver did the courtesy of picking up two passengers who needed to go to Masada (they got off their bus at a stop too early) - so we delivered them to the entrance.
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| Construction 5 minutes after getting our new bus. |
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Masada entrance. It's good to know we can take a bus here from Jerusalem, we'd like to visit here again.
You take a cable car to the top and see the fortress and all the archeology from 2,000 years ago. |
And then more construction...!!!
And then, after driving a mere 45 minutes, we stopped for a bathroom break. But granted, we'd been on the bus for 4 hours, and still had 2 ½ to go since we had the 2 hour wait for a new bus. Some had to go....(girls that is...)
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2 Shekels (50 cents)! Linda didn't plan on having to pay - and didn't take her purse.
Thankfully another female passenger was kind enough to give it to her. |
We've now passed the sight that commemorates where Lot's wife turned to a pillar of salt....which means we're finally at the bottom of the Dead Sea.
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| Hotel Spa near the south end of the Dead Sea. |
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| Piles of Dead Sea salt. |
The last half of the trip was never ending. The bus driver was playing 1970's hard rock on the radio, and the guy behind us talked non- stop.
We made another bathroom/food stop for 20 minutes. At this stop, we got a McDonald's milkshake, and bought one for a soldier riding our bus - taking the opportunity to thank him for his service.
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| Nice and tropical looking! |
Finally checked in our room -
at 4 pm instead of
2 pm...we have 2 ½ hours until sunset to go to the beach. So we're grabbing a few snacks & some water from the supermarket around the corner and away we go to swim in the Reed (Red) Sea!! In Hebrew, "Red Sea" is
"Yam Suf" which actually means the "Sea of Reeds."
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| We're here!! |
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It's hard to see, but on the other side of the airport is the apartment complex where we're staying - Royal Suites.
Jordan Mountains behind. |
Wow!!! Never - ever - would we have ever guessed the water would be cold! Amazing! After a looonnggg ride on the bus, to a destination with a temperature of 39C (102F), who would have thought! VERY refreshing!!
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| Jordan Mountains. |
The water is so clear - you can be all the way out to your neck and still see your feet. Also, since it's salt water, it makes you surprisingly buoyant. We've floated in the Dead Sea before (about 45 minutes from Jerusalem), which is known for its floating capabilities, but didn't expect it in this water which is not anywhere near as salty. We've also been swimming in the Mediterranean Sea (less than 1 hour from Jerusalem), but the waves are really active there, whereas this Sea was calm like a lake. Mainly because of its location.
We enjoyed the beach so much we stayed until after sunset and even swam in the dark! The water even was high tide, pushing us off the beach, getting as close as about a foot from our blanket.
Later that night we walked to an Irish restaurant for a fish & chips dinner. When arriving, they asked us if we were there for "the game." Linda's answer of, "What game?" almost received a roll of the eyes. We very excitedly ordered our meal, as we realized the BIG football match (that's soccer in American English) between a Premier League team in England, and Israel, was about to begin.
As we waited for our food, the restaurant filled up - both inside where there were TV's, and outside where there was a big screen. The volume of the game got louder, as did the excitement of the people.
And then came our food. Looks amazing!!
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Didn't know Hellmann's made ketchup.
FYI - Israel decided that Heinz wasn't ketchup...maybe something to do with the family that makes it...? |
Oh - but Jim cut into his fish and said it's raw! Ugh! Both plates were!! We sent it back to get a new order. Then the new order arrived. The waiter (who was so super busy with this crowd) asks us to check the doneness. No way - this one isn't cooked inside either!!
The waiter is shocked and displeased. He takes it back again. Third time he brings it back all chopped up in pieces. He has us check it again, really hoping it's cooked because this is a time stealer for him as well. It appears ok, so we send him off.
After better inspection, one of Linda's is STILL raw inside. Not only that, but the lemons put on our plate of chopped up fish fillets were literally black. It was was at this point we got up and left.
Sorely disappointed, we got a burger and went back to our room. Aaahhhhh......such is life. Good experiences with the bad. Joys and disappointments. At least this was a small one.
Now for the REAL reason we went to Eilat!! Snorkeling!!
We caught a bus right outside where we stayed ~ which by the way, was HALF the price of the cheapest hotel, since it was a one room apartment, but with a huge balcony. The bus ride was short, and only 10 Shekels or $2.50 for us both - and dropped us right at the Coral Beach sight.
The Coral Beach is an Israeli National Reserve. It is one of the top reefs for diving/snorkeling in the world.
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| Life guard. |
For only $20 each, were able to spend the entire day in our own palm covered hut in lounge chairs. This included all our gear, locker and snorkeling all day. We brought a cooler with cold drinks and snacks.
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Israeli Eilat Mountains with our palm covered hut - the first on the right.
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We had the most amazing day. God is so gracious. And His creation is beautiful!! Happy to say that Jim thoroughly enjoyed the day snorkeling as well. Here's some pictures, although it really doesn't do the beauty justice. Eilat (and the city in Jordan next to Eilat - Aqaba) are nestled in the valley between the Jordanian Mountains and the Israeli Mountains. Across the water is Jordan.
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The floating logs are a boundary to help you know where to swim.
You can see how close the reef is to the shoreline. |
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| Entrance to snorkeling. |
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| These wind surfers had a great day with a this breeze. |
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Snorkeling is between the roped buoys and the floating logs so you don't harm the coral.
Although you can swim out to the red & white striped poles as well. |
Here is the chart of the snorkeling area. We both swam the short route many times. Once we swam the long route. There is a coral reef on the long route that is huge that you can swim over and around. To exit the long route, you must swim between two reefs, seemed surreal. Right before we left, Linda went looking for Moses Rock - #7. It was kind of a fish "hang out club." :)
At one point in the day, Linda went down to the small "swimming" area to cool off. It was also a kiddie snorkeling area that even though it wasn't deep, colorful fish still came. It's #10 on the chart.
There, Linda spent a long time answering all the questions of a woman (with her children) from Rosh Pina in the north. She was vey curious - as are most Israelis - about everything from the whys to the hows of what we are doing on Israel. When finding out that our organization was Christian, she asked so many questions.
After hearing our whole testimony of how God brought us to Israel (she asked) and what we do here and why, we parted with wishing each other a happy, healthy New Year filled with peace. We are always excited to share with Israelis about the Christians around the world that are choosing to bless Israel - especially when it's not popular.
Not only did we find Nemo, but we saw many of these other fish show on the diagram.
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Ok - we did NOT take this picture underwater.
It is a picture that shows what the reefs look like... |
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Saw several of these Bluespoeted Cornetfish.
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These nasty bottom of the sea slugs were everywhere.
Good thing we were in deep water.... |
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Linda spent quite a while with these guys. They have an electric blue glow on their fins.
While she held onto the rope, they came real close to nibble on it, including nibbling on her fingers! |
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| Dory? Is that you?? (from the movie) |
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One of the many Brown Surgeonfish.
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| The longer you stay still, the closer the fish will come. |
After an exhausting day of resting and snorkeling - yes this can make you tired! - we went back to our room and ordered the most delicious NY style pizza delivered to our room, which we ate on the balcony.
As we are on a bit of a time limit heading back north to Jerusalem (Shabbat will begin, so all transportation will cease) our driver seems to be in a bit of a hurry. A bit of a maniac actually. Don't believe us? Just ask the policeman that pulled our bus over to give the driver a warning! If you don't like amusement park roller coasters, you wouldn't have liked this bus. We truly understood what it meant to trust God as we were in the hands of this driver. We just prayed for a safe journey and tried not to look....
So as we rode along, holding the hand grips for 4 hours, we listened to music remakes of Cindi Lauper (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun) and Dolly Parton (9 to 5) over the bus speakers. Next tune on the radio was Hotel California as we held on for dear life. Yes. Seriously. We're not making this up. Here's a 15 second snippet of him trying to pass vehicle. He did this the entire trip. This driver didn't like being behind anyone. Maybe he thinks he's a Nascar driver....?
Here's a few pictures on the trip back.
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Southern part of the Dead Sea.
Many of you already know this, but the Dead Sea has been drying up so much that it has actually separated into two separate parts. Here's an image from NASA.
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This is the "Dead Sea" in between the two parts.
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This is the hiking path to the top of Masada.
There's also a cable car for those who don't want to take this trek. |
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Camel rides offered at one of our stops.
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The bus of terror.
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| This new shop greeted us as we arrived back to our apartment. Oh - this could be dangerous. |
The fact that you're getting this email is proof that we made it back safe - with thanks to God. We didn't rent a car, so Jim could relax instead of making the long drive there and back. Although we never imagined the bus rides would be so dramatic! But would we do it again?? Yes!! The wheels on the bus go round and round......
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