Glorious city of Jerusalem
This is really a pilgrimage turned out ...straight from Egypt.
Start over. I took a tour in a street agency. It turned out almost twice cheaper than my tour. operator. The latter found out and was very offended. He began to tell how I took risks (like without insurance), etc. In fact, we were traveling by 3 buses together through the territory of Egypt: Luna Rosa, TezTour and some other agency (I don’t remember). On the territory of Israel, we were received by meeting agencies (different), but even there we traveled together, along the same route, and dined in the same restaurant, and bought goods in the same stores ...So, for me, everything was the same . Equally interesting.
Important point! For this tour, a group one-day Israeli visa is issued. The cost is $20 per person. When buying a tour, do not forget to check if the visa is included in the price. For visa processing, the agency requires a margin of time of 2-3 days.
Keep this in mind when planning excursions. This I mean that if you are going to Sharm for a week, then you should immediately take care of the excursion, otherwise there may not be enough time physically (tours 2 times a week, plus a reserve of 3 days for visas).
So. We leave late in the evening. Although we were picked up from the hotel at 20-30 in the evening, but large buses formed only by midnight. This formation takes place at the site at the gas station somewhere between the airport and Naama Bay. For 2 hours of waiting and forming groups, they managed to breathe in gasoline fumes, diesel exhausts; we had time to drink coffee (a shop at the gas station) and run into the toilet for 2 geni (Egyptian pounds). That's where we really needed them! those pounds! You can't go to the toilet without them! Of course, you can give a dollar, but getting change without knowing Arabic is unrealistic. My small vocabulary and "impudent" pressure helped to get change even from a dollar!! ! and even at the rate of 5! Great creative luck.
So we left around midnight. The drivers drove so that at 2-30 in the morning we were already at the border crossing point in Taba. Then it became clear to us why we were in such a hurry ...When we spent 3 hours in line on the Israeli side. The Egyptian side was passed very quickly. But they lingered on the Israeli one ...And it's not surprising: the Israelis take border control very seriously. Especially with Egypt. Remember the Seven Day War.
In fact, the border crossing looks like this. Night. In the neutral zone (from the Egyptian side) lined up tourists. Approximately 200-300 people: several buses immediately drove up. First Israeli post. There is a young pretty girl in a bulletproof vest, with a walkie-talkie and ultrasound. Passes in small batches. Man 7-8. It is clear why: the room is small.
We get into the customs control room. 2 corridors: green and red. One young girl for each corridor.
Personally, everyone is asked questions: Where are you going, for how long, are all the things with you yours, did anyone transfer things with you to your friends in Israel, do you have weapons, explosives, drugs. It is understandable why the queue moves so slowly. By the way, joking when answering questions is not recommended. Customs girls take everything very seriously. So, the joke can turn into additional screening and delay the entire queue. According to some signs that we do not understand, the girls separate tourists: some are allowed along the green corridor without checking, and some along the red one. That is, Things through the X-ray machine, themselves through the frame, in general, everything is as it should be ...Personally, I was lucky: I got into the green corridor. But to his wife - no: she went red. As a result - in the next drive before passport control I waited for her for half an hour.
The next step is passport control. Several officers work at once, but it still turns out slowly, because
they ask everyone for the name of the agency, check against the lists, compare the photocopy of the passport with the original, and only after that they put a stamp. All this with a smile, but some tourists were checked several times ...As a result, they spent 2.5 hours crossing the border. This is normal ...It happens much longer. So don't forget the toilets! It is advisable to go for the first time before the Egyptian passport control (it is not known when you will get to the Israeli side), and then in the drive in front of the Israeli passport (the next toilet will be at best only after 3 hours). At the same time, you will feel the difference between the Egyptian and Israeli toilets.
Finally, by 6 o'clock in the morning we are already on the bus on the Israeli side: the city of Eilat. You will be met by Russian guides. Very friendly. Our exes are all ...Probably bored, because they are friendly. We leave for the Dead Sea (anyway, the road to Jerusalem passes by it).
It was just dawn when we arrived. We watched the sunrise over the Dead Sea. Beautiful. Even very beautiful. Moreover, Jordan is on the other side of the sea: their coast is perfectly visible. Although it seems to be the same Sinai as in Egypt.
And here we are immediately taken into circulation: a SPA center, locker rooms, swimming, a cosmetics store based on the minerals of this sea (here you have discounts, gifts, and other joys "especially for you"). Even me, who is resistant to marketing techniques, was hyped for 50 dollars ...The cafe also works right there. True, the prices are just flying away: a cup of coffee is about 7.5 dollars. Therefore, do not be lazy and take food from Egypt with you. Who took it, ate it right there in the cafe. This is not forbidden. And after passing the border, you will definitely get hungry!
After about an hour of staying at the Dead Sea, we left the SPA center and drove towards Jerusalem.
This is where the most interesting thing began: we plunged into history and were transported about 6 thousand years ago (thanks to our guide). Remember the biblical legend of Sodom and Gomorrah? So, it was all on the shores of the Dead Sea, approximately where we swam ...
In general, the feeling of the whole trip is amazing! Living history...And as it was all this (I mean nature) then, so it is now, so it will be later. And here we are fussing, running like cockroaches on the slabs of eternity...Okay, that was a lyrical digression.
On the way to Jerusalem, they saw the Mossad fortress built by King Herod (do you understand where the name of the Israeli intelligence comes from? ). We also saw Bedouin camps. Exactly the same as in Egypt. Civilization apparently does not affect their way of life. I understand that both in Egypt and in Israel they somehow stand apart. Governments do not touch them, do not interfere with life. According to rumors, a lot of money passes through the Bedouins.
It seems that their main occupation is the transportation of drugs. They may lie, or they may not. Otherwise, why does no one touch them, and does not quarrel with them?
We arrived in Jerusalem. First of all, they took us to the observation deck near the Hebrew University. The city is in full view. Wherever you look - ancient history: the cornerstone of the universe, the "Russian pencil" church, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Temple Mount...You can't list everything...It's as if you yourself got into the bible.
After the observation deck - rather to the wailing wall (until other tourists come running). The place is amazing. Although I am not a Jew, but near this wall, tears poured themselves. Probably such energy is concentrated for 5 thousand years...
Then a walking tour (almost running) through the old shopping galleries of ancient Jerusalem. In my opinion, these galleries are below ground level (this was the impression). It's like a city under a city.
And nothing seems to have changed over the past 2 thousand years: Arab quarters, Jewish, Christian...Ancient shopping arcades. They are trading now.
In general, the impression is that people of all nationalities live in Jerusalem, and they get along very well. I caught myself feeling that I feel very comfortable and calm in these ancient places. It's like coming home after a hard day. Then I asked others: almost everyone has about the same feeling ...
Then there was the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Unfortunately, everyone was running...And this despite the fact that there were not many tourists that day. There are so many places in this temple that you want to see! And time is very limited. If you want to have time to see a lot, I recommend that at the slightest pause in the tour, you can see the neighboring aisles and niches. The temple is very large despite its apparent compactness. And it has aisles of different faiths (it seems that there is a Muslim aisle). Although in general, the temple is Orthodox.
There is only 1 frame inside the Temple.
After the tomb of the Lord, we went to Bethlehem, that is, to the place of the birth of Christ. As it turned out, Bethlehem begins immediately after Jerusalem, BUT! already in the territory of the Palestinian Authority. That is, behind the wall (they have now built a Berlin-type wall there: they fenced themselves off from the Palestinians). And entry into the territory of the autonomy is prohibited for citizens of Israel. That is, the guides come up with some tricks, and are very afraid of checking documents at Palestinian checkpoints. For example, we entered the Palestinian zone on the 2nd attempt. First, we drove up to the checkpoint, and there were a bunch of military vehicles, and everyone's documents were checked. The driver quickly turned the bus around and drove through some gullies to the city dump. And there, between the mountains of garbage, we made our way to the Palestinian sector. Probably the wall has not yet been built there, or they will not be built at all (probably a common landfill).
In the Palestinian sector, in Bethlehem, we had lunch at a restaurant, then bought some goods in a souvenir shop. All this, and the hotel next door is owned by one owner. His name is Nissan. Probably they have a very respected person, because our guide often told the locals that we were guests of Nissan. Then they didn't come to us.
After lunch we went to the Church of the Nativity of Christ. It stands above the very cave where the Virgin Mary gave birth to Christ. The church is not as famous as the Jerusalem shrines, but no less ancient and interesting. She was under the protection of the crusaders. Anyway, the aura there is amazing. Each stone breathes holy antiquity. You feel it physically. There is even the smell of antiquity, not incense. Although the church now belongs to the Orthodox Armenian community, all confessions gather there. And there is even a small iconostasis belonging to the Russian church, with Russian icons.
There, right in the cave where Christ was born, we dedicated our souvenirs, water, candles, and in general - what anyone had.
After visiting this church, we went home to Egypt. Again past the Dead Sea. We stopped there for 40 minutes. Someone else took a dip. And again on the road - to Eilat: to the border. We got there around 7pm. Completely tired and stunned by the amount of information and the number of holy places we visited.
The reverse border crossing was 3 times faster, and at 9 pm we were already driving to Sharm. As a result, by midnight, tired but satisfied, the pioneers returned home. And they even ate a late dinner, which was delivered directly to our room (do not forget to order it at the reception when you go on an excursion. This is a free hotel service).
The realization of what he saw on this excursion came only the next day. And we ourselves were amazed at our own heroism and the fact that we became like real pilgrims.
