34. ISRAEL & PALESTINE

From Jordan, the next logical step by land was Palestine and Israel, both countries were visible from the Dead Sea already. Since I set my first foot in the Middle East, discussions about the political situation there started and never ended. It is really hard to learn more about that conflict and to choose a side since there are so much different information, historical events, family tragedies and emotions. I never wanted to choose any side, my own opinion is solely based on the time I spent with Israelis and Palestinians. But this is really the most heated conflict I encountered on my trip so far.

To reach Jericho in Palestine we had to cross the King Hussein Bridge in Jordan and pass the Israeli border checkpoint which was not that easy. The soldiers on the border asked plenty of questions, wanted to see my laptop and had problems with all the Muslim countries I visited over the last few years. It did not help obviously that we did not have any room booked and my first contacts in that area are Palestinians in Jericho :D

I get it that they have to be obsessed with security because of the difficult geographical location but in the next week, I realized one thing very fast: All the soldiers, border officers and policemen & women were extremely unfriendly, rude and extremely racist. When we left Israel from the International Airport in Tel Aviv we even got an 'exclusive' 30-minute interview where they wanted to know if our friends in Malaysia have Chinese or Muslim names.

But besides the entry and exit Israel and Palestine were an amazing and super interesting experience. Especially Jerusalem, with its fascinating history and important places spanning thousands of years is an amazing place on planet Earth. The city is holy for Judaism, Islam and Christianity and we spent days wandering and exploring all those magnificent sites.

We were lucky enough to stay for free for a couple of nights in a 3,000 Euros-a-night apartment just next to the Western Wall. The Rabi who hosted us there gave us a living room with a huge window facing the Western Wall and Dome of the Rock. Probably one of the best views I ever had from a sleeping place. In exchange, we helped prepare a Bar Mitzvah which was super interesting as well.

Also, Tel Aviv, the modern coastal city with amazing beach life was a great city and a good contrast to Jerusalem. The urban beach life easily rivals cities such as Barcelona or Sydney and thanks to Edi and Roni we learned a lot about Israel and its short history and complex culture. The cost of living and traveling in Israel is just shocking and the quality of things you get when you travel on a budget is insanely low. The supermarket prices are out of the world and the cheapest food you can get (mostly from bakeries on the street) was awfully bad. A couple of times we had some delicious samples of Israeli cuisine (i.e. leftovers of Bar Mitzvahs :D) though.

3 Highlights:
- Exploring Jerusalem and sleeping next to the Western Wall

- Strolling around trendy Tel Aviv

- Learning about Palestine and crossing from West Jordan