Wow so I wanted to write about my adventures in Israel every week but that totally has not happened. I’m thinking that this is probably a good thing, because it means I’ve been too busy to find time to write in the past couple of weeks. So, what exactly have I been up to? Unfortunately, since I’ve been up to a lot, this post will only cover really one experience.
When we left off I had just recovered from being sick and miserable, and was starting to have a good time with the friends that I’ve made here. I was planning a trip to the Sea of Galilee and I was really excited to see more of Israel.
I didn’t end up going to the Sea of Galilee, but instead went north to Rosh Hanikra and Akko. Rosh Hanikra is a kind of “natural wonder” right on the border between Israel and Lebanon. The Mediterranean Sea has carved these grottos into the cliff wall and you can walk into them and explore these really cool caves (check out some of my pictures pictures). Akko is also a pretty interesting place; it’s a town at the across the bay from Haifa that was used as a kind of fortress during the crusader period. It was also occupied by the Ottomans, so there are a bunch of artifacts from that period too (pictures).
I took a day off of work, because it’s much easier to travel on weekdays than on weekends here, and took a train from Tel Aviv University to Naharriya, one of the northern-most coastal towns. From here I needed to take a bus to Rosh Hanikra, which is about 10km north of Naharriya. Naturally, I didn’t really know how to do this, so I asked a couple of people and they told me to wait at this bus stop. I waited and waited, and buses passed by, but none of them were going to Rosh Hanikra. Eventually, this taxi stopped and asked me where I was going and said he’d take me to Rosh Hanikra. The taxi, although it looked like a normal taxi, was some kind of shared-taxi. He stopped at all of the bus stops and picked up one or two people, and dropped them wherever they wanted to go. I guess it was good because it was much cheaper than a regular taxi.
Anyway, he dropped me at Rosh Hanikra and I went to go ask about admission tickets (It’s kind of a touristy place so of course you have to pay to see the grottos). You take this cable car down from the top of the cliff to where the grottos are and on the cable car I met a bunch of South African high schoolers, who were on some sort of summer trip through Israel. Their “chaperone” was a college student so I hung out with him and his group for a bit before parting ways and wandering around on my own through the grottos. Of course the grottos were really impressive, but it’s hard to capture that in words, so check out my pictures instead.
After wandering around, I took the cable car back up to the top of the cliff and asked about how to get back to Naharriya. Everyone I asked didn’t really seem to know how, so I kind of started freaking out, but one person told me to go wait at the bus stop and a bus would eventually show up. This was still pretty worrisome as I wanted to get to Akko in time for lunch, and it was already approaching noon. There were around 20 army girls waiting at the bus station, apparently also going back to Naharriya, so I started talking to them asking about how they were getting into town. They had called a sherut (a different kind of shared taxi) and invited me to come along with them. Long story short, I met a bunch of army girls and made it to Akko in time for lunch.
Akko was pretty interesting, but not as incredible as I imagined it would be. On the plus side, the markets were really cool, and there were some interesting artifacts from the crusader and ottoman times. I had heard that there was this amazing hummus place in the Akko market so that was my first stop for lunch. These hummus places are funny, because if your party doesn’t fill up a table, they’ll sit other people with you. I was by myself, so I was seated with a German girl and a Mexican guy, who are studying in England. So we ate lunch together and it was pretty fun, they were both interesting people and had some good stories. In retrospect I really like the policy of sitting you with other people because it makes you’re meal a lot more social. And of course, lunch was amazing; seriously it was probably the best hummus I’ve ever eaten, on par (or better than) Abu Hassan in Yafo.
After lunch, I wandered around the old city, saw the harbor, some of the mosques, the sea wall, and many of the tourist attractions. I also wandered around the market a bit and got to see all of the colorful spice stands and experience some amazing smells from food stands. Afterwards, I wanted to go see the Knight’s Hall (where the Templar’s lived during the Crusades) and ran into this French guy who was literally motorcycling the mediterranean (from Algeria back to France). We hung out together and saw the Knight’s Hall and walked through the market again and then parted ways but he was a really cool guy. As for all of the things I saw, just check out my pictures.
As I was leaving, I walked through the market one last time and met an Arab-Israeli who was trying to buy some fish. He also was really friendly and I walked with him and watched him bargain for fish (which was really entertaining). He invited me to lunch, but as I was still really full from my earlier meal and politely declined. Finally, on my way out I ran into the South African kids again and walked with them for a bit. Then I got on a train from Akko back to Tel Aviv University, took the bus back to my dorm and pretty much just passed out. It was a long, busy day, but totally worth it.
One thing I really liked about this day in particular (and most of my time in Israel) is that you meet a lot of random people and all of them are really interesting. Maybe it’s partly me becoming more engaging with strangers, but I find that here I interact with “strangers” a lot more and consequently get to see new perspectives and learn about cool places and things to do. Like on this trip, I met and hung out with the South Africans, shared a taxi with some Israeli soldiers, had lunch with the Mexican and German, explored Akko with the French guy, and wandered the market with an Arab-Israeli. I cannot imagine meeting such a diverse group of people at school, and this is definitely something I’m going to miss about being here.
Definitely this wouldn’t have happened had I been with a big group, which is part of why I really like being here by myself. I’ve made a completely new group of friends, and we’re a small enough group that we still interact with new people. I think if I were here with a bunch of friends then I wouldn’t have met a lot of the people that I did, and consequently I would have missed out on a bunch of great stories and experiences.
So despite planning to spend the day by myself, I met some great people and had good company throughout my trip. I ate good food, saw some pretty spectacular things, met interesting people, and of course, skipped a day of work!
So I took this day-trip the week after I wrote my last post. A lot of time has passed since then so I still owe you many more stories. Work has been keeping me pretty busy but I’ll see if I can find some time to write more during this coming week.