Yesterday i visited the Kotel. I was very moved and sucked up the vibration for like half an hour. I made some pictures and recorded a few clips.
After a can of fish on Mount Zion, i decided to walk a little into West Jerusalem and passed by the King David Hotel, where Sharif, the Taxi driver was hanging out in front trying to get customers as usual.
I hope i made it clear, that i cannot visit Jericho, the Dead Sea and Massada in one day, even though he is driving a Mercedes with aircondition and makes me a very special price ....
By that time everything was closed as is today because of Rosh haShanah. Only a few shops in the Muslim and the Christian Quarter in the Old City are open.
I then went to bed early and enjoyed the quietness of my 6 bed room with only one other traveler.
As i may have mentioned earlier, the room has a window and as i was about to start my relaxation cycle at around 18:30 i realized that somewhere close in the neighborhood a group of Sufis were chanting.
It lasted about two hours that i spent in deep relaxation on my bed unable to read or think anything else but dissolve in the perpetual repetition of their singing.
I woke up by the cry of the rooster. Incredible in such a crowded city.
After getting up i walked around the quarter i lived in and tried to find some coffee, no luck - have not had any up to now.
Standing in front of Mikes Center and sipping an XL Energydrink suddenly a procession of Christian maybe from Spain or Italy passed by.
I realize now, this is a very common happening around this part of town close to the Via Dolorosa.
I then walked all the way to Mount Herzl, visited his , Yitzhak Rabins and Golda Meirs graves among other Israeli statespersons.
Then back through a ghost town with no open shops or restaurants and am back in the Old City now ...
Almost all day long the Sufis chant (Zikhr) was running around my head and I wonder what i will hear tonite.
Oh, i forgot to mention the occasional churchbells, whose harmonious sounds are really outstanding ! I never heard Churchbells before that sound so nice.
Another christian group is passing ... singing and praying and carrying the obligatory wooden cross ....
I am in Jerusalem.
Dienstag, 30. September 2008
Montag, 29. September 2008
The Last day of 5768 in Jerusalem
I finally got some really good fried eggs with salad in the cafe of the hostel. The people tried to be very friendly and so was i. The food returned my good spirit and i soldered the frame of my eyeglasses.
As expected sleeping with so many people in a room, with only a tiny opening in the ceiling was not such a nice experience.
For tonight i booked me into a 6 bed room for 35 NIS that has a real window !
I strolled through the Jewish Quarter and hey, what a difference. Clean. Tidy. Quiet. Civilized and inviting. Totally different from the Quarter i stay in, where i saw a fat rat this morning, as i searched for coffee.
Nevertheless, i think people are trying to be friendly and make a business. Still the muslims appear really stressed. I was again invited into some shop to have coffee and look at their stuff.
The guy was cool in a way, spoke good english, showed me the roof walk above the busy bazaar and i gave him 10 NIS and picked up some postcards.
I still wonder how to approach the Temple Mount ...
Uploaded my Fotos to Flicker
As expected sleeping with so many people in a room, with only a tiny opening in the ceiling was not such a nice experience.
For tonight i booked me into a 6 bed room for 35 NIS that has a real window !
I strolled through the Jewish Quarter and hey, what a difference. Clean. Tidy. Quiet. Civilized and inviting. Totally different from the Quarter i stay in, where i saw a fat rat this morning, as i searched for coffee.
Nevertheless, i think people are trying to be friendly and make a business. Still the muslims appear really stressed. I was again invited into some shop to have coffee and look at their stuff.
The guy was cool in a way, spoke good english, showed me the roof walk above the busy bazaar and i gave him 10 NIS and picked up some postcards.
I still wonder how to approach the Temple Mount ...
Uploaded my Fotos to Flicker
Sonntag, 28. September 2008
Children games ...
It was easy to find Hebron Hostel as it really is a few steps from Mikes Center where i had to go again after a walk in the area around the Christian Quarter and the Via Dolorosa...
To explain the situation: Tomorrow the jewish high holidays start with Rosh haShanah and the day after the muslim fasting month of Ramadan will end.
I started my walk around sunset after a short nap in the hostel and it was the time the muslims had their meals after fasting all day long.
I cannot say what is normal here, but there was military all over the place heavily armed, partly guarding synagogues or important crossroads, which in this area the old city of Jerusalem are tiny stone paved roads.
The palestinian kids after having had their dinner were in a playful mood and it seems that toy guns are their favourites. They were running around yelling and shooting at each other. As i came close to two young IDF soldiers, i was just about to think: yeah those guys are cool, laughing and joking with the noisy kids as one of the boys maybe 8 Years old points his toy gun at the head of one of the soldiers. Their mood suddenly changed and the kids ran away.
I was close to tears, and still am. The scene was shocking, maybe for all of us and shows how easily the situation here can escalate.
A movie came to my mind that i saw recently, about children (i do not remember exactly where) bringing their toy guns to be publicly burned as an act of disarmament.
Being in Jerusalem, i feel like praying for peace.
Could be the change from Tel Aviv's sea level to the height of about 800 meters or i don't know what. The last days in Momos hostel in Tel Aviv were relaxed and my roomates were really cool, we had interresting discussions everyday and the vibe was altogether friendly welcoming and cosy.
I did not make it to the Kotel, the Western Wall of Mount Moriah tonight and feel like hiding in some place. In the hostel (managed by arabs) i share the room with 15 other travellers but the raw stone walls give a certain feeling of security, so i may well go there and spend the evening reading or improving my hebrew.
Also my glasses need soldering again pretty soon ...
I also need to get some food but feel repulsed by whatever i see in the nevertheless colourful oriental bazaar like streets herearound. Hunger and reason will win this battle. Oh how i loved the kosher shawarma in Allenby Street.
To explain the situation: Tomorrow the jewish high holidays start with Rosh haShanah and the day after the muslim fasting month of Ramadan will end.
I started my walk around sunset after a short nap in the hostel and it was the time the muslims had their meals after fasting all day long.
I cannot say what is normal here, but there was military all over the place heavily armed, partly guarding synagogues or important crossroads, which in this area the old city of Jerusalem are tiny stone paved roads.
The palestinian kids after having had their dinner were in a playful mood and it seems that toy guns are their favourites. They were running around yelling and shooting at each other. As i came close to two young IDF soldiers, i was just about to think: yeah those guys are cool, laughing and joking with the noisy kids as one of the boys maybe 8 Years old points his toy gun at the head of one of the soldiers. Their mood suddenly changed and the kids ran away.
I was close to tears, and still am. The scene was shocking, maybe for all of us and shows how easily the situation here can escalate.
A movie came to my mind that i saw recently, about children (i do not remember exactly where) bringing their toy guns to be publicly burned as an act of disarmament.
Being in Jerusalem, i feel like praying for peace.
Could be the change from Tel Aviv's sea level to the height of about 800 meters or i don't know what. The last days in Momos hostel in Tel Aviv were relaxed and my roomates were really cool, we had interresting discussions everyday and the vibe was altogether friendly welcoming and cosy.
I did not make it to the Kotel, the Western Wall of Mount Moriah tonight and feel like hiding in some place. In the hostel (managed by arabs) i share the room with 15 other travellers but the raw stone walls give a certain feeling of security, so i may well go there and spend the evening reading or improving my hebrew.
Also my glasses need soldering again pretty soon ...
I also need to get some food but feel repulsed by whatever i see in the nevertheless colourful oriental bazaar like streets herearound. Hunger and reason will win this battle. Oh how i loved the kosher shawarma in Allenby Street.
Arrived at Jerusalem
I arrived in Jerusalem at around 14:00 , took the bus number 20 from the Central Bus-station and got out too early it seems or walked the wrong way and got lost immediately.
I found myself with the help of a nice Israeli couple to be exactly on Mount Zion.
While they suggested to enter the old city through the nearby Zion Gate i decided to follow the invitation of a Taxi driver named Sharif to drive me to Jaffa Gate.
On the way he offered to drive me to Hebron, Jericho, or anywhere and be my guide etc. Just as i escaped hist car, a man who called himself Abraham approached and wanted to guide me. I declined he still wanted me to show "his brothers" shop ... once there i was invited for cofe which i could not decline then the sales procedures started.
The price for a Magen David in Silver went down from 250 NIS to 70 NIS, i still had to decline and insisted that i have to have at least a shower after all that traveling and got away.
So i entered the old city and yes indeed its overwhelming.
Uncountable small shops selling virtually everything, crowded as hell and because you cannot see the sky and it is all small and narrow there is no real chance to keep orientation.
Guided by my intuition only i made it to "Mikes Place" where i sit now in a small and somehow comfortable Internet cell writing this Post.
The Hebron Hostel should be only a few steps away and this is where James a fellow traveller from Australia that i met in Tel Aviv spent some days for 35 NIS a night.
Sitting here is a relieve after all that crazy fuzz and those masses of people out there.
Since the rest rooms at the Bus Terminal were closed for some reason, i still need to use the toilet badly, but can manage for another half hour or so.
I found myself with the help of a nice Israeli couple to be exactly on Mount Zion.
While they suggested to enter the old city through the nearby Zion Gate i decided to follow the invitation of a Taxi driver named Sharif to drive me to Jaffa Gate.
On the way he offered to drive me to Hebron, Jericho, or anywhere and be my guide etc. Just as i escaped hist car, a man who called himself Abraham approached and wanted to guide me. I declined he still wanted me to show "his brothers" shop ... once there i was invited for cofe which i could not decline then the sales procedures started.
The price for a Magen David in Silver went down from 250 NIS to 70 NIS, i still had to decline and insisted that i have to have at least a shower after all that traveling and got away.
So i entered the old city and yes indeed its overwhelming.
Uncountable small shops selling virtually everything, crowded as hell and because you cannot see the sky and it is all small and narrow there is no real chance to keep orientation.
Guided by my intuition only i made it to "Mikes Place" where i sit now in a small and somehow comfortable Internet cell writing this Post.
The Hebron Hostel should be only a few steps away and this is where James a fellow traveller from Australia that i met in Tel Aviv spent some days for 35 NIS a night.
Sitting here is a relieve after all that crazy fuzz and those masses of people out there.
Since the rest rooms at the Bus Terminal were closed for some reason, i still need to use the toilet badly, but can manage for another half hour or so.
Samstag, 27. September 2008
Tel Aviv and Jaffa
Today is my fourth day in Tel Aviv and i will travel to Jerusalem tomorrow to spend Rosh haShanah there and plan to stay until Yom Kippur.
Tel Aviv is a wonderful and modern city. Even today on Shabbat the AM-PM 24 hours markets are open as well as several coffeehouses. Normal shops are closed of course.
Yesterday i walked to Jaffa, and had a look at the old town. There are for sure beautiful sights and so, but if you walk a little awaz from the beaten track, it becomes quite dirty and unfriendly unless you make a genuine arab appearance which i do not ...
Staying in Tel Aviv at momoshostel.com is cool though more expensive than the Lonely Planet said , i actually pay 68 NIS a night which is a little more than 13 EUR at current exchange rates ...
Howsoever, the staff is really friendly, the location is central as well as close to the beautiful beach and i generally feel well there.
I opened an account on youtube and hope to upload some Clips i shot with the mobile once i bring my laptop online again. You should be able to find it at http://www.youtube.com/lg5769 , but it will take some days until i can put some content there.
Tel Aviv is a wonderful and modern city. Even today on Shabbat the AM-PM 24 hours markets are open as well as several coffeehouses. Normal shops are closed of course.
Yesterday i walked to Jaffa, and had a look at the old town. There are for sure beautiful sights and so, but if you walk a little awaz from the beaten track, it becomes quite dirty and unfriendly unless you make a genuine arab appearance which i do not ...
Staying in Tel Aviv at momoshostel.com is cool though more expensive than the Lonely Planet said , i actually pay 68 NIS a night which is a little more than 13 EUR at current exchange rates ...
Howsoever, the staff is really friendly, the location is central as well as close to the beautiful beach and i generally feel well there.
I opened an account on youtube and hope to upload some Clips i shot with the mobile once i bring my laptop online again. You should be able to find it at http://www.youtube.com/lg5769 , but it will take some days until i can put some content there.
My new Cellcom Israel SIM Card
I bought a Cellcom SIM Card with 50 NIS Credit for 120 NIS just a few steps south of Momos.
I can be reached now from all over the world under
+972 (0) 526 59 60 40
As i wanted to place a long distance call today, i figured that i could not and have to activate this service (with my PIN 2) by dialling *778 and following the instructions. Unfortunately the voice menu is in hebrew and and do not understand enough to safely unlock this feature, so i will need assistance, which should not be a problem as i find Israelis to be very helpful and friendly.
I can be reached now from all over the world under
+972 (0) 526 59 60 40
As i wanted to place a long distance call today, i figured that i could not and have to activate this service (with my PIN 2) by dialling *778 and following the instructions. Unfortunately the voice menu is in hebrew and and do not understand enough to safely unlock this feature, so i will need assistance, which should not be a problem as i find Israelis to be very helpful and friendly.
Dienstag, 23. September 2008
Leaving for Zion
I decided to write this post as i am about to leave my appartment in Vienna to go to the airport. My plane leaves at 20:40. By 1:20 i shall arrive at Ben Gurion International airport.
Next i will pack this 500MHz Laptop.
I am excited and nervous as can be and hope i did not forget anything and will leave my flat in a safe condition for the next couple of weeks.
I purchased a used Nokia 3110 classic with a 1.3 Megapixel camera and plan to take some pictures on the way, just right now i am too nervous to think of anything, like creating a youtube account and so on. But i hope this will happen in the next couple of days.
Next i will pack this 500MHz Laptop.
I am excited and nervous as can be and hope i did not forget anything and will leave my flat in a safe condition for the next couple of weeks.
I purchased a used Nokia 3110 classic with a 1.3 Megapixel camera and plan to take some pictures on the way, just right now i am too nervous to think of anything, like creating a youtube account and so on. But i hope this will happen in the next couple of days.
Abonnieren
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