After lunch in Madaba, our tour guide wanted to get us across the border to hopefully avoid some of the mishaps we had encountered previously. Good thinking!
He explained all the steps carefully and helped us in departing Jordan. After the Jordanian official boarded our bus to check all our passports, we were escorted to the Jordanian customs building. They wanted to take each of our pictures and required an electronic finger print in order to allow us leave Jordan.
There was a bus load full of Jordanians and they kept edging their way ahead of us. Apparently waiting in line is culturally difficult for some Arab people. We experienced abrasive people pushing ahead of us and cutting in line no matter where we went. Fadi was there to run interference for us. Another forceful, loud conversation ensued and the second busload of people were escorted to a separate line and counter. Leaving Jordan was pretty uneventful - thankfully. We were allowed to get back on our Jordanian bus after jumping through some hoops in the customs building and we were on our way toward the Israeli side.
We said our goodbyes to Fadi, our Jordanian tour guide, as well as to our "shadow". Our Jordanian bus driver was permitted to drive us a little farther toward the Israel border before he would be forced to turn around. We were SO grateful not to have to drag our luggage for a long distance.
Because we were on a Jordanian bus with a Jordanian driver, the Israeli border guards checked our bus very carefully, running mirrors underneath and walking around it many times. We had to wait on the bus for a LONG time. I am not sure what the hold up was - but we were starting to despair. We no longer had our guide with us to explain what was going on or to speed up the process. It looked like the Israeli border guards were just standing outside our bus chatting about the weather. What should have taken a few minutes was taking over an hour - and we weren't even to the customs building yet. What was going on?
Eventually, after much longer than necessary, they flagged us on and our bus driver delivered us and our luggage across the street from the custom's building. We each found our suitcases and started on in to the building where the Israeli border patrol searched our luggage, ushered us through Xray machines, stamped our passports, interrogated us about our luggage and our trip, and checked every detail twice. Again, my bag was thoroughly hand searched and sent through Xray several times. We exited into Israel - eventually. It was another very long border crossing. Some of our group got held up while they apparently trained a new guard. Again, we were late and way behind schedule.
Our new Israeli tour guide, Hannah, was surprised at how long it took us to clear customs. Maybe the word got out that last time we traveled to Israel there was a bomb! Actually, we know that those who have traveled to Egypt and Jordan are VERY carefully examined. We all felt very relieved to finally be in Israel! Very relieved!
As we drove along a lush, fertile valley, we enjoyed seeing beautiful agriculture growing and even being picked! Bananas, mangos, tomatoes, and other fruits were ripe. Hannah explained all about Israel, the area we were traveling through, and how her country is experiencing a water shortage. We were encouraged to continue to drink only bottled water - unless we were seasoned world travelers. I guess that means unless we were okay with having intestinal issues.
Our bus driver, Benni was amazing. He had a deep hoarse voice and a great sense of humor. He traversed the countryside with the greatest of ease, and his bus (which he owns) was immaculate and quite comfortable. I must say - Israel has some really, really curvy roads - but, by God's grace, we all avoided feeling car sick. There was beauty everywhere we looked, but I again was so very tired and had great difficulty holding my eyes open. After an hour bus ride, we arrived safely to our hotel in Tiberias - along the Sea of Galilee!
Leonardo Club Hotel - Tiberias
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