Middle East Ride 2006

5 days before departure

2006-11-26T09:30:00.000+01:00

Originally published 13.11.2006

Today it is only 5 days till I leave for my Middle East Ride 2006. My plan is to fly to Tel-Aviv, bike from there to Jerusalem, have a sightseeing and go on down to the Dead Sea. Then I'd like to see Massada before I start crossing the Negev desert all the way south to Eilat. From Eilat I hope to be able to enter Egypt as well as Jordan, maybe even take a trip to the historic city of Petra.

Tickets are bought, including the bike extra luggage reservation, some nights are pre-booked and the rest will be taken care of as I go along. As the situation at the moment is rather tense in Gaza I hope unrest will not be spreading to the West Bank, but I'll keep myself posted on the day-to-day situation. If safety concerns should make it sensible to take a bus for parts of the distance - well so be it, without ruining the trip.

Why Israel and the Middle East?No, this is not another "Biking for Peace" project. The reasons for going, however, are many. Most importantly, I have never been there! I have always been more interested in exploring new places rather than seeing the places where I have already been. And the Middle East stands out as one of the most thrilling areas in the world. As a Christian I am interested in seeing the Holy land and some of its landmarks in Jewish, Christian and Moslem history. Besides, I am interested in seeing how things really are in Israel and the Palestine Territory with my own eyes rather than just consuming blindly what the media presents.

The day before...

2006-11-26T05:30:00.000+01:00

Originally published 17.11.2006

Well now everything seems to be as ready as it could be. The last thing to take care of is to try to find a place to sleep from Saturday to Sunday. Ideally it should be as close to the airport as possible, but in the right direction, i.e. towards Jerusalem. If I can't find a cheap hotel I'll just have to check in into an airport hotel - which looks boring and expensive, but should be safer than trying to find my way in the dark on the bike. But I'll continue browsing through a few web pages to look for cheaper accomodation, I just got some links from an Israeli Skype friend.

B.t.w I am going alone as initially planned, unfortunately, but not unexpectedly my collegue was not able to rescedule her and her husband's program as quickly as necessary. Would be nice to go with a little group, though...

5 out of 8 nights booked

2006-11-26T04:30:00.000+01:00

Originally published 17.11.2006

After trying in vain to find a hostel along the road between Ben Gurion Airport and Jerusalem, I gave up and found a nice place in the old part of Tel-Aviv which has good reviews on the internet. http://www.inisrael.com/oldjaffahostel/ That means having to bike into Tel-Aviv tomorrow and back again the same way on Sunday - but after all one of the reasons for going to Israel in the first place is to bike, so this means an extra bonus of some 45 km. In Jerusalem I have found private accomodation via my membership on the Warm Showers list - http://www.warmshowers.org/. Having had the pleasure of hosting a number of WSL members in my own home over the years, it will be nice to be a guest for the first time myself. Now, the 3 last nights are also booked in Eilat and Tel Aviv, so I will have accept my Jerusalem hosts' offer of some Hebrew web site and telephone help to try and find accomodation for the remaining 3 nights by the Dead Sea and in the Negev desert.

Barely made my flight in Vienna............

2006-11-26T04:00:00.000+01:00

Originally published 18.11.2006

After a 65 minute delay in Oslo my mood was a little gloomy as it seemed as if I would not be able to reach my El Al flight. Luckily the pilot found the turbo button - and after landing I was rushed through the terminal by a number of helpful staff. In the plane now - soon ready to take off.
Austrian is much better than the rumours say. Good breakfast - no charge in spite of what I had heard about meals, and nice staff. They even charged me nothing for the bike (saved me of 500NOK there. I was even given a business class seat for free! Now let us see if the rest works out as smoothly... The machine gun guy looks scary enough, so I guess it's safe.

Lost in the dark on Highway 1

2006-11-26T03:30:00.000+01:00

Originally published 18.11.06

Somebody HAD adviced me to take a bus from the airport to central Tel Aviv - but some are more stubborn than others and always have to find their own way, not wasting a single chance to do some serious biking. So there I found myself on a crowded, lethal motorway seemingly going in the wrong direction and without any exits for miles. and as if that wasn't enough darkness came a little earlier than I thought, which really made it even more enjoyable.
To my joy I found an exit at last that went into a dark, sinister neigbourhood. After having been attacked by a couple of stray dogs the size of small ponys (that I got rid if using the trick I practiced to perfection in the Dominican republic - speed up, aim for the bastards and kick with maximum strength - it works every time...) I asked a young couple for directions. Unfortunately the message was "go back to big road" - but only for a couple of kms, then there was an exit to a smaller road and much more relaxed cycling.
Another hour in a maze of streets and alleys, and with the help of a telephone call, I was finally able to check in at the Old Jaffa Hostel. Instead of sleeping in a 10- bed dorm I felt I deserved a single room, even if it set me back 36$. Then, after a 6 km walk after having parked my bike in the room and had a nice shower, I was able to find an ATM to get some cash to buy dinner. Now - sitting in my T-Shirt on a street restaurant enjoying a local dish accompanied with something even more local to drink, life is great - what an extraordinary day!
Ooops - shooting is heard from a couple of blocks away, but nobody seems to notice so I guess there is no reason for alarm - probably some celebration OK with me, as long as there are no bullets in my direction.

An angel in Jerusalem

2006-11-26T03:00:00.000+01:00

Originally published 19.11.2006

Sometimes you just have to believe in angels. Today I had a great trip fromTel Aviv, found the way out of town surprisingly easily, and did the first 55 km in 3 hours, including a lunch break in a little restaurant practically in the middle of a junction. Then the steep hills started, which went fine, too - climbed from 250 to 700 meters above sea level without any problems.

Then all of a sudden the freewheel was not a freewheel anymore - it was blocked. That was manageable when going uphill, but extremely dangerous going downhill because the pedals rotated with the wheel. I nearly lost control of the bike a couple of times when I forgot to click out of the pedals, so I stopped in a junction 13 km west of Jerusalem to see if I could fix it - best case scenario it could just be some dirt between the hub and the cog wheels. Sorry - it was the worst case scenario. The freewheel cassette was completely stuck - due to old age I guess. I started making alternative plans - leave the bike in Jerusalem and take a bus to Eilat - missing the trip through the Negev which was a depressing thought. The chances of finding a bike dealer capable of doing the job AND finding the right freewheel for my ancient Giant Expedition was one to a million, and not really an option to take into account at all.

Then the angel arrived - not descending from the skies, but in a white Ford Fiesta. She was dressed in white, too, just as angels are supposed to. Even the language was the one of angels when she asked if I needed help, but she changed into English when she realized that the unlucky traveller did not understand Hebrew. She quickly understood my situation - like good angels have a habit of doing, and offered me and the bike a ride to Jerusalem. I - looking at the small car and my huge bike - turned the offer down at first, but she convinced me that it was a good idea. She presented herself as Riki, a passionate cyclist herself. We took off the wheels and somehow managed to force the bike into her back seat - I hoped I did not ruin it completely, but she said she used the car for bike transport on a regular basis, so there was no need to worry.

Still, I was a little pessimistic - what is the possibility of finding a spare part for a 15 year old bike, with a Shimano LX series that went out of production 10 years ago? On her way to the city centre she pointed right and left, giving me a sightseeing as well. Then she called her boyfriend and was directed to the best bike shop in town, the Express Bikes. And then the second miracle today happened. Not only did they find the broken part - going through their museum spare parts, but a mechanic was able to change it right away. On top of that, they denied me the pleasure of paying for the work, just a symbolic sum of 14$ for the freewheel. Riki was to a certain extent as fascinated as me about the whole situation - in fact she had planned to take the main road, but suddely decided to take the narrow scenery road instead where she found me. See Riki's web site - she helps other people arrange trips: www.triplanner.org . We decided to meet later for a coffee and a chat with her boyfriend, who is also a devoted cyclist. Maybe we'll meet at the Tour de France 2007 - they have been talking about going there and maybe I could return some of Riki's hospitality by showing them the greatest places to watch the Tour. After the repair Riki even took me to my WSL hosts Dana and Yonatan.

Dana and Yonatan did not only offer me a warm shower (which is the basic concept of the Warm Showers List), but a delicious dinner, help finding accomodations in the Dead Sea and Negev area (which is really a hard task for a person who does not speak Hebrew), a detailed Israel Map book etc. What a perfect day in Jerusalem - even without having seen any of the landmarks that all the tourists come here for!!

An illiterate in Tel Aviv
This morning, before I started biking, I got a feeling of how it would be to have a stroke and wake up realizing that you cannot read. Going out of the hostel for breakfast bread in the Old Town I realized I did not understand a single sign - all were in Hebrew so I couldn't just look quickly down the street for the baker's sign but would have to look into every single window... Even though I have tried to learn the individual Hebrew characters I don't have a clue what a baker is in Hebrew, not much else either, for that matter. Actually, Shalom is practically the only word I know - but then again that is a VERY useful word, included in all greetings, it seems.

As low as you can get

2006-11-26T02:30:00.000+01:00

Originally published 20.11.2006

At -412 meters below sea level, the Dead Sea is as low as you can get on this planet and still see the sky. It was an incredible thrill going the 1200 meters down from Jerusalem just in a matter of some 30 km. Seeing the sea level sign, and still rushing down was quite surrealistic. The good thing is that you can still breathe down here - in fact probably better than above sea level due to the elevated oxygen density.
Jerusalem in the early morning sun was a beautiful sight, with all the houses built with Jerusalem Stone glowing magically. I got a glipse of the Old City, but did not enter - afraid of getting carried away and stay there all day. I have to come back without a bike to do the tourist things.
After a break near Jericho I attempted to find a shortcut down to the sea. It looked good on the map that Dana kindly provided me with, but in reality there were fences blocking the road. Instead of doing the sensible thing and return to the highway, I tried to figure out the shortest way through the desert, aiming for the blue sea in the horizon. There was some climbing and carrying before I managed to find a dry riverbed which was more comfortable. Not so much for biking, but walking, with a mixture of soft sand and razor sharp rocks. After 40 minutes in the wilderness I found the road and went on to Ein Gedi. Only now did I remember the warnings I had heard before coming down here - do not leave the main roads in the Palestinian Territory I think the danger is exaggerated.
Ein Gedi has a nice beach, but since I have already started this trip not doing what the normal tourists do, and because I was concerned about getting to Massada before dark, I did not do the Dead Sea float thing. Will be saving that for another trip. But as agood tourist after all, I had an overpriced, not extremely good-tasting, but adequate chicken with rice for lunch.
I checked in at the Massada Youth hostel at 4pm as the sun was setting over the red desert mountains. A little tired after long hours in the sun I just took a shower and laid down - gathering strength to go down for dinner at 7.

Nothing to fear

2006-11-26T02:00:00.001+01:00

Originally published 21.11.2006

The moment I left the Massada Youth Hostel at 7:59, I knew today would be special. Yesterday, being quite exhausted after my first day in the Dead Sea climate, I studied the map and realized once again that Eilat was pretty far away, with more than 200 km of frightening and hot desert. That, combined with the fact that I fell asleep very late due to 250 teenagers having their discoteque right outside the window, made me doubt whether I could cross the Negev in 2 days. Especially because it gets dark at 16:30 and breakfast wasn't until 7:30. But the kids stopped dancing and I got some 6 hours of quality sleep, and after an extensive breakfast I felt ready to fly.

And after I while I noticed that things went unexpectedly well, remembering from other long distance trips that the third day og biking normally is much better than the second. I guess the body gets adjusted to the increased acticity level.
The southern bassin of the Dead sea is even more hostile than the northern part, where at least you may see some plants and wildlife. Approaching Ein Bokek, with its 250$ dollar-a-room luxury hotels, I noticed a total lack of vegetation, not even a dry bush, and there was a sharp smell of sulphure everywhere. Having decided not to do the "Float" this time I would at least take a closer look at the water. It looks very idyllic from a distance, not unlike a Norwegian mountain lake as it starts freezing. But the white stuff near the shore is salt, not ice. Then i did the stupid thing and tasted. It was a taste I will never be able to explain - terrible. I expected it to be salt, but it was a number of other undefined poisonous tastes to go with it. I used a litre of my precious drinking water just to get the feeling back in my tounge. If you threw a living cod into this water, you'd have instant 'lutefisk'. (sorry, foreigners, but the Norwegians will understand. One of the peculiarities of the Norwegian cuisine to prepare fish by soaking it in poison for a period of time - or even worse - burying it underground over the winter....).
Well, what I was most concerned about today's ride was the climb, remembering the steep descent from Jerusalem to Jericho. But the gentle slopes on the Southern side of the Dead sea were nothing to fear at all. With the exception of a couple of short, steep climbs of a kilometer or less, I could keep a cruising speed of more than 20 kmph everyehere else. After 153 km I could easily have continued, had it not been for the dark.
The temperature was much less of problem than I expected, except for the last few kms along the Dead Sea - passing the mountains of salt extruded by the Dead Sea Works. It must have been 35 degrees Celsius there - or so it felt at least. After having gained only a couple of hundred meters of altitude the air was much cooler and fresher. Remembering earlier experiences of dehydration I followed a rigorous pattern of constant drinking. The secret is never to get thirsty - then it is too late. The strategy worked fine! Of course, biking in these parts requires carrying a lot of water - I started with 8 litres, of which 2 still remains. If I had run dry there were a few petrol stations where I could have topped up my supplies, but it was never needed.
Another surprise was the variety of the desert. I had a mental picture of a moon-like, boring landscape, but it was all BUT boring. It changes constantly, from the moon-cliche naked rock and sand style to an abundance of low vegetation of bush. From time to tome a beautiful oasis of green emerges. Another fascinating observation was watching the colors of the mountains as they changed during the day. Especially the majestic Jordanian mountain range in the east, towering hundreds (thousands? Will check later) of meters over the desert. In the morning sun they were yellow, in the mid-day haze of heat they were white and almost transparent, and at sunset their contours were sharp, as if the valleys had been cut out with sharp knives, and they were glowing in all shades of brown and yellow. I had to focus on keeping my eyes on the road rather than looking at the mountains, to be able to bike in a straight line.
I checked in at the Yahel Kibbutz a quarter to four.
Only 65 km left to Eilat!

Eilat by noon

2006-11-26T02:00:00.000+01:00

Originally published 22.11.2006

As expected, the last part of the trip was fairly easy. Left the Yahel Kibbutz at 9:30 and cruised comfortably down to Eilat in 2 hours. (and 6 minutes, to be entirely accurate. Having lunch on the beach now and will be looking for accomodation afterwards. My reservation at the Eilat YH is from tomorrow, but I'll ask for a bed there before I look elsewhere. The town does not seem too crowded, so I think there is a fair chance of avoiding having to sleep on the beach.

An hour in Egypt

2006-11-26T01:30:00.000+01:00

Originally published 22.11.2006

Not being able to get a bed at the Eilat YH tonight, I thought trying in Taba would be a good idea. Well, except for the fact that I got some stamps in my passport from a new country, it wasn't. I tried 3 hotels - one of them was full. Trying to get to the reception of the Movenpick resort I was told by the watchman at the gate to wait for 'one minute' as he was doing some important business looking in a book. After 15 minutes I asked if I could use the phone and ask the reception myself - as he was not willing to let me pass with my bike, but he only said 'one minute, sorry'. After another 10 minutes I gave up and concluded that Movenpick makes better ice cream than hotels. At the Taba Hilton Resort I was told at the gate that the hotel was closed. Funny, since I saw people from Hilton in the customs hall trying to get guests just an hour earlier. Maybe the just don't like cyclists at Hilton, or maybe they were trying to tell me that it was full, not closed. Anyway, I chose to return to Eilat. The Israel customs officers even refunded my 69 Shekels for the exit visa, since I was not able to spend the night in Egypt.

The Tourist Information in Eilat quickly found a suitable hostel where I got a double room for the price of a bed in a dormitory in the youth hostel. After a nice shower it is time to get some dinner.

Ali, the perfect guide to Jordan

2006-11-26T01:00:00.000+01:00

Originally published 23.11.2006

The first and most important point on my schedule this morning was to get an express bus ticket for the first departure to Tel Aviv on Saturday. This was a great learning experience. Every culture has its own rules for how to behave in a line. Not to offend anybody - this is just my own impression, but the Israelis seem to think that everybody has to stand in a line except himself. (or rather HERself, in this case) I had to start using my elbows in a discrete manner, realizing that I was being moved slowly backwards away from the ticket counter. After adjusting to the local patterns of behaviour, I was able to advance and get a ticket for myself and the bike for a comfortable 97,50 NIS. A bus trip of a similar distance would be two or three times more back home.

Then came today's difficult choice - the beach, or Jordan? Since I had to change hostels today I decided that tomorrow, also being my last full day without a fixed program, would be the ideal day for a lazy day on the beach. Therefore I used the luggage storage at the Arava Hostel (10 NIS) and went with a light backpack and my bike towards the Jordanian border. My plan was to roll around a little looking at Aqaba and the surroundings, maybe go down to the beach, have some lunch and then back to the border after a couple of hours. But no - I was not able to take the bike with me - contrary to what I had been told from others having done it. It was OK with the Israelis, but they advised me not to take it with me, because they were 100% sure the Jordanians would stop it. OK - I did not want an argument with either side, so I took off the front wheel and saddle, and locked it all securely on a place visible to the security guard. Then I walked over the border, showing my passports 6 times, paying the 69 Shekel exit visa from Israel, and got a Jordanian visa for 1 month for free. The Jordanian customs officers - very much in contrast with their Egyptian collegues yesterday, were nice, efficient and very welcoming - seeming to appreciate the presence of a tourist.

The taxi drive from the border to Aqaba took 10 minutes, and after 15 seconds the driver asked if he could drive me to Petra for 100$. I was not really in the mood for driving that far - and I had to be back before dark because I had to bike the 6-7 km back to Eilat. But, walking in the city centre looking for a nice place to have a cup of coffee - there were a number of good alternatives - Ali approached me and wondered if I wanted to go to Petra. I explained that I was pretty short of time and Petra requires a full day.

Then he suggested a very good alternative, Little Petra. It is 15 km north of Petra, but fewer tourists and basically - though on a smaller scale - the same concept. I will describe it a bit more in details later, with pictures. (Of course - I'll be back for big Petra another time, but in respect for the place and its history I won't just be rushing through it in half an hour - which would be totally impossible anyway) Ali asked me for 50$, and it proved to be a very good investment. He used to be a bodyguard for the late King Hussein of Jordan, and knew everything worth knowing about the country, its people, culture and history.

I can totally recommend everybody who wants a special experience in Jordan to contact him - will put out a copy of his business card on my website as soon as I can.

After 5 hours I was back at the border as Ali promised, and got through the customs quite easily, paying 5 Jordanian Dinars for the Exit visa. (7-8 $, I think) My bike was just where I left it, and I got to Eilat excactly when it would have been to risky biking because of the dark.

Checking in at the Youth Hostel I was pleasantly surprised, meeting 3 very nice room mates - 2 boys from Switzerland and an American Jew. We had a nice dinner together at a Brazilian restaurant enjoying the best Argentine meat I have ever tasted. Tomorrow will be my first and only 100% lazy day of the trip, no biking or travelling. Will just have a late breakfast and a swim in the Red Sea.

Chocolate intoxication

2006-11-26T00:30:00.000+01:00

Originally published 25.11.2006

Today I had my first late breakfast for my whole trip. It felt like I had been sleeping till noon, but I was down in the Eilat YH dining hall at 9:00. Well, I think it was deserved after having had some more or less challenging activities on my progam almos every day for a week. (The exception being yesterday, when all I did was go to the beach, sleep a little in the afternoon, and in the evening have a hamburger at MacDavid, the kosher MacDonald's competitor in Israel.) Then all I had to do before catching the bus was buying some lunch for the trip, and some new Duracell batteries for my digital camera. As a rule, I do not use rechargable batteries when biking, since charging opportunities do not always exist. It would not have been a problem on this trip, however - all places I stayed had charging possibilities without leaving the devices out of sight during the night. (charging batteries or cell phones in a reception or a common access bathroom is not a good idea)

My 11:30 departure was a bit delayed because we had to change buses - there was a technical problem with the first one. And they did not discover this until everybody and everything was onboard. So I had to struggle once more with my bike - moving other people's stuff to the side and having the driver standing impatiently waiting. But finally we started rolling, and actually reached Tel Aviv 15 minutes before schedule. Bussing through the desert was far more boring than biking, I fell asleep a couple of times, having a young soldier leaning his head peacefully on my shoulder. The road from the Dead Sea up to Dimona - where I had not biked - was quite fascinating, though - climbing pretty steep with a magnificent view over the sea.

The Jerusalem Angel, Riki, and her boyfriend Ido met me at the bus station and took me and my stuff to the Youth Hostel to check in, have a shower and change clothes. It was so nice seeing Riki again, without her my trip would have turned out quite differently. Ido was a great guy - full of ideas and projects, and interested in many of the same things as myself, so time flew very quickly. We talked about everything from shared service providers to the health system (he being an intern at the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, an me working for a shared service company for hospitals in Norway), via bicycle racing to the development of triathlon googles with built-in compass and lap-counter. It took about 5 seconds of conversation to feel that this was a guy you could like and trust - not unlike his girlfriend. We first went to a Bulgarian restaurant which I had seen last Saturday - walking up and down the Jerusalem Street to find an ATM, where we had a wonderful meal with combined dishes from the Balkan.

Then they showed me parts of the Old Town, with its alleys and squares and a beautiful view over the bay and the northern parts of Tel Aviv. Finally, one of the real highlights of the whole week, we went to Ido's favorite chocolate restaurant.

Ido is an absolute chocolate addict. I did not even know of the existence of such places, and it would never have occured to me to enter one by myself. The whole concept of the Max Brenner restaurant is to make people happy, it seems. They have chocolate in all forms and shapes, cold and hot, light and dark. And they present their product with such a touch of humour and ingeniouity and pride that I was totally impressed.

There are big 15 cm thick tubes in the ceiling with "100% pure chocolate" written on them, in the bathroom the mirror has a large inscription with "You look extremely good today!" - and every item, the design of the cups, spoons and plates have some small, intricate and funny details. While Riki and I ordered moderate amounts of a more or less normal dessert with chocolate just being one of the ingredients, the addict Ido, of course, ordered the real hard-core stuff with concentrated dark chocolate covered with an even more powerful sauce. After the first spoon he started giggling uncontrollably - so strong was the effect. He had warned me before we went there - he sometimes gets an incredible laugh eating this stuff. But, as a doctor, he assured me of both the healtiness and the legality of this substance, even if he gets pretty intoxicated now and then. Funny seeing this well-educated, grown up man getting so much fun out of so little! I had to taste half a teaspoon of the dynamite myself, and must admit it had a good effect on my mood, too.

Since my hosts had to go back to Jerusalem to work tomorrow (Sunday being an ordinary workday in Israel - in fact usually the most busy one) we had to call it a day around 21:30. Seeing Tel Aviv with locals was fundamentally different from just trying to find my way on my own. Riki and Ido were perfect guides, in addition to the details of the places we went to they told me a lot of small details about Israeli life that you do not necessarily get from the tourist guides. Just too bad that we did not have more time! We exchanged the necessary contact information and decided to see what we'll be able to do together next summer, doing the Lillehammer-Oslo bicycle race and watching parts of the Tour de France live together just being a couple of options.

Riding along the Yarkon river - and a little extra time in Vienna

2006-11-26T00:00:00.000+01:00

Originally posted: 26.11.06
In the Tel Aviv Youth Hostel I shared the room with a very interesting Russian Jew and Hebrew teacher from Moscow, Sergey. He had bought an old wreck of a bike for 30 shekels (7$), and he asked me, seeing my bike, if I had some tools to lend him. Instead, we spent the morning together fixing the brakes, adjusting the wheels, oiling the chain and changing a tyre and an inner tube, coming from another wreck that he had found in the sea. After an hour of repair we could take it for a test ride, and he was so please about his "new" bike that he chose to accompany me to the aiirport. The bike worked perfectly all the way!
Just across the street from the hostel we were right in the middle of a park, with a bicycle and pedestrian path going all the way into the countryside.
Amazing to see a beautiful oasis of a park in the middle of busy Tel Aviv!
Getting out of the city was easy enough, but hitting highway 40 going south to the airport was a little more challenging. We had to try and fail quite a bit before we found it - but there was no reason to complain, as the traffic was surprisingly light and the day was beautiful. Arriving at the airport I made my bike ready for the flight, and we shared some food before I went to the dreaded Israeli security check and Sergey headed back to the city.
Getting through security at Ben Gurion has a reputation of being a nightmare of red tape and endless inquisitive questions, hence Austrian's note on the ticket to check in 3 hours prior to departure. I found the questions no worse than on any other international flight: Do you have any weapons, did you pack your bags yourself, have you receiced anything from strangers or friends etc. The ever re-occuring question about my bike tools came up as soon as they appeared on the x-ray screen this time as well. But no problems - except for the check-in manager being called for when I tried to check in my bike without having it in a box. I managed to convince them that I had sent the bike DOWN to Israel without a box. At last she accepted it, as long as I filled out a form guaranteeing that I would not blame Austrian or Ben Gurion Airport if it should not arrive in one piece. So I did, and there I was through everything in less than 45 minutes. I have seen worse at Oslo airport. With more than 2 hours to spare and 30 shekes burning in my pocket I could have bought a bike like Sergey's, but since there were no bikes for sale in the tax-free I settled for a Mac Donald's burger instead.
With the plane landing nearly on time and he captain guaranteeing all connecting flights, I did not run through the Vienna terminal as I did last Saturday, but walked as quickly as I could. That was not a good move. Having a seat in the back of the plane, waiting a long time to get out, and then a long line at the passport control, the gate was closed when I got to the Oslo exit. The transfer bus was just outside the glass doors and had not yet left, but they still would not let me on board.
Ordnung muß sein!! After all, this is the German-speaking part of the world where a 2 minute delay is considered unacceptable. So I had to run all the way back through security and against a kilometer of terminal crowds to get to Austrian's booking office. Luckily there was a free seat on the SAS flight shortly after, so I did not have to spend the night in Vienna. It is a nice city, but not enjoyable when all you have in your bag is a whole lot of dirty biking clothes..
Wow - what a pleasant surprise right now as I am writing this on the SAS flight - the head steward just just came and asked if I want a better seat - seeing how I struggle to find a place for my long legs between the seats in economy class. So now, for the second time on my adventure journey, I am sitting in business class with an economy class ticket. When I told him about this the steward smiled: "Well, there must be something about you that people like, then!"
Afterthoughts
The friendly remark from the SAS steward is pretty typical for my experiences for the last 8 days. Every day I have had nice and surprising experiences - meeting a lot of incredibly nice people everywhere I have been. My trip would certainly not have been the same without Riki, who had a key role in me getting my bike repaired in Jerusalem, or her boyfriend Ido, with whom I had so much fun in Tel Aviv. Dana and Yonatan, not to forget little Yuval, welcomed me into their home in Jerusalem and provided services superior to any professional travel agent, checking all the Hebrew web sites and making a number of calls to help me get my missing nights of accomodation through the Dead Sea area and the Negev. My stay in Eilat wouldn't have been half the fun without my room-mates Patrik, Matthias and Eitan. I am very grateful to my Jordanian guide and driver Ali, who shared his knowledge and wisdom about the Kingdom of Jordan, its people and their history and culture - while showing me the most beautiful places and drinking coffee with bedouins in the desert welcoming us into their tent. And finally, it was such a privilege to meet my new friend Sergey from Moscow - who found so much pleasure in getting his 30 shekel bike fixed that he spent the whole day accompanying me to the airport.
Although I haven't done all the tourist things (but quite a few, anyway, when I think of it...) it has been one of my best trips ever. Biking was great, and the little taste I have had of Israel and the neigbouring countries have already made me think of planning my next trip - before I have even returned from this one.
Although my only aim was to have a good biking vacation, it turned out to become so much more for me personally. I will never be able to forget the the warm, unique atmosphere of the city of Jerusalem, nor the quietness and beauty of the desert. Meeting the friendliness and hospitality of the people in the Middle East has made me more optimistic than before about peace in the region. Quite a few miracles are required for that to happen, I know - there were missile launchings from Gaza even this morning after a truce was declared. But as a comment to one my postings in this blog states - miracles have been known to happen earlier in this part of the world.