Translated by SFT
Israel is known for the tightest security check in the world. We had the firsthand experience before we even arrived at the Tel Aviv International Airport.
We departed from the London Airport and transited in the Amsterdam Airport. Before we boarded the plane to Israel, the Israel custom officer in the Netherlands asked us a lot of questions:
“Why do you want to go to Israel? Why don’t you go to Spain or Italy?”
“We are Christians and we want to see the paths that Jesus walked on.”
“Didn’t you just say you wanted to tour Israel? So which is the reason you are going to Israel, tour or pilgrimage?”
“Tour.”
“Where are your return tickets?”
“Here you are, sir.”
“Where are you going to stay at night?”
“It’s about 2:00 am when we arrive at the airport, so we are going to stay in the airport the first night.”
“Stay in the airport? Where is your reservation record for the hotels?”
“We have no hotel reservation records.”
“When do you plan to leave Israel?”
“We are leaving for Taiwan 12 days later.”
“Where is your reservation record for the hotels?”
I started to worry, ”Goodness! This dutiful officer keeps asking us for the hotel reservation records. We have been traveling Europe for more than 3 months and not a single custom officer has asked us where we are going to sleep at night.”
Just in time, the custom head officer came to our rescue, “Look! They have their sleeping pads with them. They are really tourists and indeed plan to sleep in the airport.”
If my supervisor said there’s no problem, then there’s no problem.
“I wish I could also travel the way you both do”, the head officer waved to us and let us proceed.
“Thank you!” We sighed with relief.
The box I put my bicycle broke, so we had to carry our sleeping pads. Unexpectedly, because of this, I was not called in a little room for more questions. We did not have to show the hotel reservation records and the travel plan. It’s a close call. I like it when a plan comes together.
The security checks are similar to those in USA: shoes off, X-ray scan, and body-patting. If you have a watch with you, don’t expect it will be spared.
After we got to Israel, we were asked a lot of questions similar to the aforementioned. It lasted about 5 minutes.
Do you have hotel reservation records?” “No, sir.”
The officer looked at us from head to toe and eventually stamped our passports.
No sooner had I thought we were finally done with the ‘interrogation’ after we passed the customs, we were again asked.
“Are you husband and wife? Why your wife’s last name is different from yours on the passport?”
“In Taiwan, for the younger generation, the wife does not have to change their maiden name to their husband’s last name.”
“No problem. Welcome to Israel.”
At 2:30am on 9/21/2011, we stepped on the land of Israel. Even though it’s already past midnight, there’re still a lot of people in the airport. Stores were also open. A group of students who had just deplaned were singing in the lobby.
A thrilling pass through customs and a group of singing students somehow stoke an inexplicable spark in my heart.
Surprisingly, there’s unlimited free internet access in the airport. Yi sent an email to let family know we were safe. I started assembling the bicycles. Somehow, I was too excited to sleep. After finishing assembling the bikes, I caught up with the blog articles. Maybe I am used to the occasional adversarial circumstance. I feel bored when everything is nice and easy.
However, it’s impossible to expect there’s almost a daily climax and ultimately we will return to normal.
Today we decided to end our bike trip around the world in the Holy Land.
Before we pedaled off, let’s look at the map to familiarize us with Israel.
We don’t understand Hebrew, but it’s fine as long as we can read the numbers. The size of Israel is about that of Taiwan. It’s also easy to find where we want to go.
With 4 fewer saddle packs and one duffle bag, we had 22 kg less with us. Let’s tour Israel in a ‘light-weight’ style.
The altitude of Jerusalem is about 774 feet. It seems to be a mountainous desert land. The following morning,
we got to our first destination- the Holy City of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem has been destroyed many times; now what you see is all new constructions.
We would start with the Old City.
The Wailing Wall- it’s at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount thus it’s also called Western Wall. Males and females pray on different sides.
There’re lots of prayer notes stuffed in the cracks of the Wall.
This visitor looks familiar.
Numerous Jews come here to pray.
After visiting the Wailing Wall, we thought about getting a magnet of Jerusalem as a souvenir. A store owner warmly invited us into the store. None of the items has a price label. A porcelain magnet sells for 25 shekels (about NT$200). To us, it’s too expensive, so we were leaving the store.
Before we left, the store owner asked for 5, so I ask if it’s 5 US dollars or 5 shekels? (1 US dollar is about 3.6 shekels.) He answered, “It’s 5 US dollars. We can negotiate the price.
How many do you want?”
We actually only wanted to buy one. We started bargaining with him. He told us that the magnet was hand-made and it’s considered inexpensive for 15 shekels.
It’s still too expensive for us, so we decided to leave the store. All of a sudden, the store owner hit my neck from the back when we were leaving. I was startled due to such an unexpected move. Yi really did not know what English words to use under such a circumstance, but yelled “What!”
Good it’s not a curse word, yet because of Yi’s shouting, it felt like the store had been shaken. The store owner and I were surprised. The neighbors next door also came out, wondering what had happened. The whole situation completely changed.
The store owner hurriedly explained, “I did that for your husband to have a good luck.” Since it’s no big deal, maybe I should also give him a good fortune. The final price from the owner, “10 shekels.”
We felt like being forced to buy one. We eventually reluctantly paid for the magnet and then left the store promptly.
This is a good lesson. Gift shops in Jerusalem don’t set the price so the owner can start with a higher price. They will show the friendliness to you by speaking Chinese ‘Ni How’ (How are you doing?) upon knowing you are from Taiwan. As in our example, an item priced for 120 shekels eventually was lowered to 10 shekels. After you are in the store, it may not be a pleasant experience if you decide not to buy any item. Maybe we should start wearing our bicycle helmets whenever we go into a store…?
I would like to share this experience in the Old City so that we all can learn from the lesson. Don’t ask about the price when you are in the store. If you really want to buy something, then go outside the store before you ask the price for the desired merchandise. Wear your running shoes.
On the second day, we visited the Israel Museum. Timing is not good- it happened to be Sabbath: rest at 2pm. Taking photos is not allowed inside the museum. Only a few photos outside of the museum are displayed for the visitors.
Above is the replica of Jerusalem before it was destroyed.
We gathered some information and then returned to the Old City in the afternoon.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Way of Sorrows (Way of the Cross)
On the third day, we went to Bethlehem a Palestinian city in the central West Bank. Bethlehem is the birth place of Jesus.
The tall walls separate the two worlds.
One of the sayings: ‘Imagine all the people living life in peace’ cannot help but make me ponder. People live in freedom should cherish the precious blessing.
Manger Square in Bethlehem Center
Church of the Nativity
Church of the Good Shepherd
---to be continued---
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