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Old 13th September 2014, 03:02   #16
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re: Israel - Living during the Conflict

Your surely deserve a gallantry award for visiting Israel now a days with so much warfare going on. Great pictures bye the way, specially the automotive scene you captured through your lens. Waiting for the next update now.
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Old 13th September 2014, 10:48   #17
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re: Israel - Living during the Conflict

I believe this is the first ever travelogue about Israel on Tbhp.
Wonderful. Thanks for sharing, I'll be glued to this thread for sure.

Last edited by Ddrive : 13th September 2014 at 10:52. Reason: spellchecks
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Old 13th September 2014, 15:02   #18
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re: Israel - Living during the Conflict

Nice thread. Pl. keep it coming. Believe Israel is known for hitech agri technologies, software and aerospace industries. Many mobile apps are also from Israel. Had visited Israel, Jordan & Egypt on a short 11 day tour last year.
The bus you travelled in is of which make ? Tried to match the steering wheel logo to Scania, Man, Citroen........which make is it team-bhpians ?

Last edited by rxpaul : 13th September 2014 at 15:19.
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Old 13th September 2014, 15:32   #19
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re: Israel - Living during the Conflict

Thanks for posting. This is a really interesting travelog. Busted quite a few myths I had about Israel.

It's amazing to see the two sides of a country; the old seeped in history lanes and the modern architecture. It also saddens me to no end when I feel that India has similar conditions but every place is so damn littered and dirty! Conveys a lot about our lack of civil sense.

Looking forward to more pics.
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Old 13th September 2014, 16:27   #20
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re: Israel - Living during the Conflict

As everyone has mentioned, finding photos of any part of Israel is quite rare. Tel Aviv has been consistently listed as one of the fastest booming modern cities in the world and lists higher than any Indian city (Mumbai, Delhi, B'lore) and just below places like New York, L.A and London.

I too didn't know much about this country (being a Hindu) until I read a website of its relevance in the world. Israel used to have major trade travels to the port in Mumbai, but a majority of it is now to New York. New York has been taken as a point of reference in making Tel-Aviv. The largest diaspora of the Jewish people are in U.S.

Few Did you know?'s -
-Languages spoken : Hebrew/Yiddish, Aramaic, English & Russian
-Jew(s) is the anglicised term for hebraic Yehudim
-Most modern European names originate from Hebraic names
-Weekends in Israel are Friday, and their most holy day Shabbat (Saturday)
-Israel is anglicised word for Yishrael to most simply mean authority of God
-They are front-runners in medical research
-Israel sits between between North Africa and Arab nations flanked by seas
-Most common greeting - Shalom/Shalom Aleichem

Great travelogue of a not-so-often visited country. I've been interested to see photos ever since I read about it.

Last edited by dark.knight : 13th September 2014 at 16:30.
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Old 14th September 2014, 13:57   #21
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re: Israel - Living during the Conflict

Quote:
Originally Posted by rxpaul View Post
The bus you travelled in is of which make ? Tried to match the steering wheel logo to Scania, Man, Citroen........which make is it team-bhpians ?
Its a YUTONG

It s a Chinese brand bus that sells in Israel .

http://www.yutong.com/english/index.shtml

@ Chandrda : Very nice pictures and refreshing read, back down south, Israel trips are mainly undertaken by elders in their quest to visit the "Holy Land" for religious reasons primarily

Nice to see there is lot more and frankly your experience is making we want to visit ! Wishing you many more such trips ( to different places )

To the question on types of industries : I for sure know Israel is in the forefront of military and agricultural technology, there are companies many operating in these 2 segments there.
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Israel - Living during the Conflict-yutong.png  

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Old 14th September 2014, 21:16   #22
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re: Israel - Living during the Conflict

Excellent pictures and indeed a rare peep into then holiest of lands. Jerusalem has 3 religions and 3 days of rest. Unique. Please keep the pictures and information coming. How's the life in general there?
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Old 14th September 2014, 22:05   #23
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re: Israel - Living during the Conflict

One of the most exciting TLs on the forum! I am glued to this thread! Little did I know that Israel would be so charming. Eagerly waiting for more, especially if you ever had to use a bomb shelter.

By the way, I thought Tel Aviv was the capital, not Jerusalem. Can you please correct me?
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Old 14th September 2014, 23:46   #24
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re: Israel - Living during the Conflict

Wonderful to be able to read a very different post from a very interesting country.
This was the first time my wife sat through reading an entire thread on team-bhp !!
Many thanks for sharing.
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Old 15th September 2014, 08:00   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR View Post
The car scene has some similarities. Can spot the new generation Corolla Altis and its older version, Skoda Octavia, Elantra etc.

And out of curiosity - what sort of industries are present in Isreal?
The car is scene is very similar to India, there are very few luxury cars on the Road. Corolla is the national carrier and lot many small cars in the country and most of them are made in India.

Israel is know of Agri, Aerospace and Defense technologies. Also outside of Silicon Valley, most of the start up companies are located in Tel Aviv.

Quote:
Originally Posted by gabrielthomas View Post
A kind request: :-) if possible, post more information about the other places that you might have visited namely, way of the cross, David's Tomb etc..
The situation in the East Jerusalem area was tense for the entire two months. But I managed to sneak in few times and take some photos which I will photos later

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jignesh View Post
Hello,

Very interesting travelogue. It is great to see that the country which is so much in news for ongoing war, is almost at peace within.

Did you experience any scary situations? I mean the siren went on and you had to follow a local person to safe place?

How was it during heavy fighting sepacially during nights? Did the business went as usual during days of heavy fighting?

We regularly see images of destruction on West Bank side, but what about loss of property on Isreal side?

Thanks,
The sirens went off hundreds of times, especially in Tel Aviv area. It was below fifty in Jerusalem area. I had to run quite a few times to Safety when the sirens went off in Tel Aviv area and Jerusalem. Initially when was in meetings in Tel Aviv, we had frequently run to safety in between the meeting. The siren went off few times when I was in a bus on the highway towards my flat, we just stayed in the bus with other and hoped the rocket dint fall on the bus.

To be frank, there was no change in life style at all during the conflict. It was business as usual, except for the sirens and scramble to safety. But there were lot of military presence and lot of helicopters flying around

There was not much loss of property on the Israel side, Iron Dome works like charm.

Quote:
Originally Posted by wanderernomad View Post
Excellent pictures and indeed a rare peep into then holiest of lands. Jerusalem has 3 religions and 3 days of rest. Unique. Please keep the pictures and information coming. How's the life in general there?
Life is really good in Israel, one of the few places where I felt safe as I dint have watch my back like I do in NY, Chicago or London. People are very casual and friendly. Most of the Israelis know about India and think India as a friend.

Military is compulsory for all the citizens of Israel when turn 18. Citizens join military at 18 and train for 3 years. At the end of 3 years 80% of these come to India for 5-6 months. They visit mostly Goa off course, puskar, Bombay, Bangalore, Delhi, Andaman, Leh, Ladak, Dharamshala and Nepal.

So people are very familiar about India and treat us very well. I felt safe and free in the country.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vnabhi View Post
One of the most exciting TLs on the forum! I am glued to this thread! Little did I know that Israel would be so charming. Eagerly waiting for more, especially if you ever had to use a bomb shelter.

By the way, I thought Tel Aviv was the capital, not Jerusalem. Can you please correct me?
There is no bomb shelters, but a strong room is compulsory from last ten years for all the new constructions. Every house, building, schools etc should have this strong room. Old building have safe areas, these can be basements, staircase area or other designated strong room.

From the time siren goes off, you have 30 seconds to run for safety. The entire action gets over in not more than 1 minute.

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, but hardly any other country recognizes Jerusalem as the capital. The government is based out of Jerusalem. Tel Aviv is commercial and Technological. All the Foreign Embassy and Missions are based out of Tel Aviv.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rudraksh2005 View Post
Wonderful to be able to read a very different post from a very interesting country.
This was the first time my wife sat through reading an entire thread on team-bhp !!
Many thanks for sharing.
I am glad I could do it, thanks

Regards

Last edited by Stratos : 15th September 2014 at 16:26.
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Old 15th September 2014, 08:19   #26
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re: Israel - Living during the Conflict

Beautifully written travelogue. Normally we don't think about these places for tourism and for many reasons.
I had to stay in Jordan for month long ago. Managed to travel here and there in between my work and visited Dead Sea from Jordan end and..
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Originally Posted by chandrda View Post
Men, shave at least 3 day before. Otherwise it will burn like hell
Tell me about it! It was really bad for next few days.
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Old 15th September 2014, 08:24   #27
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re: Israel - Living during the Conflict

There has been no word about the cuisine. The whole experience about a country, its culture is reflected a lot in what they eat. So, a word on that. Photos would be more than welcome.

And thanks for sharing. I initially thought this travelogue by someone from the Govt who had gone to see the situation, but it was a surprise to see someone brave to go over there because of work commitments. I might not have.
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Old 15th September 2014, 09:26   #28
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re: Israel - Living during the Conflict

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheel View Post
There has been no word about the cuisine. The whole experience about a country, its culture is reflected a lot in what they eat. So, a word on that. Photos would be more than welcome.

And thanks for sharing. I initially thought this travelogue by someone from the Govt who had gone to see the situation, but it was a surprise to see someone brave to go over there because of work commitments. I might not have.
I am a foodie and can eat anything and will eat everything. Usually the first thing I google about a country is about the food they follow. Food is actually a disappointment in Israel, because there is no authentic Israeli cuisine. Everything is borrowed from other countries or recipe brought by the immigrants.

They have Shawarma (chicken and Turkey), hummus, falafel, pita/lafa bred, schnitzel etc..

I am in IT world. I could have easily backed off from travelling, but now I am glad that I traveled.

I will do a write up about the country as a whole in the next post.
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Old 15th September 2014, 11:36   #29
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re: Israel - Living during the Conflict

Chandrda,

Daring Travelogue, I would say.
Got guts Man! To visit around, when nobody ventured out.
My company would not allow the visit itself and if they allow me to visit with some international security agencies, those guys would not allow me to move any where out of my hotel and customer building.

We could not imagine the place to be some calm & peace looking. Its the newsmakers who do all the tricks.

Thanks for giving us the insight.
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Old 15th September 2014, 13:19   #30
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re: Israel - Living during the Conflict

First thanks for this wonderful peek into a country which is either known through news or Zohan. Secondly, your pictures are pretty good even though most are from moving bus or car. I must say the company you work for is pretty business minded sending its employees during war. Looking forward to further updates.
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