[jasonblr]

Excellent travelogue buddy - simply thrilled to see the awesome country and photos!!

Thanks for sharing!!

[chandrda]

Ramot in Jerusalem

My flat was in Ramot in the Jerusalem area, technically its in West Bank. The Ramot area was developed around 30 years ago. The area is full of residential settlements and is very close the West Bank fence, its just 1 KM away from my Flat. The area is mountainous and bus drivers drive like Bangalore BMTC bus drivers. The area in which I used to stay was like a resort and very peaceful.

View from my Balcony


Road to my Flat


The cross to my flat


Gate to flat, the one with the Flag on top


Common area in the building


The bus stop for 2 months


The view from the bus stop


View in the night


Another view


Ramot area in the night


Somewhere there is my Flat


Another view of the area


Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv is the most modern city in Israel. The city is commercial, financial and technological center of Israel. Outside the Silicon Valley in US, the most of the tech start up companies are in Tel Aviv.

Unlike Jerusalem where majority of the people are religious, Tel Aviv is very modern like any other European City. Most of the young people in Israel prefer to live and work in Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv has everything for modern living warm Mediterranean beach, (in)famous night life, roadside restaurants and Miami style fashion street next to the Beach.

Most part of the city looks like Bangalore or Mumbai. The city is not very clean and the general behavior of the people is like any other Indian Citya. I covered most of the Tel Aviv city on foot though the humidity was unbearable. Some how my camera had not charged properly, so I don't have the photos of Jaffa area which is very old and historical. Jaffa area has seen all the action from Turks to Napoleon since its a port.

Random photos of Tel Aviv City






Doesn't it look like Bangalore























Parking to the Beach


Very old Hassan Bek Mosque close to the Beach Area


Flats close to the Beach


David International and Dan Panorama Hotel

[chandrda]

The Beach Area

The beach area in Tel Aviv is very beautiful and clean. Its white sands and doesn't stick. The sea itself is warm and there are some good restaurants in the beaches. There are no specific names to beaches, most of them are called by the hotel or restaurants which is opposite to it.

There were no tourist/foreigners at all on the beaches and I was the only foreigner. So I was drawing the maximum attention from everyone and most of them were friendly. The crowd in the beach is a mixed crowd with Family, teenagers, couples and surfers.

I don't have any photos close the beach area as there were families, teenagers and women around. I din't feel comfortable taking the photos and also none of the local crowd was taking photos.

The day I visited the beach was August 15th and it was also my birthday. Being Independence Day, My Birthday and alone in the beach I decided to settle in one of the restaurants and treat my self to glory. I finally settled down in Banana Beach Restaurant. Luckily 2 of the waiters and 1 waitress had visited India recently. They were in India for few months especially the waitress who was in India for 7 months last year. She started with Annapurna Base Camp in Nepa, then Leh, Ladak, Dharamshala, Delhi, Bombay, Puskar, Goa, Gokarna, Malpe, Mangalore, Bangalore etc. They treated me very well and took time to sit with me as I was alone.

Shared Cabs


The Park opposite to the Beach


The Beach


Hassan Bek Mosque and the Hotels


The beach on the left and all the Hotels on the right. In between is the road and a Miami style pavement for Joggers, Skateboarding, cycles or to just roam around in latest beach wear.


Restaurant areas to relax


Hotels


Public area to relax on the beach


Another restaurant


More Hotels






Every 15 mins two propeller powered aircraft used to pass through the beach area in opposite directions. These were the lifeguard and the surveillance aircraft. A reminder as to where you are


The Restaurant where I settled down


Another hotel opposite to the Beach


Finally your Host for this Travelogue


I have said in few places in this thread regarding the Sirens going off when ever there is a rocket which is expected to fall in the area. If the rocket is expected to fall in the civilian or important site, then iron dome missiles are launched to shoot down the rockets. The rockets fragments which falls down after being shot by the iron dome missiles can still cause damage. The entire action from the rocket launch to sirens to iron dome intercepting the rockets last around 1 min 30 seconds. Hardly any time to take photo or video. but I have a video where you can hear the Siren, this was taken from balcony and there is no missile video as the action happened behind my building. Just hear how loud the sirens are, it will wake you up in dead sleep as well

You make ask what was I doing on the balcony when the sirens where going off, answer is 'you get used to it'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fAcI...ature=youtu.be

I have two more videos of the situation which I will upload next as the files are huge and its taking lot of time to upload.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

And out of curiosity - what sort of industries are present in Isreal?

Its a country with very high start-ups in the field of technology. Many of the prominent companies have their R&D here too. Used to work with folks from here quite some time back. Must say with the hard ships they go through and still the way they deliver on the job, we have a lot to learn from them!

@chandrda Did you not try floating in the Dead Sea?

Very nicely written.

[chandrda]

Originally Posted by ampere

@chandrda Did you not try floating in the Dead Sea?

Very nicely written.

I did float in the dead sea for around 15 mins. It was a very peculiar experience and I also tried the most famous stunt of reading the newspaper while floating.

I don't have any photos as you can see in my previous photos that I was the only person that day on the beach. Also the dead sea water with its high salinity is a camera killer. So had tucked it away safely.

Regards

[chandrda]

I almost forgot to upload this video. The riot happening behind the walls, you can hear the gun sound and smoke from the tear gas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asQx-...ature=youtu.be

[huntrz]

this is easily one of the most precious travelogue on tembhp. I was glued to it seeing the title itself. Many thanks for posting it.

[bsdbsd]

I agree with huntrz above ^^. A very precious travelogue of a country in crisis. Many thanks for OP for this piece of writing. I read this travelogue again and again.

[Kumar R]

Wonderful narration and thanks for the very many photos. A friend of mine had gone to Israel on vacation 3 year ago and grumbled that he found it unfriendly as a whole (perhaps influenced by the 4 hours he spent in immigration) so I was very curious to read your experience. The photos of the Masada ruins were great!

[chandrda]

Originally Posted by huntrz

Many thanks for posting it.

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

Many thanks for OP for this piece of writing. I read this travelogue again and again.

Thank you guys

Originally Posted by Kumar R

Wonderful narration and thanks for the very many photos. A friend of mine had gone to Israel on vacation 3 year ago and grumbled that he found it unfriendly as a whole (perhaps influenced by the 4 hours he spent in immigration) so I was very curious to read your experience. The photos of the Masada ruins were great!

You will get that impression if you are there for a few days only as the language is loud and people express themselves with hand movements while talking. English is a problem.

I din't have any issues in immigration, but some of my colleagues who had visited other middle eastern countries or Indonesia/Malaysia faced some questions

I never faced any hostility, people were very friendly very. May because I picked some Hebrew words and culture.

Regards

[gkrishk]

Originally Posted by Dodge_Viper

Good to see it being tourist friendly, specially Indian tourists, though I doubt an exclusive tourist person would be a rare sight there.

Its not uncommon these days for Kerala Christians to go to Israel as tourists to visit the Holy Land, birthplace of Jesus Christ. There are tour packages covering Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

[chandrda]

Originally Posted by gkrishk

Its not uncommon these days for Kerala Christians to go to Israel as tourists to visit the Holy Land, birthplace of Jesus Christ. There are tour packages covering Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

Correct, that's what I heard. But when I was there during the conflict, there were no Indian tourists at all, quite understandable.

Last week I went to Israel Embassy in Delhi, there were lot of applicants from Kerala. What was interesting is that they were all couples I think around 10 pairs, all in white shirt and blue jeans.

I know Israel flag is white and blue, but not sure if its connected.

Regards

[chandrda]

I am back in Jerusalem, Israel for 2 weeks. I will get one weekend and planning to visit Bethlehem.

Will access the situation and plan accordingly

Regards

[Indian Ranger]

Excellent Narration. Wonderfully have captured the important monuments and put the TL together. Definitely a different perspective unlike what is portrayed in the media.

Thanks for sharing!!! Waiting to see Bethlehem from your eyes

BR//

[rajneeesh]

A Great TL mate. It was an education.Very little is wriiten about this country other than the politics and the frequent unrest. A small country which is always in the news and yet very few of our countrymen visit it. The photos were superb. The number of Israelis visiting India would be 1000 X than the number of Indias visiting Israel.

I look forward to more updates from you about one of the historical places in the world which is connected in one way or the other to so many civilizations and cultures.