The two Middle Eastern countries I visited during my trip, Israel and Jordan, are quite wealthy and comfortable places to live.
They are popular tourist destinations, and for good reasons. Between each other, they enjoy good diplomatic relations and friendship, perhaps against all odds.
Here's a bunch of pictures from the Middle East that did not fit in other galleries.
This is the beach in Tel Aviv, the second most populous city in Israel (404,400, while its metropolitan area has over 3 million residents).
It's a little over 100 years old (founded in 1909) and was pretty much built from scratch in the desert in the Bauhaus style.
Tel Aviv is where you party all around the clock; it's also the financial centre of the
country. It is sometimes referred to as the gay capital of the Middle East.
While Tel Aviv is very young, Jaffa is very old - there is evidence of human activity from the Middle Bronze Age. The two cities became a single municipality in 1950.
Today, Tel Aviv is inhabited mostly by Jews, Jaffa mostly by Arabs.
The monument shows three scenes from the Jewish history: Jacob's ladder dream, the near-sacrifice of Isaac, and the fall of Jericho.
According to the Bible, Jaffa is where Jonah set sail for Tarshish, just to be swallowed by a 'great fish'.
Jaffa is one of the oldest port cities in the world. It used to be surrounded by walls, but in the 19th century,
as security improved, they were torn down to allow for expansion.
In the picture, the Artists' Quarter where you can buy local art.
Narrow streets of Old Jaffa. The municipality of Tel Aviv-Jaffa is working on beautifying this area, as well as
on restoring Arab and Islamic landmarks, such as the Mosque of the Sea.
I ordered lunch in Jaffa and they gave me 12 (twelve) starters with it. I thought I would next have to order a crane
to get me back on my feet.
Masada is the place where 2 thousand years ago a siege took place, being the final accord of the First Jewish-Roman War.
About a thousand Jews defended themselves on top of this mountain turned into a fortress by Herod the Great decades before.
The long siege eventually led to the mass suicide of the outnumbered (15:1) Jewish rebels, who had run out of food but
refused to surrender.
Today you can either climb a steep path or take the cable car. In the picture, you can see the Dead Sea,
two cable cars, and what used to be a Roman guardhouse (the square in the centre of the picture). As a
side note, the Romans also had a brothel there.
The Dead Sea is technically a lake! The coast on the other side is not Israel - it's Jordan. I did swim in
the Dead Sea, even though it was in December and after dusk - or rather I floated. It was one of my childhood
dreams.
This is Amman, the capital city of Jordan. Amman turns out to be an excellent place for business, lots of people
from the region immigrate there, and it is considered one of the richest cities in the whole of the Middle East.
What makes Amman interesting to a tourist is the fact that it's been inhabited by several different civilizations,
the first one around 10 thousand years BC!
In the picture you can see a Roman Amphitheatre surrounded by modern buildings.
This picture was taken in Amman on the Citadel Hill, which is a historic site and a museum, and a large part of it
remains unexcavated.
What you can see there now is both Roman ruins and, pictured, remains of the Umayyad Palace. The Umayyads were the ones
who constructed the Dome of the Rock I showed you in my Jerusalem - the City.
This is also taken from the Citadel Hill. This is basically what Amman looks like.
If you go to Amman, I suggest you step off the beaten track and just walk around those neighbourhoods,
see their shops, cafes, interact with people who are a lot more natural and nicer than those waiting for you
in the tourist areas. But never trust your taxi driver! I pissed off every single taxi driver I met in Amman
trying not to get ripped off.
The flag you can see is said to be the biggest flag in the world.
This amphitheatre was built in 138-161 AD. It allowed for 5000 people to watch the spectacle. I heard it is connected
to the Citadel with a long and deep tunnel.
