I have spent almost a week here in Dahab, and it is time to move on. I have given myself a full week to travel to Haifa in Israel. I want to make sure I have some spare time on my hands incase something goes wrong with the bike etc. I know from this point on, trying to keep within my budget is going to be tough. Africa jas been cheap however, Israel is like Europe, and expensive. As an example, here in Dahab I have managed to get a hotel room for R120 per night, while in Israel I am battling to get a a single bed in a dorm room for less that R200 per night. As for the fuel, well in Egypt it is a crazy R2.10 per liter, while in Israel it is almost R15 per liter. Yeah say no more! I am only about 120 km from the border post with Israel called Taba. I know it is going to be a long day trying to get through the border post so, book an overnight stop in Masada on the Dead Sea. I am up very early and packed by the time comes up at 5 am. All is going according to plan until I hit a problem with my bike. It simply will not start. All the lights etc come on however, the starter motor does not want to turn over. Oh shit! And it would happen once i have fully loaded the bike and am about to climb onto it with all my hike gear already on. It may be 5 am in the morning however, the temp is already unbearable for anyone wearing log pants, let alone biking gear! To add salt to the wound, there is no downhill in sight! Great, so i call the front desk Clark over and ask him for a push. Luckily we manage to get her running. I quickly put on my hamlet and hit the road North. In what appears no time, I arrive at the Taba border post. What i did not expect was the length of time i would have to spend at the Egyptian border post. I had to unpack all my panniers and have them scanned. For what? Who knows? Anyway, this Africa/Middle East so we do not argue, we just follow instructions. Anyway, almost an hour later I manage to cross the border onto the Israeli side. I am met by an absolutely drop dead gorgeous security guard on that side. In hindsight, I was wondering if this a tack tick for one to drop one's guard! Anyway, I had to also unpack everything and it all got scanned, in addition, I had to hand over the keys to my bike. What I did not know at the time was that, my bike was going to be taken to a workshop where it to would be scrutinized, and I would not be surprised if they added some form of tracking device to it to! Anyway, eventually I make it past the scanning counter after they find exception with my cooking gas canister and of all things my tyre compressor. I am starting to think that I am almost through when I hit the immigration/passport counter. Having a Sudanese stamp in one's South African passport in not a good thing to have when you attempting to enter Israel. I am iterigated for a number of times and made to wait for over four hours. At least the eye candy on display at the border post is nothing short of stunning! And they all work for security or passport control. At one point I was hoping they would subject me to a strip search, which of course does not happen! Eventually, after almost 5 hours of border post formalities, my passport is stamped and I am free to enter. By this stage it is getting close to midday,precisely the time of say i was not wanting to travel in. At least I have only 220 odd km to travel to Masada, and after arranging 3rd party insurance I hit the road. The Negev desert is nice and hot but in almost no time I arrive at the Dead Sea. What an amazing sight! There are places that are so salty that, it looks like ice/snow! Amazing! It is not log before I arrive at my overnight accommodation. It is the Masada Youth Hostel. Really lovely, clean place. Well worth the price tag!
 |
| Day 108, 2011/08/17 |
No comments:
Post a Comment