From Egypt we crossed the border by land into Israel after taking a bus north from Dahab. We were temporarily held up at the border because we had Syrian stamps in our passport. We were told to wait in a special area until we could see the head guy in his intimidating uniform. We had heard this might happen, but the rumored "interrogation" never occurred. They just wanted some extra biographical information such as our phone number and grandfathers' names. After describing our trip though the Middle East and Africa to the man, he said "Wow, I should do this!" So the whole incident ended up not being bad at all. There were a few other travelers with us in this predicament, and we all ended up at the same hostel since we had missed the busses to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem for the day.

Since we are later going to India, one of our goals in Israel was to get an Indian visa. We went to Tel Aviv and discovered that, naturally, the Indian visa application process has been outsourced. We had been told it would take 4 days, but then the guy said it would take 3 weeks. We weren't planning on spending that much time in Israel, but these things happen. This is why we don't have a schedule, itinerary, plane tickets, or a general clue as to what we're doing next.

Tel Aviv was expensive, modern, and lacked a lot of sights for tourists, so we went to Jerusalem for about 5 days. We saw the Western Wall, which was really fascinating, especially since we were there on a holiday when all of the Hassidic Jews were out. We also saw the church of the Holy Sepulture which is basically built on top of the rocky outcrop where Jesus was crucified and then entombed. We also wandered through the old town as well as the modern and quaint new town of Jerusalem. It was surprising to us how touristy Jerusalem could be. Most of the tourists seemed to be American, and many of them were school groups, church groups, or (most often) Jewish high school student groups. We also discovered that many of the people who live in town speak perfect American English with a New York accent.

Getting away from Arabic food was also nice. It's good, but after several months of the same old thing, it gets old. In Jerusalem we ate lots of bagels and "toast" (a toasted bagel with pizza-like toppings). We also ate lots of Halva, a nutty dry paste-like substance with a very sweet flavor.

From Jerusalem we went north to Haifa. All of the cheap hotels were booked, and a nice woman at a hotel recommended a woman who rented rooms out in her house. That night we chatted with the woman's husband about what life is like in Israel. Everyone is on edge. It's a very modern, developed, and expensive country, but every few years something really bad happens. Heavily armed security forces are everywhere. People work several jobs and save up lots of money. Everyone seems to have an escape plan. Not everyone agrees with the government policies, but it is their home and they want the best for themselves and their country. It was an interesting experience to hear all of this from a man who has lived in Israel his entire life.

Haifa ended up being a nice town, but there weren't a lot of sights to see. Next, we went north to Akko, a mostly Muslim town with an old castle-like town center. We found the only hostel in town - an open-air back porch with 20 bunk beds. It was way overpriced and decrepit, but we had no choice. All of the other travelers that came in after us had the same skeeved-out reaction. It ended up being a good situation though because we ended up having fun with some other travelers. We explored the town, ate more Halva, and even went to the beach with all of the locals.

Our next destination was the Sea of Galilee. It seemed more like a beach resort than a holy site. The entire area was swarmed with Israeli tourists. Hotels lined the shores and the small rocky beaches were crowded. Boats for hire took people out on the lake for water skiing (walking on water?) and other lake activities. The weather was nice and we rented bikes for a day to ride around the lake. One of our guidebooks said that it would be an easy four hour ride, while the other said that it was difficult and would take two days. Luckily for us, we failed to read either book before heading out. Along the way, we stopped at the Church of the Multiplication of Fishes and Loaves where Jesus performed that particular miracle, and also saw a few other historic and religious places. We had lunch and swam at a great beach on the opposite side of the lake before making the long journey back. It took us twelve hours in the end and we were thoroughly exhausted.

We then rented a car for a few days and drove north into the Golan Heights. We stopped at several national parks with beautiful scenery, including Nimrod's Castle, which overlooks the entire region. We drove past several small villages on our way towards the road that veers along the border with Syria. Ruins of old Israeli tanks dot the landscape, and off in the distance we could see a large Syrian flag. From this angle it looked ominous, but we remembered our time there and how friendly and welcoming the people were.

Our Indian visa was still not ready, so we went back to Jerusalem for awhile and explored more of the city. We stayed in a hostel with a group of students on a mission trip, a girl who said she was traveling along the path of Jesus, and a Jewish guy who lived in the West Bank who believed that if more Jews lived there, the government would be less likely to remove them. Needless to say, we were caught in the middle of some very interesting religious conversations.

Next we went to the Dead Sea and Masada. Before dipping into the water, we visited a nearby national park (Ein Geddi) where we swam in waterfalls and hiked along the rugged terrain. That afternoon we put on our swimsuits and took the plunge. We were told not to spend more than 20 minutes in the Dead Sea or it would begin to irritate our skin, but the irritation started right away. Despite this, swimming there was an amazing experience. I did not have to tread water, or even keep my hands and feet in the water to stay afloat. The next day we climbed to the top of Masada, and ancient fortress made famous by a group of Jews who committed suicide instead of surrendering to the Romans. The town and fortress sit on top of a small plateau overlooking the Dead Sea with near vertical cliffs on all sides. Instead of taking the cable car, we opted to climb to the fortress on the "Snake Trail" which contains a series of switchbacks weaving their way to the top. We were hot and sweaty, and a group of Chinese tourists who had taken the cable car took our picture when we reached the top.

We were back in Jerusalem again for a few days before collecting our Indian visas from Tel Aviv, and then on we went to our next stop: Jordan.