For the Israel transport, I debated about flying to Tel Aviv, which is very expensive, you have to get there 3 hours early for security, and then we have an hour long cab ride to Jerusalem. Ultimately, I decided to hire a car company to take us to and from the borders via private drivers. Amman 2 Jerusalem This part also worked out very well! This morning, the Jordanian driver met us at our hotel in Amman, and he drove us to the King Hussein Bridge just north of the Dead Sea. He negotiated the very busy traffic in the checkpoint area, and dropped us right at the international travelers entrance. From here, a porter helped us with our bags, and showed us where to go. I knew there would be many checks, and that we would ride a shuttle bus through the actual border crossing, but I didn't really know what else to expect.
The Jordanian Police had a security checkpoint on the outgoing side where they X-rayed our bags, and they were VERY thorough. Unlike on an airline flight, they are very concerned with items in your checked luggage. They opened all of our suitcases, found the metal souvenir knives and other items we had purchased in Dubai and Jordan and took them.
I was afraid that they were going to seize the knives, and I looked sadly at the police officer and said
"These are gifts." He set the knives aside, then then took Sean to the police office, and asked him several questions about the knives in front of several other police officers. I just stood there with our suitcase and waited. I could see them in the office, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. Sean said he was very polite with them, and he explained the knives were souvenir gifts, and that we meant no harm with them. Thankfully, Sean's charm convinced the police to allow us to keep the knives, and they told us to be sure and not put them back in our bags, and give them directly to the Israeli police on the other side. More to come on the knives...
From here, we walked through the Jordan passport control station, where we paid our exit tax (10 JD
each). We both had to use the restroom, so Sean went first. He came back, and said it was absolutely
filthy, so I decided to wait. We then boarded the shuttle bus that would take us across the bridge. We waited on the bus for about 30 minutes. A large group of Palestinian people got on, then a small group of Europeans. The bus was only about 1/3 full, and I had read that it would wait until it was full, so I was getting pretty uncomfortable. Finally, the driver got on, and the bus pulled out of the terminal.
The drive across the border area had two Jordanian security checkpoints, and many barbed wire fences, then we crossed the actual bridge.
There was one more checkpoint in the Israeli side before we arrived at the Israeli immigration building. Sean said they were being very thorough with the vehicle checks. They looked under the bus with mirrors.
At the Israeli immigration station, we collected our bags, then approached the first passport control counter. The guards looked at our passports, then gave us tags for our bags. We put them on the
conveyor belt, and headed inside. The first X-Ray and metal detector checkpoint was mayhem! You put everything you are carrying into bins, and they go through an X-ray machine, and hand
inspection (which you cannot see) while you go through a metal detector. The metal detectors were
very sensitive, and 2/3 of the people were having to go through multiple times. I set it off twice, and the guards finally told me to take off my shoes. I stood there, holding my shoes and looking for an empty bin, until one of the Europeans (also holding his shoes) was able to grab a bin from someone and allowed me to put my shoes in it, too. Finally, I was able to walk through without beeping! When I got to the other side, Sean had already taken charge of the knife situation, and was talking with one of the Israeli guards about them. The guard said he would meet us outside of the inspection station and give us the knives back. Thankfully, there was a toilet right there, so I ran in! (Fortunately, it was not dirty!) The next stop was the immigration checkpoint. Aside from us and a few Europeans, everyone there was Palestinian. The line moved very slowly, and many of the Palestinians were turned back. When we got to the officers, they saw our American passports, quickly gave us our entry cards (no Israeli passport stamps anymore) and we walked through!
There was one more passport check, with a friendly Israeli police officer who said "Welcome to
Israel" and we walked through a big turnstile. After this, we collected our suitcases, and then another
guard scanned the tags to match our entry cards, and we walked out of the building. And there, as promised, was the guard with our knives! We thanked him, and I promised to mail the knives home while we were in Israel!
Just around the corner, our driver was waiting with the wonderful sign with my name on it. Hooray! We jumped in the car, and headed to Jerusalem. It was about half an hour's drive up the mountain to the city.
Our hotel, the Harmony,
is in the nice neighborhood of Nachalat Shiva that has many shops and cafes along the narrow streets.
as well as a good pizza place.
I am looking forward to this evening after sundown when everything will be open!
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