13th December 2025
Oh my goodness, I’m so excited! Out of all the trips, journeys and adventures I’ve ever had, I think this one was so up there in terms of level of excitement. After so many years of dreaming about it, I was actually on my way to Israel! The Holy Land, The Land of Milk and Honey, the centre of both Christianity and Judaism, and also a really holy place for Islam. And I was actually on my way there!
To be honest I had wanted to go for a long time, but a couple of things had delayed it for me. Firstly, it is one of the pricier countries in the world which I’d always planned to visit once I’d turned 40 and hopefully my income could afford such destinations – one might notice from my travels that pre-40 I pretty much covered the cheaper developing countries of the world, and post-40 I’m now mostly covering the more expensive ones as I can now afford them. The second issue was I’d always thought I’d wait to visit Israel at a “safe” time. In the end I decided that, very sadly, it is a country that is never going to be fully safe, and thus on the 23rd September 2023 I booked my flights there for October of the following year. Then October the 7th happened two weeks later, and I was utterly shocked and appalled as to what happened to those poor people. After rebooking my flights several times due to several cancellations by subsequent airlines, and as October 2024 was approaching, Iran sent its missiles through the sky which finally convinced me to postpone for another year. I was thus aiming for December 2025, and after two years of trying to not get my hopes up, and plenty more years before that of wanting to visit, I was actually heading off on my ten-day adventure around the Promised Land. Words cannot describe how excited I was!
After rebooking through several different airlines, I decided in the end to go with El Al – the country’s national carrier, and the most expensive option. But considering their safety record is impeccable, that Mossad agents travel on every single flight for added security, and that they are the very last to cancel flights should any issue of security happen in the country (I would not wish to be stranded there), I decided to splash out and went with them.
The flight was an early one leaving from Luton Airport, and I opted to stay at a local AirBnB in Luton around a mile away from the terminal. I was so glad I did this, as the direct trains that head there from East Croydon hourly through the night from midnight to 5am were all cancelled for some reason, and a taxi would have cost me a fortune!
The El Al check-in desk and departure gate were both at the far end of the respective terminal hall and departure lounge, which I thought was a nice touch to give people travelling to this country at this time a bit of privacy, and also for the added security that this must assure. There was indeed extra security through all stages of the airport, starting with an interview by an Israeli security agent just before the check-in desk asking lots of questions about my visit to Israel, but she was very friendly. She became the first of many who seemed genuinely surprised that I, a tourist, was heading to and visiting this country – I was made to feel so very welcome by pretty much everyone I met throughout my time there, sensing their hope that tourism and normality would return to their country and their lives very soon.
The flight was great, with super-friendly flight attendants and fellow passengers, who had a nice vibe about them, along with notable security here as well. Two British police officers were at the gate, while I noticed Israeli security agents also checking the outside of the plane with a torch.
After four-and-a-half hours with some good food and landing at Ben Gurion Airport, the security there wasn’t at all as bad as I expected. It was just like anywhere else really. Easy, efficient, and not too many questions – perhaps I’d passed the test already with the security agent back in Luton. I arrived at 3pm, just as the first of two Shabbats during my time there (the Jewish Sabbath or holy day, when pretty much the country shuts down from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday) were beginning. This wasn’t too much of a problem the first time around, but the second one became a major thorn in my side which I’ll relate in a later blog. When one visits Israel, one truly has to bear not only the weekly Shabbat in mind, but also the additional plethora of other Jewish holidays, particularly Yom Kippur, which affect whether things are open, public transport is running and so on. Thus the train station at the airport was closed upon my arrival, as were most tourist information kiosks, along with the place to buy the elusive “Rav Kav” card, the only method of payment on public transport and notoriously difficult to find a place to get one from.
Fortunately my car rental company counter was open, and after all the necessary paperwork with another super friendly customer service assistant there, I picked up a nice little Kia Picanto which was to be my travel companion for eight days in total. It was a speedy little thing with an automatic gear box, but the hand brake was pretty naff which meant I couldn’t park anywhere on a hill – that didn’t post too much of a problem for me fortunately.
So after a rather long day waking up at 4am back in the UK and now travelling after dark in a new country with a new road system and on the opposite side of the road, I braved the one-and-a-half hour journey southwards past the country’s fourth city of Beersheba, where Abraham is said to have settled after he nearly sacrificed his son, and into the Negev Desert, heading for a real-life working kibbutz which was to be my first night’s accommodation on this incredible journey.
The drive was ok, though darkness having fallen made it a bit tricky as some parts of the motorway were lit up, while others were not – one of my headlights was also not the brightest, making it a little hard to see the road ahead when there were no motorway lights. Once past Beersheba, there were many signs to say be careful of camels, and also one to warn of soldiers crossing! At one point I was only ten miles from the Gaza border, and while my kibbutz was located around 30 miles from the border, I couldn’t help but recall the absolute evil that visited kibbutzes like this one and a number of other places on that shocking day in October two years prior.
I was grateful to have arrived safely at the Mashabei Sade Kibbutz. Being Shabbat, the reception guy stayed up especially to let me through the security gate which I was grateful for, and I checked into a lovely room. Had a short wander, returned a very friendly “Shabbat Shalom!” from the well-dressed couple nextdoor just coming back from their Shabbat dinner in the communal dining room a short walk away, which made me realise again quite powerfully just where I was, and called it a night, my very first in Israel!
Waking up the next morning, I couldn’t quite believe where I was – the morning before I was in Luton, and now I was in a Jewish kibbutz in the middle of the Negev Desert. It was quite obvious what an oasis the place was the next day, when up on a nearby viewpoint all you could see was arid desert all around! It is just so amazing how within the space of less than 100 years, these truly inspirational Israeli people have turned a landscape of mostly desert and marshland into the very modern Western country that it is today. The kibbutz spirit of the early settlers seemed to live on in this little green corner of the desert. Breakfast in the communal dining room was interesting, with nothing hot or recently cooked due to it being Shabbat, as the use of anything electrical is forbidden to most “Religious Jews”. Broadly speaking, the Jewish population of Israel, and probably in general, are often categorized as “Secular” (Jewish by blood and culture but not by practice), “Traditional” (observant of the Sabbath and other holy days and festivals), “Religious” (participant in a synagogue and/or community, and regularly practising the faith), or Haredi “Ultra-Orthodox” (following strict interpretations of Jewish laws and often living in separate communities, most notable often by their dark clothes, ladies wearing wigs, and men having long, curly sideburns). Fortunately my room had its own kettle, so I could still have a hot coffee before setting off further south after breakfast, deeper on my way into the Negev.
First stop, stunning Avdat in Avdat National Park. The lady in the reception there seemed genuinely surprised to see me, a tourist visiting from England. It was quite clear that throughout my time in the country, international tourism was barely just a trickle and certainly nothing like it must have been pre-October 2023. Along with me, there was another fellow solo traveller there, most likely Israeli, during my hour there. Dating back to the 3rd century BC, Avdat was an important Nabatean settlement along the caravan route transporting incense and other goods from Yemen and Southern Arabia, through numerous stopping points including Petra and Avdat, before being shipped around the Mediterranean and onto Europe from the ancient port of Gaza. The Romans subsequently took over the place in the 2nd century adding a bathhouse and Roman buildings to the Nabatean cave and building complex. I was so excited to be there after my amazing visit to Petra the year before, and the Nabatean caves in particular felt very reminiscent of my time there.
Next up, Mitzpe Ramon, for absolutely stunning views over the Makhtesh Ramon Canyon below, Israel’s version of the Grand Canyon apparently! The views were incredible, and I spent my time there just gazing over the desert scenery below while listening to beautiful “Shalom Aleichem” by Barry and Batya Segal which came on my MP3 Player just as my plane was landing in Israel the day before. Along with “New Day Will Rise” by Yuval Raphael, October 7th survivor and the Israeli entry for the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest, these two songs became the main themes throughout my journey and regularly brought tears to my eyes.
Speaking of which, an encounter with a couple at Mitzpe Ramon also did the same. After exchanging taking photos for each other, the guy said thank you to me, thank you as a tourist for coming back to Israel. This was powerful, we embraced, a hearty embrace, and said “God bless you” to each other – I welled up. Another couple translated some of the countless pictures of those fallen in October 2023 which were stuck up on the viewpoint stand there as well as countless other places throughout Israel. Most of the photos had quotes and phrases that the people in them were famous for, one of them saying “chill, and relax”. I definitely shed a tear or two at these.
It has to be said at this stage that I have often found Jewish people almost ashamed, certainly reluctant, to say that they are Jewish. Not here. People here are Jewish, and are proud of it, their love and welcome towards each other and to others is clear. They seem at peace and grounded there, and I can honestly say it is the only place I’ve ever been in the world with a strong, vibrant and Jewish culture – after centuries, millennia even, of anti-semitism, good for them I say.
Finally for my driving for the day, I drove an achingly beautiful drive all the way through the Desert, totaling from Mashabei Sade, 125 miles to the south to Eilat, my next stop for the night.
I was so glad to have come here. It was one of three pieces of Israel I had spied on my travels through Jordan this time last year, yearning to actually visit since my plans there two months earlier had been scuppered by the Iranian air strikes. I had seen this prosperous-looking Israeli Red Sea resort across the Gulf of Aqaba from Aqaba in Jordan, on the day of my fateful Big Mac experience which came back up again four hours later. I particularly remember seeing a huge Israeli flag clearly visible from Aqaba, admiring the country’s pride from afar. Now I was actually there, and as with many times on this journey, I couldn’t quite believe it.
Checked into a gorgeous hotel, and even got a free room upgrade to quite simply the poshest place I’ve ever stayed in! Top floor penthouse suite with a lounge as well as a bedroom and bathroom, along with a private balcony with a jacuzzi hot tub and some serious views over Eilat, the Red Sea, Aqaba and Jordan in the far distance. My my!
I downed my bags, and then after a short rest headed out for an exploration of this lovely beach resort. This involved lots of walking along the beach, prom and shopping areas. Sat down to watch the sun set in an area literally called “Hotels Zone”, where I could actually see the afore-mentioned huge Israeli flag much closer and which I learned is actually an Israeli military base. Listening to more Barry and Batya Segal on my MP3 Player, “Messianic Jews” who are Jewish but who also believe Jesus is the Messiah like the Christians, I was filled with emotion again to be in this legendary country. I was sure this would happen many times more on my adventure, which indeed it did.
Since it was still Shabbat, I headed to McDonald’s for a takeaway as it was one of the only eateries open, before heading back to my hotel, ready for a serious soak in my private bubbling hot tub with a view. Aahh, this is surely the life!
The next day, as I think with every day in this country, was absolutely incredible! I checked out of my seriously plush penthouse suite after a banquet of a breakfast, with hot food this time as Shabbat was over, and headed to the nearby Post Office to buy a couple of stamps for postcards home. This was not the easiest of experiences I must say! After a bag check at the entrance in which I needed to drink a bit from each of the many bottles of drinks I happened to be carrying, checking in my travel spork as it was considered a dangerous object, not being able to get the right queue number as the machine was mostly in Hebrew and I also needed an Israeli mobile phone number which I didn’t have, until a friendly lady came and helped me, and then being shouted at by the clerk for having the wrong ticket, she finally gave into my polite request to buy two postcard stamps for England! Quite the rigmarole, but in all honesty I’m all for as much security as possible in this country, given the situation they find themselves in – the more the merrier I say.
I then drove two hours back up north through the Negev again, but this time heading to the north-east and the shores of the Dead Sea. There really feels something very special about this place, and I felt exactly the same feeling as I had felt this time last year on the Jordanian side. My drive took me past a stone pillar named Lot’s Wife after the Bible story, and Mt Sodom nearby, location of the notorious city from the book of Genesis which was destroyed by God for its evil. Lot’s Wife was told by God to not look back as she and her family who were the only good people in the city escaped, whose instruction she unfortunately ignored and thus was turned into a pillar of salt. The pillar is in fact made of the salty rock found all around the Dead Sea, and one of my students later told me not long after school started when this story had come up in one of my lessons, that scientists had tested the stone pillar and actually found human DNA in there… Not sure how true this part of it is though…!
I was heading to the Hamei Zohar Dead Sea beach in the tourist resort of Ein Bokek, and was the only one partaking in the floating action during my one-and-a-half hours there. As mentioned, tourism seems to be in the recovery mode here, which was not a bad thing for me at least having pretty much every tourist site to myself.
I felt a bit of an old pro at this now, after my stint on the opposite shore last year when I had been gazing across this stunningly beautiful body of water at the land of Israel on the other side, and once more being absolutely thrilled to now be here. I knew from experience the pain of getting the hyper-salty water in my eyes and completely avoided it this time, enjoying a good float and relaxing time in the sun.
It was then on to nearby Masada, definitely one of the most awesome places I visited during my time in Israel. Set atop a flat-topped mountain, and originally built as a palace by King Herod the Great in the 1st century BC, this hilltop citadel famously became the last stand for the Jewish zealot revolt against the Romans which began in 70AD. Following the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Jews from the Holy Land, around a thousand Jews subsequently fled to Masada to hold out in a final siege against their oppressors. After a couple of months of holding out, the brave defenders chose suicide over Roman execution and enslavement. Ten men were chosen to kill all of the inhabitants, before drawing lots to decide which one of the ten would kill the other nine, who would then ultimately fall on his own sword. This sheer act of courage and bravery became enshrined in the Jewish psyche over the last two millennia, symbolising not only standing up for their faith and beliefs with their lives, but also the hope that someday the global diaspora would be able to return to their Promised Land, the land of their ancestors, and heroes of the Masada siege. The dream was finally accomplished in 1948 when the state of Israel was created for the first time in 2000 years. Since then, Masada seems to have become a kind-of pilgrimage site for Jews from all over the world, remembering the bravery and heroism of their fore-fathers.
Rising 450m above the surrounding desert plain and the nearby Dead Sea, the visitor mostly ascends and descends by cable car, though the brave, fit and/or foolish can make the climb or descent on foot. I was originally planning to go up by cable car and return on foot, but it turned out I had quite fortunately managed to arrive just in time to take the last cable car up at 3pm, for a fairly breezy hour’s exploration, before the final ride back down again at 4pm. I asked the cable car operator what to do if I missed the last cable car, to which he humorously replied “you don’t miss it!”, which made me laugh!
Honestly, seriously, I spent most of my time up there just trying to keep my jaw from dropping at the absolutely stunning beauty of it all. The remains of the original site and buildings themselves were fascinating, but the real drawcard of the place lay in the serious views all round, over the surrounding mountains and desert, the Dead Sea below, and the Jordanian mountains rising up on the other side which I had explored the year before – all was just incredible! It was also the perfect time to visit, with the setting sun bathing the bare desert rock faces and ruins in its magical glowing beauty. This was absolutely one of the most incredible, of many, places I visited during my time in Israel.
Just as dusk was setting in, I embarked on my final two-hour drive for the day on to Jerusalem, skirting around the Palestinian Territory of the West Bank rather than going directly north and through it. While this would have been much easier and far quicker, my car rental company forbade me from travelling through the Palestinian Territories, and I didn’t really want to anyway since a yellow Israel number plate can be a target in there, where Palestinian number plates are white. I had to pinch myself several times on this journey, as my satnav said things like “take the second exit at the roundabout towards Jerusalem”, that I was actually heading to pretty much the holiest city in the entire world! I could hardly contain my excitement!
Driving through the city of Jerusalem was just crazy. The roads are all narrow and windy in this very hilly city, and my satnav got me lost once as it also seemed to find it hard keeping up with the crazy turns, exits and alleyways. I stopped off at a supermarket on the way to my accommodation in the middle of an Ultra-Orthodox Haredi area of town called Givat Shaul, which I hadn’t actually realised looking at my map and planning my route there the evening before. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so out of place in my life as I felt there, like a fish out of water. I had the foresight to add the trouser legs to my zip-off shorts before going inside, and I felt relieved that the Haredi Jewish customers who were my fellow shoppers were really quite friendly. The whole place was just so different to any supermarket I’d been to before, with so many different foods all with Hebrew labels, and sections for menorah candlesticks and kippahs, along with huge sections of countless types of herbs and veggies which I didn’t recognise. I was particularly surprised by the size of the alcohol section, mostly wines and spirits – I imagine this sector of the Jewish society must enjoy their drink! This little shopping trip was really quite an experience in itself.
I finally made it through the crazy traffic to my BnB accommodation just to the south of Mt Zion and the Old City, in a perfect location to make my three nights in town to be walkable. I was staying in the flat of a super-friendly American-Jewish lady, with my own room and sharing a bathroom with one of her fellow American-Jewish friends who was also a Rabbi. This was another great experience for me, as they kept a kosher house, and I needed to take note of which dishes I could use for what, and which sink I could use to wash them up in.
After parking my car up in a rather tight parking space on the street, I felt glad to have a rest from the driving to be honest after this stressful drive through the city on this busy first day of Hanukkah. As my host said, anyone and everyone that evening was heading to someone’s house to light their first candle. Me, I was just trying to find my way through the city to the place I’d booked to lay my head for my three nights there. As mentioned, I’d planned my time in the city to be entirely walkable, and thus put my car keys away for a few days. Once again, I just couldn’t quite believe where I was, I was just soooo excited to be in the incredible city of Jerusalem!
Of course, more on that in my next.
Alex Waring's Travel Blog 