Travelling
In peaceful times, a trip up the Mount of Olives is part of every itinerary of Jerusalem. The views over the Old City and the Temple Mount are stunning . Wonderful vistas aside, the Mount of Olives is also one of the sites where Jesus …
When I planned my little winter sun trip to Jordan, I didn’t plan on visiting Wadi Rum. My priorities were on Petra, catching some sun in Aqaba and viewing the Desert Castles east of Amman. So I simply ran out of time. However, after seeing …
Who isn’t interested in ancient Egypt? Or, should I ask, monumental, mind-blowing Egyptian temples? It’s just a shame one of them is so deep in the desert of southern Egypt. There’s not much around it, and it takes real effort to visit. I’m talking about …
Apologies for staying unusually quiet these last few weeks! After producing a few new blog posts over the quiet period of the holidays, work was unusually busy, and then I went on my much-awaited winter sun holiday. Or so I thought… Do you wonder what …
Bethlehem: I looked everywhere in my 2011 Bradt Guide, but couldn’t find it. What’s going on with Bethlehem? No wonder… Bethlehem is in the West Bank, one of the three Palestine Territories in Israel. It took me a little to figure that out – being ignorant, …
To be honest with you: I first heard of the existence of Rachel’s Tomb when seeing the Destination Boards of Bethlehem-bound buses: Rachels’ Tomb/Checkpoint 300. It is not without irony that the place where the Hebrew Matriarch Rachel is buried now signifies a checkpoint between …
Jerusalem – Holy City of three faiths and contested for millennia. It has long been on my list of places I wish to visit in my lifetime. And this is my report on my first time Israel trip. For many years, the Second Intifada put …
My 2017 post on visiting the Mount of Olives is one of the most read articles on this site, and an question that turns up again and again is whether you can get there on foot. Technically, you can, quite easily (with a bit of …
Tzfat, a small town in the hills above the Sea of Galilee, is mostly known to be a centre of Kabbalah. Not so much the Western esoteric type practiced by well-known celebrities, but more Jewish mysticism that emerged from the 15th Century onwards in Ottoman …
Compared to most countries in Europe, including my native Germany, Israel is a rather expensive country. So, would I find some special Israel souvenirs? Ryanair hand luggage limitations and an already full apartment aside, my shopping sprees where somewhat limited by my 500 EURO budget …
Luxor Airport was really small, and honestly, not much to shout about. A lot of Nile Cruise tourists would arrive in Hurghada by charter flight. So, forget about public transport from Luxor Airport to the town centre – a taxi it was, and the first …
As previously reported, I was lucky to meet a German woman in one of the minor sites on the West Bank on my short trip to Luxor, we started talking, and before I knew it I had a neat individual itinerary of Nile Valley sights …
