Andrea Hearts Traveling

While planning the trip I had to chose where to go, where to stay, how long to stay, and how to get there so after much research and asking my good friends for advise I decided to go to Naxos, the biggest island of the Cyclades, and then to Santorini. We stayed 3 nights in each island which was just perfect.

I made it to Athens and met with my mom!!!

She flew all the way from El Salvador and had quite the connections (El Salvador- Honduras- Miami- Zurich- Athens!) and 30+ hours travel journey door to door.

I arrived a day earlier than her just to make sure I would be in Athens before she did and I could pick her up from the airport.

I was so sad to be leaving Palestine and going to Tel Aviv! I decided to leave a day before my flight just in case I had any problems crossing the border from Palestine to Israel.

TRY #1

I came back from Jordan and I had in mind to walk to the highway and hitch hike to the intersection of the Dead Sea so I wouldn't have to come back all the way near to the Dead Sea once again. Well, it turned out that I couldn't walk out, I tried to get a ride but the security told me I couldn't go with the two guys who said yes and directed me to the taxi stand.

I tried to get a taxi for the 3km to the highway but there is such a taxi monopoly that the guy said I would have to pay 42 shekels ($12) to go the 3km, which was the same price as going all the way to Jerusalem! OR I could pay 350 shekels (almost $100) for a taxi to the Dead Sea! With those options I opted to go all the way to Jerusalem and go back another day to the Dead Sea. While walking in the old town I met a guy who told me I could get a bus direct to the Dead Sea from the central station so then I had a new plan!

I’ve been wanting to see Petra for many many years and I’m finally in Jordan to see it!

My visit to Petra started with a 5:15am wake up call to get the 6:30am JETT bus directly to the site. Thankfully Andrew and Claire have children and Aramis wakes up at 5am so Andrew offered to drop me off.

During my stay in Amman I went to visit the ancient ruins of Jerash. On a friday morning (the muslim’s sunday) Andrew, Claire and the kids gave me a ride to the bus stop where I could catch a bus to Jerash. When I arrived it turned out I couldn’t catch a bus there so I took a 1JD taxi to a bigger bus terminal. Once again people said that because it was friday it would be difficult to catch a bus to Jerash but 3 other people were going that direction and I asked if I could share the taxi. We were about to get on the taxi when a bus arrived going to the direction of Jerash so we jumped in. In Jordan busses don’t go until they are full so we had to wait about 20-30 minutes before departing.

I finally arrived in Jerash and I was starving so I looked for some food but it was so hard to find, everything was closed but finally I found a falafel place and got a falafel for 0.30 JD!!! That’s like fifty US cents! (compared to $5 per falafel in Israel, that's 1000% cheaper!)

Amman Citadel

Well, I wasn't at all prepared for the border crossing to Jordan!

When I went to Israel I knew they were going to question me about my Iran stamp and I was ready to answer all the questions but I had no idea they were going to do the same in Jordan!

I took a private bus from Nazareth to Amman that was recommended by a friend because she said they wait for you while you cross the border and it's super easy. After a 45 minute ride I arrived at the border crossing and it was super easy to get out of Israel, got a stamp on the loose piece of paper they gave me at the entrance and that was it.

When I arrived at the Jordan side I showed my Jordan pass (a pre paid visa and entrance to all attractions in Jordan), they stamped my passport and went to the next window. The guy looked at my Iran visa and started to write stuff on my passport but then asked me to go to the next window.

Once there I was ask to go get a visa... but I thought I already had one but I went back, they told me I only needed that so I returned to the window. They told me to go back, I told them I didn't understand and that the guy told me to come here. Long story short I got another stamp and got questioned A LOT!

I arrived in Nazareth and I was just exhausted from my day in Taghba, I could barely walk so I just looked for a hostel and called it a night.

I left Palestine and made my way on the bus to Tiberias, a town in the Sea of Galilee.

The bus ride was really nice, passing next to the Dead Sea and one could even see Jordan!

This morning we left Emmaus with Salem and as we were getting off at San Salvatore he offered Fray Oscar to take us in the car to Bethlehem after lunch so I could see it. After a very busy day in Jerusalem we went into Salem’s car and drove to Palestine to see the place where Jesus was born.

Selfie time with Fray Oscar!

On my 3rd day in Israel Fray Oscar took me to Jerusalem. We got a ride from Salem so it was easy to get there, we passed the checkpoint no problem and they didn’t ask for us to stop.

I was very excited about the day and discovering a little bit about Jerusalem.

I arrived at the bus station in Selcuk when it was already dark out and while I was looking at my phone to see which way to go, a man came to me and asked me where I was staying, took my bag and walked me to my hostel.

To my surprise I was THE ONLY guest in the whole place and had a 12 mixed dorm all to myself! So nice!

I wasn’t really sure about wether or not to go to Pamukkale since I googled it and it just looked like some thermal pools and I’m not a fan of swimming in other people’s germs. My friend Simone had highly recommended them and when I talked to my friend Leslie she said “Pamukkale is something I would go back to Turkey for” so… I booked an early bus ride to Pamukkale on my way to Selcuk.

Made it to Fetiyeh really early in the morning and checked into one of the nicest hostel I’ve ever stayed in. The dorm had 6 beds and each pod had a curtain and a flat screen tv on it. I rested for a little bit and then went to the bathroom and the charm of the hostel went out the window! The bathroom was so small one could barely fit. When I sat on the toilet I could barely close the door because my knees touched the door. The funniest thing happened the next morning when I went in to brush my teeth and a guy was taking a shower; he looked up from the shower and we could see each other, he even asked me if I could hold his wrist band and put it somewhere, I didn’t even have to fully extend my arm to grab it from him! We both started laughing at the awkwardness of the bathroom and started a conversation… while he showered!!! So many points deducted for the bad bathroom!

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