Our driver arrived at 9:00 am and we set out for the Egyptian Embassy to see about getting visas to re-enter Egypt from Israel. When we walked in, we were told, "Yes, you need a visa." After waiting in line for almost half an hour, we got to the front and were told, "Yes, of course you do, but it will be easier and cheaper for you to get them at the border." Argh! So, we got back in the cab and drove to the Jordan-Israel border with no difficulties. That is, until, once again, we tried to enter Israel. First, we sat, waiting for the bus to take us from Jordan to Israel over the King Hussein Bridge. That was OK, as we just played cards. However, once we got onto the bus, we were charged an additional fee to ride the bus and tranport backpacks. We'd already gotten rid of our Jordanian money, so we paid in shekels. However, we were given Jordanian cash as change. When we got across, we had to sit and wait for our bags. Our backpacks came through after 10 or 15 minutes, but many people had their bags chosen as ones to be thouroughly examined. We felt bad for them. With our backpacks firmly on our backs we headed out of the terminal into Israel but when we went to get a cab, we were told it would be 250 shekels ($65.00) for the cab (leaves immediately) or 125 shekels if we waited for the mini bus (leaves when full). We bought tickets for the bus. And waited. And waited. With the flies. And the heat.

At last, a bus came and we got on. And waited. The driver insisted on leaving the doors open and the flies swarmed in. Two women from Australia boarded to make us 6 passengers, and still we waited as we needed 10. When another woman joined, we cheered, but the driver told us we still couldn't leave unless we paid the difference for 3 passengers. Though tempted, we refused, having invested so much time in the cheaper ride. Eventually, a young man from Japan joined us and we then gave in and paid extra for the last seats. We were finally headed to Jerusalem! The drive was wild. We had worried that travelling through the West Bank might be dangerous but hadn't considered that the danger would stem from a deranged cab driver in a hurry to get home for the holiday! Once we got into Jerusalem, the driver offered to drive us to Jaffa Gate, which was brilliant because that's where our hostel was. Unfortunately, he immediately tacked on 20 more shekels to our price, telling us it was usually 40, so we should thank him for his fairness. Long story short, he drove us to Jaffa gate, accepted Egyptian money, but gave us back the wrong change after working out exchange rates, so we still got ripped off in the end - something everyone warned us would happen in Israel. The upside was finding our hostel with no problem right in the heart of Old Jerusalem. We couldn't believe we were actually here! We checked into the Citadel Hostel, only to discover they had had an "electrical problem" in our room so we couldn't have it anymore. Instead, all that was available was a mixed 12 bed dorm. Luckily, our immediate roommates were really nice, a medical student from Minnesota named Annetta and her friend Ross, who was a physiotherapist specializing in sports medicine. Annetta was in her second year of med school in a city outside of Jerusalem, so it was interesting to get her take on life in Israel. The hostel gave us 50% off of the original price of 40 shekels per person per night, which in Israel translated to 25 shekels… hmm…. but it meant a cheap night so we decided to stay. The room we were in was a cave. Literally. So, it was kind of neat, but the bathroom down there was pretty primitive. Luckily, there were nicer facilities upstairs. Exhausted and starving, we wandered through the maze of narrow alleys that form the Old City, accidentally finding ourselves on the fresh meat street. When we say fresh, we mean really fresh. All kinds of meat hung from hooks or floated in pails of water. Blood ran down the street at times and it was pretty gross, even for us. Eventually, though, we found a nice little restaurant, ate hamburger kebabs, rice, and flatbread with a variety of dips and then went back to the hostel to rest a bit. In the early evening, we went out exploring again and even got to the West Wall (Wailing Wall). It was very mind boggling to be surrounded by all the religions of this city. Because it was a Jewish holiday week, there were people from around the world, dressed in every level of "Jewishness", from jeans with no skull cap, to the full beard / single side curls / big hat / black suit variety. The accents were crazy too because you'd have a German, an Israeli, and a New Yorker all dressed exactly the same, talking to their families in the varying languages or accents. The holiday was going to end in a few days so we felt lucky to see it in person.

Along the way, we met a young Muslim man who offered to help us with directions. Suddenly, he got frustrated trying to explain things and simply said, "Follow me."Don't ask us why, but we did. We found ourselves in a maze of stairs and walkways, going up and around to the rooftops, and the young man pointed out the sights of Old Jerusalem by night. It was fabulous. What luck for us!