Daver6 World Tour 2016

[Daver6]

Checking-in for the world tour.

Good wine list on QR. how was the food and service?

I love the Crown lounge, spacious, comfortable place.

I'm afraid your flight to TLV will be similar (underwhelming) to your previous flight. They use old planes on those short 20 minutes sectors but at least the seating is 1-2, good for singles and for couples.

QR food and drink was excellent. Very very happy. Hard to split between QR and EY in J.

Agree, the Crown lounge is pretty good. However, when the previous lounge was the QR lounge, its a step backwards. Drink options are decent, food ok.

MrsDaver6 and I went to check out the Veloce option. They had issues with inputting our Amex cards. I don't card the companion Visa, but lucky MrsDaver6 did. Its a funky little cafe that made a nice change from the lounge. We weren't very hungry and just tried a couple of dishes that the very friendly staff member suggestion when I asked for his opinion.

I'd done the TLV to AMM flight previously, so knew what to expect. Flight uneventful. I found the E175 J seat more comfortable. Immigration line at TLV was incredibly slow. Took about 45 minutes.

 

[boomy]

45 minutes is unusual. I've read about some strikes in BG airport recently, pax reported waiting two hours for their luggage. Wondering if you were effected by that.

 

[cove]

That is quite a trip Daver6. Wanting to hear what you think about TLV and the rest of your destinations. Enjoy all of your 6 weeks of travels.

 

[Daver6]

45 minutes is unusual. I've read about some strikes in BG airport recently, pax reported waiting two hours for their luggage. Wondering if you were effected by that.

No, wasn't that. Just a few aircraft arriving at the same time and immigration being thorough. Bags were well and truly ready for us by the time we got to the carousel.

 

[bwhouse]

BP scanned, looks like a great trip

 

[Daver6]

Apologies for the lack of updates. In summary, been too busy having fun. I will still update this thread retrospectivly with pictures and useful information over the next couple of weeks once I'm back.

Right now awaiting our QR flight from BOS to DOH in a rather sub-standard AF lounge.

 

[Daver6]

Well, I've been home almost two weeks and what an amazing trip it was. I can gladly report, the most serious incident was losing my noise cancelling headphones somewhere in Doha airport (well I suspect that's where it was). Given I had paid for the taxes using my QF Amex Ultimate card I made use of the free travel insurance and lodged a claim online. Pretty painless and had the money for the headphones minus the $100 excess in my bank account quite quickly.

I'll fill in the TR and will likely skip some details as 6 weeks away is a lot of details. So if anyone has questions, ask and I'll respond as best I can.

So, Tel Aviv and Israel. What an amazing place. Accommodation was with my brother and his wife in their Tel Aviv apartment. It was towards the end of summer and the weather was glorious. Nights were warm and days sunny and about 30C with average humidity. It was bliss.

The view from the kitchen (office). The amount of construction in Tel Aviv is insane. New apartment buildings going up everywhere.


Eating...that's pretty much what I did for six weeks...with plenty of drinking too.

Driving back from Jerusalem on the main highway at sunset

Baklava at the Carmel market in Tel Aviv.

 

[Daver6]

Like many cities around the world, Tel Aviv has a bike hire system. Pay a daily fee and use the bikes. Less than 30 minutes is free. So, a few short rides to take in the sights.

Board walk by Tel Aviv port

No shortage of shops and restaurants at the old port.

Cycled south of the port along the beach

About 6 kms of beaches like this. The water in the Med is a perfect temp

Cycling is thirsty work. A beer at Gordo's was in order. Could have easily called it a day here, but Jaffa was calling.

 

[JohnM]

Good to see cycling and not quad-biking .

 

[Daver6]

That's Jaffa hill in the distance.

Looking north from Jaffa



Jaffa port

From the top of the hill in Jaffa looking north to Tel Aviv


Tel Aviv is such an amazing place. Its so multicultural and vibrant. 11pm on a school night you'll find people in cafe, walking along the boulevards and fantastic weather. Getting around on public transport (buses) in Tel Aviv is easy. You can also walk with ease. Language isn't an issue either. Everything is sign posted in English and everyone (90%) of people speak English. The other ten percent will still understand English

 

[Daver6]

Slightly out of chronological order...but a time lapse departing PER.

[video=youtube_share;XxIkX7gqfRM]https://youtu.be/XxIkX7gqfRM[/video]

 

[Daver6]

And departing DOH on RJ for AMM

[video=youtube_share;qxcYnnmxzDs]https://youtu.be/qxcYnnmxzDs[/video]

 

[Daver6]

We decided to do a day trip to Jerusalem to see the old city. You can take the train, but its the same old train line that was used during the British mandate. Ie, slow. There is a new line currently under construction which should greatly reduce travel time via train. However, buses between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are very frequent and quick (less than an hour) and very comfortable. Think luxury coach.

Arriving at the central bus station you can take the light rail to the old city or enjoy a 2.5 km walk. We took the walking option.


Yes, people actually live in the old city. Someone's front door

 

[Daver6]

Most of the following photos are self explanatory at the western wall.

 

[Daver6]

Backgammon is a serious spectator sport in the Middle East. Actually, wouldn't have minded having a game.



So the obvious question about safety is usually asked. I felt really safe. There are plenty of police and soldiers around. I felt comfortable that if something were to happen, it would be dealt with swiftly. I feel significantly less safe walking around Northbridge in Perth (think Kings Cross) at night.

We walked about 20 kms that day. Saw various sites, did the Kotel tunnel tour (I found it quite interesting). Falafel for lunch and shwarma for dinner. I lost count of the number of shwarams I ate in Irsael. Gosh they are good (except for the one I had at the airport, but that's hardly surprising).

 

[Daver6]

Walking back to the central bus station in Jerusalem, came across these buskers...

[video=youtube_share;R_Ozl_Vzzig]https://youtu.be/R_Ozl_Vzzig[/video]

 

[Daver6]

We figured we better test out the water. Yup, as fantastic as it looks..


But swimming is thirsty work, so another beer at Gordo's

Watching the sun set on another hard day

 

[Daver6]

A trip to the IDF museum in Tel Aviv the day after Shimon Peres died.

 

[Daver6]

We decided to head to the Dead Sea and Masada, staying overnight at a youth hostel at the base of Masada. It is more like a cheap and cheerful hotel than youth hostel though. Individual rooms with ensuite are available. Nothing fancy but it does the job. We wanted to hike to the top of Masada prior to dawn so the location was optimal.

View of the Dead Sea from a lookout.

On the way to stopped at Ein Gedi. A shorty walk through a relatively shady canyon lead us the spring. Opportunities to get into the water presented, so we took them.

Gedi is Hebrew for goat or kid and ein being spring. The location lived up to its name.

 

[Daver6]

View from the hostel in the evening across the Dead Sea. The lights in the distance are the Jordanian side.

Early start but we made it to the top with plenty of time. If you wish to see the sun rise the only option is to walk. The cable car only opens around 8am. I wouldn't advise walking during the day. Think central Australia type weather.


Some of the man ruins at the top. This was part of King Herrod's palace. The man knew about building with a view!