Visit to the Middle East (emergency landing, wars and fascinating history included)

[justin23]

Re: Visit to the Middle East (emergency landing, wars and fascinating history include

Interesting trip report. I was planning to visit Israel on my trip next year, but for now its just UAE-Jordan-Tunisia-Morocco and home. When my passport is almost full or expired is probably the best time to go Although I'm aware there are ways around this I've heard many stories of people being knocked back from entering a country because of evidence they may have entered Israel!

 

[PaulST]

Re: Visit to the Middle East (emergency landing, wars and fascinating history include

Interesting trip report. I was planning to visit Israel on my trip next year, but for now its just UAE-Jordan-Tunisia-Morocco and home. When my passport is almost full or expired is probably the best time to go Although I'm aware there are ways around this I've heard many stories of people being knocked back from entering a country because of evidence they may have entered Israel!

Hi Justin,
You are correct, a lot of Muslim-majority countries (even Indonesia) won't give you a visa if they find you've visited Israel recently. To get around this, Israel won't actually stamp your passport but instead give you a small slip of paper (at the airport) which you keep in your passport but can remove when you leave. Having said that, we did end up getting a stamp when we crossed back from Jordan after spending 24hrs there so if you know you're going to a particularly anti-Israeli country, you may want to be extra careful that they don't stamp it there.

 

[rpalais]

Re: Visit to the Middle East (emergency landing, wars and fascinating history include

Hi smit0847, I have had the opportunity to fly the route once, and the flight from BKK-TLV was in an old 747, however, the return flight TLV-BKK was in a better plane, with individual screen and better food.

 

[PaulST]

Re: Visit to the Middle East (emergency landing, wars and fascinating history include

Hi smit0847, I have had the opportunity to fly the route once, and the flight from BKK-TLV was in an old 747, however, the return flight TLV-BKK was in a better plane, with individual screen and better food.

I had what felt like an old 744 but it did have individual (small) TV screens.

 

[rpalais]

Re: Visit to the Middle East (emergency landing, wars and fascinating history include

I had what felt like an old 744 but it did have individual (small) TV screens.

Yes, probably is old, but in my case, was in very good condition, and the food much better than the other route y for sure, much better than other airlines like Turkish.

Anyway, PaulST, thanks for sharing your experience and photos/videos. I did more or less the same and it is a great country to visit and experience the history of the humanity.