It’s a Small World

“You want some weed?”

We were hanging out on the pier at Princess Beach, gazing into the clear blue water and watching a rainbow of fish swim around. Its by far the best place to see the fish when your at the Red Sea, so despite the fact that there are large signs warning against trespassing, and a bit of a gate to ease around, we joined all the other folks out there. Friendly folks who, when we said no to the weed, proceeded to offer us beer and then a snorkel mask. We gladly accepted the last, and Dalen, Zach* and Marshall took turns trying it out. Oh, did I mention that most of our group simply could not stay out of the water and had jumped right in with the fishes and eels?! There was even an evil Lion Fish hanging around, but that didn’t deter anyone. The rest of us sat on the pier and fed the fish pitas. We had tried whole wheat bread, but apparently fish don’t care for that. Picky.

We had just returned from a 3 night stint in Jordan, and while Jordan is the funniest, most hospitable country we’ve visited, we were glad to be back in Israel.

When it got too dark to see the fish, we strolled along the beach, picking up bits of coral and seashells. Tents and vehicles were all along, right under the signs that said NO DRIVING ON BEACH. NO TENTS. NO FIRES. Perhaps next time we should sleep there?

Supper was at Yusuf’s Bedouin Tent, right on the shores of the Red Sea. We all sacked out on the purple chairs outside, our knees nearly bumping our chins since the chairs are so low. The weather could not have been improved on, and we could clearly see the mountains of Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia silhouetted against the sunset. Big ships were slowly cruising into port, and the city lights twinkled along the shore.

Yusuf dresses in the traditional Bedouin robe and headdress, and knows what you want to eat more than you do. If you tell him just to feed you, you will not be disappointed. He brought us several teapots of sweet sage tea, which we drank as he cooked the rest of the meal. Shakshuka, hummus, olives, tomato’s and cucumbers, a heavenly tomato sauce, fresh hot chips with cheese sprinkled on top, plain chips, soft cheese to dip in, enormous fresh laffa breads and probably more I don’t remember. All I know is it was a perfect evening. Good food, good friends, good times. Paying for your supper is a serious roll of the dice. Yusuf thought a bit, scribbled some Arabic on a paper with a flourish and then announced a random number that came into his head as the Total. Too bad for us it was Expensive Night. Oh well, better luck next time.

Our Hotel was right by the main boardwalk in Eilat that is lined with stores, an amusement park, beaches and restaurants. We were once again reminded we were in Israel as we listened to the loud music and protests going on. The cops had to come calm a few things down, or so I heard. I myself just went to bed. Heath went shopping, Zach went to McDonalds and the rest went their merry ways and came back with tales of being chased off docks and such like.

The beds and showers that night were fabulous! We could even flush our toilet paper without any twinges of guilt, something we no longer take for granted. It was the perfect reset before hitting Palestine, hiking trails and adventure once more.

*Zach is our youngest boy who flew out to join us for a couple weeks. He added the ninth to our already fun pack, and things just got better! Although I believe he was the one who spilled Ice Coffee in the van… He also inherited the snorkel mask and it now resides in our home, dirty and well used.