Day 8 - February 26 - At the Red Sea

I was up real early that morning, as my goal was to reach the southernmost part of Israel, Eilat - and this city was still 150 kilometers away. There would not have been a lot of choices, for sure, nothing in crater itself - even afterwards most of the area was a desert - so the safest thing was to just go for it. Moreover, my original return flight was for the 28th - but, thinkin ahead, I booked a flexible ticket and had already extended my return flight to the 2nd of March. So at 6:30 am, I left the inn and soon I was yet again on the edge of the crater, gazing at the wonderful site together with the Nubian mountain goat.

Maybe even more impressive was the atmosphere at sunrise compared to that at sunset.

So, there we go! At this time of the day, traffic was practically non-existent and I had the pleasure of dropping down into the crater of a wonderfully crafted roads, switchbacking the way downhill.

Cool, eh? Well, I found it really cool and enjoyed the ride thoroughly. Even when the road levelled out, the ride became enjoyable - it must be a real gem for a geologist, seeing all kinds of moon-like landscapes and rock formations. I am having a hard time selection the photos I am showing you - all soo strangely, out-of-wordly wonderful...

It was indeed an impressive ride - and it had its set of challenges...there were quite a few ascents and I was carrying a lot of weight - I brought along a lot of water bottles, as I heard there would be no places to fill these up - true, but then it wasn't all that hot. I am not complaining, in the first 100 kilometers, I dropped some 1200 meters, but also had to ascend some 700...

Outside the canyon it was a lot duller - and was reminded that the Middle East is a place not usually at rest. Luckily, there were no tanks on practise that day, so no issues with the dust cloud.

The warning was to no avail - you could see the tracks of these vehicles. On the second thought, I guess I would have liked to see some war-games going on...(but then would have had to breathe the dust in....no win--win situation here...).

I took rest in an "oasis" of sort, Neot Smadar, a kibbutz of 227 inhabitants. At a restaurant (the first one in abut 100 kilometers...), I took a rest. A large unit of Israeli soldiers, fully equipped with machine guns and other gear, sat right next to me. It was time to show my best behaviour.

The remaining 50 kilometers were not the most enjoyable - from various directions further up north, roads had converged and there were more cars, buses and lorries passing me. The road became a 4-lane highway, which is not so bad, the issue was that the shoulder vanished, especially over bridges, so I had to check if a bus was coming and stop - did not want to be run down so close to the goal line.

On my left, I saw some mountains, the peaks of which belonged to Jordan.

Closer to Eilat, just in front of these mountains, were palm-tree oasis built in the desert.

My chain was still squeaking - so just even before Eilat, when seeing a large bike shop located in shopping mall (the largest in the area, as I found out later), they took care of it. I used this opportunity to take a rest, drink a lot of water and start looking at accommodation. My plan was to stay a night or two at the Red Sea, if I had put in so much effort in reaching it. All I could see in the booking platforms were really super expensive hotels - I recall the cheapest one cost like €150. I decided not to make a decision - a wise one! 😉

I rode on and saw the first glimpse of the water - a very narrow-looking bay lay ahead of me, flanked by the Jordanian side.

Eilat is a touristic town (that and also a large port), somehow I was not too impressed. I no longer know how, but somehow I heard the passage to Egypt is possible - and even visa-free within a certain boundary. I checked the hotel prices, they were a third of those in Israel, so I thought no risk - no fun. I eye-balled a hotel some 7 kilometers from the border, a 5-start resort, all inclusive, for €50. Sounds like a swell deal!

I rode past town and there were about 10 kilometers to the border - with (partial) bike paths, hotels and resorts lining the road. The plus side was that the sea was getting broader - so at that hotel, it would be even nicer for swimming.

It must have been around 4:30 by the time I had reached the border crossing - with very few people. Here my ordeal began - where I had regretted it really badly for having even tried the crossing. On the Israeli side, it was benign - I had to pay around €15 when leaving the country, but I was told I would get it back on my return. Then it was just a short scan of my passport and I would out of the country - in hands of the Egyptian authorities.

Oh dear, oh dear, what an ordeal (this is supposed to rhyme). I guess there are not too many bikers showing up with their Hungarian passports late in the afternoon, wanting to make a crossing. I was screened multiple time, I had to push my bike through an X-ray machine, the small pouch below the saddle was examined - the officials getting really suspicious of CO² cartridge there. Then they disappeared with my passport for at least half an hour - and only one person spoke English - and that quite broken. I tried all my Arabic knowledge, this did not make them all too excited. My passport showed up, only to disappear again. Then I was told to go to customs, which was in a different building. There were 2 windows there, and I was sent from one to the other - when finally one officer told me it was not necessary. I went back to the passport area, but was then sent back to customs, they should have written something in my passport. I thought that was it, I was escorted to another officer, where I had to pay a small amount for a stamp, which could only be paid in Egyptian pounds (which equates to 15 cents). Someone was kind enough give this amount to me, one problem solved. I caused the next one for myself - I mentioned that I was going to that hotel about 7 km away. The machinery spun into action again, my passport was gone for the third time, and I was told to follow another officer. There someone did speak English well enough and explained that I my entry was allowed only in a 1-km radius, where three hotels were located - or else, I would have to apply for a visa. I was so tired of the processing - it took over two hours, I just pledged to stay within the boundary, and booked the 5-star Movenpick hotel for €90, breakfast included. Such a quality would have been about three times as expensive, plus I can boast of having made it all the way to Egypt.

When exiting the border crossing, I had to go through two further checkpoints, before reaching the hotel. Two stray donkeys were grazing peacefully before the entrance.

Before reaching the reception, I had to go through two further (!) checkpoints, one screening my luggage, the second one patting me for guns. Finally, I made it to the half-empty hotel, was welcomed and received a wonderful room overlooking the Red Sea. I planned to go for a walk, but just took a quick shower and fell into the bed.

This was the end of my 8 day biking trip - where I crossed from the very north of Israel to its southern edge but if you want to join me in Egypt and see how I returned to my relatives up north to give back the bike and head for the airport - then feel free to join me.