Eilat, Israel is a very popular place for Israelis as well as people who travel to Israel. Most travelers, though, who aren’t specifically planning a trip to this country probably never have heard of Israel’s only resort city and its southern-most town on the Red Sea just across the border from the Sinai in Egypt. [...]

When I first traveled overland from Israel to Egypt four months ago, I learned the hard way that at Taba, Egypt’s only border with Israel, you can only get a Sinai visa, not an Egypt visa. The good news is that the Sinai visa is free. The bad news is that it only is valid [...]

The name Jenin struck a familiar chord when it was mentioned to me a few days ago, so today when the opportunity arose to visit this West Bank city, I jumped on it. You may have heard of Jenin, as it played a prominent role in the 2nd Intifada, which lasted from September 2000 until [...]

It is currently Sukkot in Israel, one of the country’s many religious holidays, this one seven days long. This is the second Sukkot I’ve gotten to spend in Israel and, although I’m not Jewish, it’s been pretty enjoyable. Not because a lot of people are off of work and in a holiday mood, and not [...]

It is like Christmas, said the man in the shop. I was in a small market in Tiberias buying a few groceries the afternoon before the Yom Kippur holiday this past Friday in Israel. The man who uttered this sentence did so in response to nothing I said, simply noticing, I suppose, that I did [...]

Last night, a cute little kitten I took into my home to nurture back to health died on my sofa. This very smart little go-getter was two or three months old, white with orange and black patches, gender unknown. A stray. When I first took it in the previous night, I thought it really might [...]

On the way to Jerusalem last month my seatmate, a guy named Noam, entered my heart when he pointed out there was free Wifi on our bus to occupy my time during the three-hour journey. I repaid his kindness by giving him one of my Mentos mints. Our bonding was official. We drove into the [...]

When I traveled from Tiberias to Jerusalem a few weeks ago, I hooked up with a Christian Palestinian friend of mine who invited me to what he called a marriage ceremony in the town of Ramallah, the capital of the West Bank. How exciting, I thought, I get to attend a Palestinian wedding! The following [...]