Heathen in the Holy Land: Why Israel isn’t just for religious pilgrims and history nerds

by Aaron Hotfelder on

For previous posts from our new “Heathen in the Holy Land” series, go here and here.

Visiting Jerusalem’s Western Wall, the last remaining part of the Holy Temple and one of Judaism’s most sacred sites, is a sobering, thought-provoking, and almost otherworldly experience. But I wouldn’t call it fun.

Sadly, many who haven’t visited Israel think that all Israel’s attractions are like this: important historically or religiously and certainly enriching to visit, but a little too much like the tourist’s equivalent of having to eat all your vegetables and not getting dessert.

So in this post we’re going to steer away from the religious and historical aspects of Israel– as much as it’s possible to do that in a country so dominated by religion and history– and instead focus on what makes Israel fun.

Whether it’s ATV riding through verdant green valleys near the Israel-Lebanon border, horseback riding overlooking the Sea of Galilee (where Jesus famously showed off), or floating in the super-bouyant Dead Sea, Israel has plenty of activities to challenge everyone from out-of-shape, potential Biggest Loser contestants to Bear Grylls wannabes.

Check out the following slide show to see what I mean. [Captions of admittedly uneven levels of hilarity provided free of charge.]

%Gallery-48458%Disclosure: This week-long trip to Israel was sponsored by the country’s Ministry of Tourism. Unlike the trip, my opinions were not paid for because, dammit, my integrity is not for sale.

Heathen in the Holy Land: How I became an Israeli pseudo-celebrity

by Aaron Hotfelder on

To read part one of Gadling’s new “Heathen in the Holy Land” series, go here.

When I told a friend of mine I was headed to Israel for a week, he advised me, only half-jokingly, to look out for car-bombs. A fellow member of my fantasy baseball league suggested that if the worst should happen to me on this trip, we could re-name our league “The Aaron Hotfelder That’s-Why-You-Don’t-Take-a-Trip-to-a-War-Zone Memorial League.”

These reactions, and many others like them, reinforced what I already knew: that my friends are shit-heads. But more importantly for the purposes of this article, that Israel has a definite image problem.

Indeed, most people only ever hear of the country on TV news reports accompanied by stock footage of soldiers launching M-16s or in articles with headlines like “Israeli Soldiers Allege Indiscriminate Killing in Gaza,” or “Israel Hunts West Bank Attackers.”

The Ministry of Tourism for Israel is not blind to the country’s war-torn reputation. Last week, it sponsored a trip for a group of seven travel bloggers (myself included) aimed at improving the country’s public standing. The Ministry showed us the country’s swankiest hotels, most impressive ruins, and most breathtaking landscapes in the hopes that we’d give the country some positive coverage in the blogosphere as a result.

Press trips, those paid-for junkets that have been called travel writing’s “dirty little secret,” are actually relatively common in the print media. But a press trip for bloggers? Isn’t that a waste of money?

That’s what reporters from two different Israeli news programs wanted to know, along with one other important question: “Just what is a blogger?” To answer these questions, one of the reporters followed us around for several hours during our walking tour of Tel Aviv, while the other reporter accompanied us to Jerusalem’s Old Town. Both were followed by a man wielding a giant TV camera and another man carrying a boom mic. Needless to say, our group of seven felt a little like celebrities as we strolled to places like the “Last Supper Room” in Jerusalem and the historic Neve Tzedek neighborhood in Tel Aviv.

We got the the same look from each native Israeli who saw the camera crew following us around– a look which seemed to say, “Who the hell are these people?” To be sure, we did not look like movie stars. Our ragtag group mostly had faces for radio, if you catch my drift.

But these were my fifteen minutes of fame, dammit, and I was going to enjoy them. At a local wine shop in Tel Aviv, I could tell that our group, tired from the brutal schedule which is a staple of most press trips, wasn’t giving the cameraman much material. So with the camera rolling, I ventured a question to the rest of the group:

“So, do you think many people will decide to come to Israel after reading about it on our blogs?” I asked. “Because I do. I’ll bet people flock to Israel in droves after reading our glowing reviews!” The rest of the group stifled laughs and nodded their heads, aware that this contrived conversation was being made for the benefit of the reporter and camera man. Sure, it was a blatant attempt at getting on TV, but I didn’t get care.

In the end, that reporter’s segment on our group– and more importantly, my Israeli TV debut– was pre-empted for a three-hour press conference in which the country’s former president denied a rape charge. (This only served to reinforce my long-standing opposition to rape.) Thankfully, our group’s TV premiere came a couple days later in a two-minute segment on Channel 10. (Brush up on your Hebrew and watch it here.)

While my speaking parts were all cut out of the segment, I was featured quite prominently in several shots (see top photo, striped sweater), proving once again, as if any more proof is needed, that Andy Warhol was right about that fifteen minutes thing.

Disclosure: This week-long trip to Israel was sponsored by the country’s Ministry of Tourism. Unlike the trip, my opinions were not paid for because, dammit, my integrity is not for sale. That is not to say I wouldn’t entertain the right offer.

Amazing Destinations That Can’t Be Reached By Car

by Kraig Becker on

Modern transportation has made it extremely easy for travelers to get to just about any place in the world. Each day there are international flights that can take us to the four corners of the globe and modern roads and trains will deliver us to the best sights and monuments to be found at our destination, before whisking us back to a comfy hotel, complete with hot and cold running water, room service and a big comfy bed.

But not all of the world’s great places are accessible by vehicle. There are still some amazing destinations that fall way off the beaten path, that will force us to work a little harder to take in their splendor. The Times Online has put together a collection of these places, which they’ve dubbed “Holidays you can’t reach by car“, with a variety of unique locations that you’ll have to trek, paddle, or both if you plan to ever see them in person.

One of the more intriguing places to make their list is the Source of the Ganges River in India. The famous river which plays such an indelible part of Indian culture gets its humbles start at the foot of the Gangotri Glacier, located in the Himalaya at 12,600 feet in the Garhwal region. Anyone wanting to make the journey should be prepared for a ten day trek that will take them high into the mountains, past ancient caves where Hindu practitioners still meditate in their search for enlightenment.
The Omo River in Ethiopia is yet another interesting destination to appear on this list. The 470 mile long stretch of water drops more than 6000 feet over its length before emptying into Lake Turkana, while passing through rocky gorges and over beautiful water falls, offering up great whitewater in the process. The trip can only be made by raft or kayak, and along the way travelers will encounter crocodiles, hippos, and remote villages that still remain mostly untouched by the outside world.

There are plenty more similar treks, climbs and other adventures on the list as well, offering up great destinations that don’t just fall off the beaten path, they leave that path far behind. But for the adventure traveler, there is plenty to like here, with some ideas for your next trip that you may not even have considered before.

Heathen in the Holy Land: Is Israel even safe to visit?

by Aaron Hotfelder on

“Heathen in the Holy Land” is a new Gadling feature which will consist of posts all this week about my recent trip to Israel, a country you may have heard discussed once or twice on the news.

Over the course of this week, I’ll discuss a whole host of topics about the Holy Land, like what a leader of Kabbalah really thinks about Madonna, why Israel is not just a country for religious pilgrims and history nerds, how I became an Israeli pseudo-celebrity, and why you should really learn the Hebrew alphabet before you go.

But in this first post, I’ll answer the question posed to me by (among others) my mom, my friends, my mom’s friends, my barber, my sommelier, my waiter, my Lamaze coach, and my mechanic before I left on this trip: “Is Israel even safe to visit?”

Lots of people assume (wrongly) that Israel is not a safe place to go because, well, it’s on the news so much. Others assume the opposite– that Israel must be a safe country because, hey, people live there! I tend to fall into the latter category.

But here’s the important thing to remember: Both groups are wrong. Why? Because both groups are making assumptions. If you really want to know whether a country is safe, you have to do some actual research. This means more than simply reading the US State Department’s “Travel Warning” website, where the current entry on Israel warns travelers to look out for, among other things, short-range rockets, Molotov Cocktails, and “bulldozer attacks.” It’s enough to make even the most intrepid traveler want to spend the rest of his life at home eating Pop Tarts inside a pillow fort.

But the State Department, as the travel writer Cynthia Barnes has pointed out, is mostly made up of well-intentioned ninnies who, “like the father of a luscious 16-year-old” are “happiest when we’re at home.” Because of that, a more realistic portrait of a country’s security situation will come from our fellow travelers at places like Lonely Planet’s Thorntree forum or the Bootsnall forum. Most travelers on those sites warn, as I do, to stay the hell out of the Gaza Strip and be very careful when visiting the West Bank, which was the site of some violent protests only a couple months ago. (Note: When a person writes that they were “stoned in Bethlehem”, which is located in the West Bank, they’re talking about actual stones.)

So is Israel safe to visit? With the exception of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, yes. Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are no more dangerous than similarly-sized cities in the US or Europe, and violent crime in smaller towns is almost unheard of. As for the risk of terrorist activities or other large-scale violence– the reason most people feel trepidation about visiting the Middle East– most of the risk in Israel is confined to Gaza and the West Bank. Still, several years ago both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were the victims of small-scale suicide attacks, which is proof that in Israel, just as in any country, nowhere is entirely safe.

Bottom line: Do your homework before you go. Read the news, the travel forums, and yes, even the State Department’s website, to stay up-to-date on which parts of Israel are safe and which aren’t. Don’t let a general feeling that Israel might be unsafe prevent you from exploring this dynamic, fascinating country.

Disclosure: This week-long trip to Israel was sponsored by the country’s Ministry of Tourism. Unlike the trip, my opinions were not paid for because, dammit, my integrity is not for sale. That is not to say I wouldn’t entertain the right offer.

Thanks to Jordan Chark for contributing the background for our “Heathen in the Holy Land” graphic to the Gadling Flickr pool.

Baghdad or Bust

by Mike Barish on

Here at Gadling, we often have conversations revolving around where we want to travel next. As we run through our lists, inevitably the conversation will turn towards the opposite question. Where wouldn’t you go? The usually hot spots always get named: Iraq, Afghanistan and, of course, Houston in August. But the New York Times featured a group of travelers bold enough to travel to Iraq. And they’re not just a collection of kids who are too naïve to be scared or veterans who have seen danger zones before. Nope. They’re middle-aged and older American citizens with a zest for life and a desire to see the world.

Surprisingly, they found Iraq to be much safer than expected. In fact, they reported feeling completely safe while walking back to their hotel at night without a security escort. They often eschewed the security detail in order to make travel less restrictive.

Neither the tour provider nor insurance companies would provide travel insurance for such an adventure, which is why the travelers tended to be older and financially secure enough to deal with any complications. However, the biggest problems encountered were more nuisances than dangers, such as hours lost at checkpoints.

It sounds like an incredible trip and only strengthened my desire to travel to places that most people avoid. Besides, if people are too scared to go there, you don’t have to worry about being caught in a swarm of tourists. Which means shorter lines at the bathrooms!

So what is on my list of places that I wouldn’t visit? Nothing. I’ll travel anywhere. Well, except for Houston in August. Too damn humid.

[NYT]