Hanokdim Village is a “Bedouin style” holiday resort. You can rent a room or house, get traditional Israeli dinner and breakfast (hummus, tahini, sour cream, salads, cottage cheese, eggs, pita bread, tahini cookies…), and spend the evening next to a campfire. In the perfect dark we could see the constellation of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn on the sky. Students form the Taglit (“birthright”) program and families where a kid had their bar mitzvah camped in the open-air tents nearby.

Masada

We spent the night at Hanokdim in the first place so that we can wake before dawn and climb the mountain to Masada to see the sunrise over the Dead Sea. The hardcore hikers can take the long and hard Snake Route to the top, from the other side of the mountain; those wanting a short and easy hike, like us, can take the ~20-minute route; or you can even take cable cars all the way.

Masada is the ruins of a fortress. The story says that when Romans attacked the citadel and it was clear that the Jews were losing, the 960 of them rather committed suicide than hand themselves over to the enemy. A group of ten soldiers have slain everybody; then one of the ten has slain the other nine and finally, themselves.

The view of the ruins and the Dead Sea, part of which is stretching into Jordan, was breathtaking at every stage: in the darkness, while the sun was rising, and in full morning light as well. It was one of those entrancing sights that burnt forever into my memory.

The Dead Sea

I had my expectations high for this one - and reality beat it by a hundred times.

The Dead Sea - or “The Sea of Death”, as called in Hebrew - is mostly known for its incredibly high concentration of salt at almost 35% - 10 times the salinity of the ocean. The concentration changes the density of water enough that your body’s overall density (which is also mostly water) is significantly lower - and as a result, you float.

I didn’t get at first what this floating meant. I can float on normal water too, can’t I?

Well, the difference is that this water pushes you up. It’s actually distinctly difficult not to float - and when you float, it’s a struggle to pull yourself back down, as if an invisible entity was pushing your limbs up. It is an incredibly fun feeling and we didn’t get bored of it for ages.

What does the high concentration of salt feel like? A tiny drip of water entering your mouth feels like the saltiest thing you have ever tasted covering your mouth - and in fact a few swallows of it can kill you. You find small wounds and cuts on your body that you didn’t even realise existed - because all cuts and body openings start to burn. And if you pee in the water… well, do not under any circumstances do that. Even the “10 commandments of the Dead Sea” tell you that much:

The water has a surreal oily, greasy feel. There’s so much salt that the whole bottom of the sea is covered with crystallised salt. In fact, you need to wear rubber sandals or flip-flops in the water, otherwise it feels like walking on shards of glass. In the salty water nothing lives - hence the name Dead Sea. A bit further out on the shores you can find pools of smooth mud, which are said to have healing effects on the body.

What fewer people know is that the Dead Sea is also the lowest point on Earth (on land), at about 430 metres below sea level.

Only as we were entering the water it dawned on me that visiting The Dead Sea was a secret childhood dream of mine: a place that we talked about as something out there, but unreachable from our background - a bit like going to the moon. Being there wasn’t just a phenomenal experience - but unleashed this secret dream in full force.

Without question, one of the best holiday days of my life.

The North

Bahá’í Gardens

The Bahá’í religion is an interesting one: about 200 years ago a self-declared prophet announced that all other religions are actually correct and have the same one god as the source of creation - also explaining that all their various prophets are just divine messengers of the same god. Pulling all of them under the umbrella of the Bahá’í faith is certainly a strong attempt at unifying religions.

Zippori

Zippori is a national park with great scenery, and beautiful original mosaics from the Roman times.

Jerusalem

Whatever picture you have of Jerusalem, it is actually a normal city - that is, until you reach the Old City and effectively go back in time.

The Supreme Court

As the official capital of Israel, Jerusalem hosts many of the primary government buildings. The Supreme Court building was finished in 1992 (after I was born - a strange reminder to just how new the country really is in many ways). The guided tour showed us an intriguing combination of old and new styles: corridors reminiscent of streets of Jerusalem, next to modern-looking elements.

Orthodox Jews

As you’re approaching the city and walking through it, you notice more and more people in long black coats with large, black hats and black leather shoes, despite the incredible heat. These are Orthodox Jews - sometimes mockingly called “penguins”.

Perhaps surprisingly, their existence and special conditions are cause for tension and controversy within the country. Certain communities of Orthodox Jews are essentially removed from the primary life of the country: they spend their time with studying the Bible and as such they don’t work; and in contrast with the whole country they don’t participate in the otherwise compulsory military service in a fear that exposure to the rest of the country would corrupt the values of their children, which they normally have a very large number of. Many Israelis feel that while these communities live off their taxes, they don’t contribute anything meaningful to society either via work or military service; and not only that, but their increasing population represents and increasingly large extremely conservative section of the country, throttling the adoption of more modern mindsets, such as LGBT equality.

The Old City

The Old City is like a time capsule: once you enter through one of the famous gates and start walking on the tiny, narrow streets, you are in a world thousands of years old. The atmosphere is incredible - not only because of the infinitely varied merchants and the buzzing crowd, but because of the tangible excitement in the air as you approach the Western Wall.

It is the focal point of religions. As we reached the Western Wall, we split up so we can access the separated sections for males and females (there’s a discussion in progress on whether to open a section for people who don’t define themselves as either), we took a temporary kippah (which you need to approach the wall), and walked to touch the actual wall. All cracks from the largest to the tiniest are filled with folded notes, containing written prayers. Thanks to technology, you can now do the same via email or apps as well (like Send a Prayer, or as they say, "the only iPhone app that puts you directly in touch with God") - and a group of people acting as hands of technology will put in the note for you. Walking back you notice that some people are walking backwards - this is because they can never show their backs to the wall. The majestic wall, the peaking excitement in the air, the direct sunshine, and the stone floors flooding hot air back at you all contribute to an otherworldly feeling.

City of David

Walking through the City of David was a similar out-of-time feeling. A massive underground water canal flows below the city - even with flashlights the dark feels blindingly deep. Only as we were walking through the canals it dawned on me in full weight that all of this was real: David might seem like a fictional or legendary character, but he was a real person - a king, a strategist with genius plans to fortify his city and trick his enemies, a leader with the ability to make his people build something enormous. Sure, the Bible has its fictional and magical elements, but we did drive past Nazareth, where probably a man named Jesus was born thousands of years ago; we did drive past Mountain Sodom, which is right next to the Dead Sea and its flood of salt; and so on. All these stories are just distorted snippets of the past. As we emerged from the absolute and definite darkness of the canals, I came to see the place differently - understanding a part of history I haven’t fully appreciated before.

On the way out we ran into the Jerusalem Day march. It is a celebration of Israel taking control of Jerusalem in 1967 - by some the event is considered somewhat overly nationalistic and extreme.

Food and drinks

In the markets we bought what’s apparently some of the best halva in the country at “Halva Kingdom”.

If looking for restaurants in Jerusalem and you can spare money for a more expensive meal, try Yudale. The experience is indescribable - just trust me as someone who’s been to many nice restaurants that it’s one of the top five restaurants I’ve ever been to (another one being in Tel Aviv). We even got to sample a special cocktail dubbed Mr Sweet: a champagne-based cocktail mixed with a syrup of boiled beer, white wine, sugar, anise, and cinnamon.

Tel Aviv

After the deserts of the South and the traditional atmosphere of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv startles by its contrast. It’s a modern bubble with many Western elements, hip neighbourhoods, a progressive mentality, and even a flourishing tech startup scene.

Tel Aviv almost looks like it’s deliberately fighting the conservative traditions of the rest of the country. It’s one of the most friendly places for LGBT people not just in Israel but globally (see below for more). And interestingly enough, while the government doesn’t allow businesses to be open on Shabbat, Tel Aviv doesn’t enforce the rule, and most restaurants and bars stay open on Friday nights, even if they have to pay a fine.

Pride

By total coincidence, we came on the week of Pride - they have one of the largest marches in the world, with hundreds of thousands of people participating. If the default vibe of the city wouldn’t be enough, Pride definitely made it vibrant and colourful: the number of rainbow flags per square meter was staggering (wherever you looked you would see at least a few), the city was full of rainbow-coloured walls, benches, street fences, and same-sex couples were holding hands and hugging on Rothschild Avenue with the freedom they so crave.

If you want to experience the gay crowd in a relaxed pub setting, check out Shpagat with its neat terraced interior.

We were even lucky enough to get tickets to the closing night of the Tel Aviv LGBT Film Festival, where we saw a sweet but at the same time excruciatingly sad movie titled "One Kiss" (Un Bacio) on the life of some bullied teens, followed by a Q&A with the director and the main actor.

If you’re looking for the best time to go to Tel Aviv: go around the week of Pride.

Jaffa, Neve Tzedek, Rothschild Boulevard, Sarona Market

Walking on the beach from North to South, Jaffa, the original old city of Tel Aviv, gradually comes into focus through the salty sea mist. You can walk along on the small streets between strikingly yellow buildings, check out the Bridge of Wishes, marvel at the Tel Aviv sight from the top of the hill, and walk into the local markets below.

Neve Tzedek is the next neighbourhood after Jaffa. It has a calming, almost countryside atmosphere, and on Yitskhak Elkhanan Street you can find many beautiful craft art shops.

That's where I bought my memoire of the trip, a small spinning top (called a “dreidel”) with a modern design. It is part of the traditions of Hanukkah. Normally these spinning tops contain the initials of four words: “(a) great miracle happened there”. There are two differences on this spinning top. Firstly, it contains the full words, not just the initials. Secondly - and this is true for all spinning tops in Israel - instead of “there”, it says “big miracle happened here”. This is what makes spinning tops in Israel special.

Starting from Neve Tzedek and going up until Sarona Market is the Rothschild Boulevard. A wide, spacious, happy road, it crosses the centre of the city, and hosts some of the more touristy restaurants and cafes, and some boutique hotels like Rothschild 71. Some part of the boulevard is always busy, no matter what time you walk around - people might be partying, playing chess, or just sitting in the grass talking, even at night.

The Sarona Market is full of curious food places and shops - the best place to buy interesting food and drinks with a local touch, let those be Israeli craft beer, wine, halva, or anything else.

Beaches

There are lots of beaches in Tel Aviv, many belonging to the series of beach hotels - we checked out two of them.

The Banana beach is a long, traditional beach, relatively close to the city centre. It’s just awesome - check it out:

The Hilton beach is a “gay beach”. Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean anything special… except that you see more same-sex couples in more intimate contact. You are used to seeing heterosexual couples holding hands or kissing - this is a place where same-sex couples can feel comfortable doing the same.

Food and Drinks

Some of the best food I have ever had was in Tel Aviv - and believe me, I’ve been to some nice places before. No doubt this is partially because some elements of the Eastern European cuisine I grew up with are present in Israeli food as well - lots of spices, poppyseed, cottage cheese, sour cream - but they were some of the finest food in their own rights as well.

Orna&Ella. An expensive place but, next to Yudale in Jerusalem, one of the top five restaurants I’ve ever been to. The place has a minimalistic and calm design, making you feel like you’re eating at home - but showcasing unprecedented flavours. Definitely try the sweet potato (yam) pancakes with sour cream and chive.

Coffee Shop 51. We ended up having breakfast there… every day! If you’re a coffee connoisseur, you will love their selection of four different coffee beans, each of which is made just right into the perfect espresso (or cold brew if you so choose). Try their tasty halva pastry as well. Oh, and the perfect coffee is matched with the perfect coffee crew - we made friends with four sweet guys, Dotan, Joav, and two others whose name I unfortunately can’t spell.

Falafel HaKosem / The Magician. The best falafel in town. We overheard people on the street talking about it. There’s nothing else to say.

Anita. Best ice cream in town (and one of the best I’ve ever had). Real, rich flavours, interesting combinations. You can try a few flavours before committing to any. Note that the portions are fairly big. Oh, and a story about Anita: you might notice that there are two Anita shops opposite each other. Why? The older one of them is in a building where the owner insists that they be closed on Shabbat - so they opened a new one just on the other side, where they are fine to be open 7 days a week.

Agvanya. Vegetarian pizza with real flavours, on an incredibly thin and crispy base. It was so tasty, we had to go back another time.

Logistics and Things to Keep in Mind

Accommodation

We used AirBnB - it gave us a relatively cheap price at the best location possible, near both Rothschild, the beaches, Coffee Shop 51, and the city centre.

If you prefer hotels, you can use any of the standard beach hotels - or choose one of the boutique ones, such as Rothschild 71.

Flights

Entering the country as a European citizen with no particular travel history is easy - you just do a short entry interview describing the purpose of your visit. Leaving the country is still OK, but you should arrive at least 3 hours before your flight if you have bags to check in: there are several long waits, including an interview before check-in, the check-in itself, queuing for security, a strict security process where they check all your bags and items, and an exit interview. If you visited Arab countries before, you should be prepared to answer questions about those trips.

Moving around

Within Tel Aviv you can walk, use public transport, or use the comprehensive Tel-O-Fun bicycle network. To travel freely in the country, you definitely need a car.

Security

The reality is that both military attacks and terror attacks do happen in the country. We were actually near the terror attack of June 8, 2016. In general, however, there’s not much to worry about. While terror attacks do happen, the actual risk to you is insignificant - you are still more likely to get hit by a car. Additionally, the country is very well prepared to prevent and deal with attacks - better than European countries which also have heightened risk nowadays. We even walked by a police operation in Jerusalem where they detonated a bag left alone on the pavement.

The situation is similar with military attacks. While they do happen every couple years, the country is well-prepared. The country even has a special defence system called the Iron Dome: it is an automated missile detection system which calculates the paths of incoming missiles and destroys them mid-air if they were to reach an area with people around. While we were in Tel Aviv the military ran an air siren drill - I can only imagine how tourists felt who didn’t have local friends to warn them...

Culture

Finally, a few notes on culture, just so you’re not surprised:

• People have a directness reminiscent of Eastern Europe, which might come across as rude at first (and at second, and at third…) - but mostly they are just curious in a direct way and frequently very sweet (the crew of Coffee Shop 51 being the primary example).
• Almost everybody in the country goes through military service. The way locals described it, it is a well-intended and progressive military service, even providing important social functions such as a national radio, a helping hand in social mobility, special training courses for talented people etc.
• There’s very little concept of queuing. It’s mostly survival of the fittest.
• The weekend is Friday and Saturday. Shabbat starts Friday night, lasting until Saturday night - outside Tel Aviv, most places are closed during Shabbat.
• You’re supposed to tip 12% in restaurants.
• Bars stay open until the last guest leaves.

Epilogue

The flight back from Tel Aviv to London doesn't let me adjust gradually: it smacks me in the face with the boring smell of spiceless English food, a forewarning of the summer cold, and a very British apology for the delay from a pilot with a very British accent.

I think there's only one way to deal with this.

I have to go back soon.

Infinite thanks to BR, AZ, and RV for the trip, the photos, and the experience.