Amman IV

I woke up early morning to catch an Uber going to the airport. I was going to be heading to Israel today. The guy from Saudi Arabia tagged along with me and we bid each other good bye after going through security. I went to line up for my flight that was going to Malta before touching down in Tel Aviv. I was surprised since they started to ask if I had a Schengen visa and that I needed it to transit through Malta but from what I checked, it said that I didn't need it. I also needed a PCR test apparently, either way it looks like I wasn't getting on this flight which quickly threw my schedule off and my money gone. My only solace was the guy behind me with the funniest Maltese accent "Oh no, no Malta?" as if it was him that had lost the opportunity to fly. Well, no time to mope around. I should be used to this by now, on to Plan B which is going to the Allenby Terminal land border crossing which was what I was supposed to do anyway but Rozi convinced me to do otherwise. My cab driver came and as if by some twist of fate, it's the same shady dude that picked me up the first night I arrived in Amman. Now this guy was really shady and tried to swindle me even more despite me telling him of my difficult situation. He told me that the border crossing was closed due to Shabbat and he could get me to a hotel to which I cut him off and told him to just bring me back to the airport. He later phoned his friend to confirmed and that it was still open. As we zoomed on, he lent me his wi-fi which was nice of him but he also later scammed me out of 10 dollars as a guise for border tax to which I still paid for again at the immigration checkpoint. He also asked for a tip which was not really a good Uber etiquette but since he did get me to where I needed at a time of great duress, I obliged.

The border crossing was chaotic with both locals and tourists alike scrambling around. There were no lines whatsoever and it was hard not to get overwhelmed. I was getting hungry but I didn't have any more dinars left and was saving the rest of my dollars for Israel. I somehow found my way to the right window to submit my documents and after that I was left in the dark and was just told to wait. I went to where the other foreigners were and tried to make some small conversations and to gather information on how they were going to get to into town. Shabbat made everything more complicated as there are no public transportation during this time period which happens every Saturday. Soon, we were all called in and given back our passports and ushered on an air-conditioned bus. I was lucky I made it on the last bus going to the other side. All in all, it was actually pretty easy crossing the border and I had wished I did this in the first place but it's best to remain present.

The bus took us across the other side and I found myself in Israel's border checkpoint. The crowds were insane and the lines even more, what was worrying me was the time cut-off as Shabbat made sure that a lot of stores close and this affected the border's opening times as well. I was able to cut through a huge chunk and ended up straight inside since I only had a backpack. The lines were still long but manageable and soon I found myself passing through the security checkpoint. I was dreading the infamous Israel interviews as I read they were very strict but I was easily let through by the old lady in charge after some basic questions. I exchanged some money at an absurdly bad rate but I had to as I needed some shekels if I wanted to make it into town or even survive for the day. I bought a ticket for a sherut going to Jerusalem and was told to wait. It was a really hot day, most of the people I spoke with had their own pre-arranged rides waiting for them when they got to the other side. I kinda wished I could just tag along with them. Our ride was soon upon us and we made ourselves comfy inside the air-conditioned van. We were told that we had to pay extra for the remaining seats because there was nobody else coming unless we wanted to wait for another hour so we had no choice. Israel was quickly soaking up a lot of my cash in just the first few hours. I was so fortunate to have guessed a hotspot's password in the van and was able to catch up and start downloading maps of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, getting as much key information I can while also sending messages to Rozi about my situation as she was hosting me back during my stay in Tel Aviv.Read more