Caesarea

Rozi had to leave for work early in the morning so it was just me and Elad this time around. He showed me his lego collection and helped me plan my route for the day as well as finding me a restaurant to try hummus. I had my doubts if hummus could actually fill me up but I was dead wrong because I could barely finish my hummus shakshuka. It was my last day staying in Tel Aviv and I really appreciated Elad and Rozi for letting me crash at their place. I was heading to Haifa and dropping by Caesarea National Park first. After I packed my things, I said goodbye to Elad and went off to the bus stop where I waited for a long time for the bus that never came, I backtracked again to Elad's place to borrow the wi-fi and try to find other routes but I was wasting a lot of time and getting a bit stressed. I decided on a route and saved a lot of photos on Google Maps, I just had to find my way to the train station before the train departs. The bus I got on was super crowded and noisy but at least I was making progress. I had trouble finding the entrance to the train station as well, I wasted more time trying to find the station and backtracking a couple of times until I was told that it was on the other side. From there, I tapped my Rav-Kav and got on a station heading to Caesarea. The train was surprisingly exquisite as it was very different compared to other forms of public transportation I've experienced thus far. The Israeli government had put in a lot of budget on its train system, I suppose. When I saw that the current stop was Caesarea, I kinda panicked a bit and went down from there, only to realize that I was still pretty far from the actual park. There was a lone taxi driver there waiting who offered to take me for a pretty price. I asked the nearby station staff about directions and if the price the driver quoted was fair, he had a stutter but was super accomodating and helpful. I ended up going with the taxi driver and was soon dropped in front of the ticket booth.

Caesarea is a span of land by the sea featuring the remnants of ancient Roman ruins. It was also a bit commercialized as it had a lot of restaurants and shops scattered hither and tither. I left my bag beside a tree since it was so heavy and it would have been too difficult to explore while lugging it around. It was a risky play on my part but I was still too trusting and naive. I explored the west part first, the main highlight being the Roman theatre. The east side featured a lot of ruins by the sea and it was something more akin to a hiking trail that stretched all the way across to the opposite beach which had the aqueducts that I wanted to get a photo off but it was too far and I didn't have much time so I turned back to grab my bag which was thankfully still there. My bus was still a ways off so I hid underneath one of the buildings near the entrance to keep cool. I then waited for the bus that once again didn't arrive at the supposed time, maybe I was too used to Japan so I started to get a bit nervous as I really needed to get to Haifa. My friend Jacob was waiting for me there, another Israeli that I hosted in Tokyo who was hosting me back. I saw that there was another bus on the other side of the road so I crossed over to ask if it was heading to the train station and he said yes so I just went with it. Turns out this bus took the most time-consuming route possible and went all around the park and the nearby town before dropping me by the station. I was a bit late so I was feeling guilty making Jacob wait for me but at least I was heading towards Haifa now.Read more