Jerusalem, Israel
I woke up after 08:00 today and was ready to explore the Israel Museum; however, when I did a Google search to try and find a bus to use to get there, I discovered that the museum would not open until 16:00 today (a Tuesday) and would stay open until 21:00; usually the museum is open from 10:00 to 17:00 and this is what I had based my plan off of, not realizing the Tuesday schedule was different. So, since my plan fell through and I had no desire to see anything else in Jerusalem, I decided to hang around the hostel until I had to leave to catch the 17:00 bus to Eilat. I had breakfast (coffee and toast with jam and chocolate sauce) and then typed out several journal entries I had gotten behind on. Finally, after 15:00, I finished typing and updating the website. I then left the hostel at 15:30 and used the tram on Jaffa Road to travel to the Central Bus Station. Once at the station, I had a late lunch at McDonalds (a Big America burger, French Fries, and soda) and then I waited for the bus to arrive. When the time was ready, I got my ticket from one of the machines, loaded my large backpack in the cargo storage below, and then found my seat. The bus left at 17:00 and we drove east to the Dead Sea and then turned south to Eilat, passing by Masada and “Lot’s Wife” (the salt pillar) along the way (though it was dark outside, so I could not see either site). We then traveled through the Negev desert, stopping once for a restroom break and snacks (just south of the town of Ein Bokek). We reached the Eilat bus station after 21:30 and I then walked to the hostel I had booked with earlier today. I reached the hostel after twenty-minutes of hiking through Eilat and was pleased to see I had the room to myself (and a queen-size bed to sleep on, which is strange for a “dorm room”). I then relaxed for some time and watched a part of ‘Skyfall’ on the television before setting my alarm for 05:30 (for the two-day tour of Jordan, which was scheduled to start at 07:30, that I had booked on the 21st while waiting to travel to St. George’s Monastery) and going to sleep.