Israel

Just back from the Land's End weekend, Fantastic event, came back with a tan!! (honest)

Regarding safety in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, (or the rest of the country for that matter) is safer there at any time of the day or night that in most places in Europe or America, including Great London where I live and work presently.

Unfortunatelly, Mr and Mrs Den seems to be driven and influenced by the biased press (re: BBC and some of the written press) that insist on giving a distorted image of a country that is also beautifull, safe and welcoming to all and at the same time trying to survive against serius odds. I extent an invitation to them to visit the country (200-300 quids return trip), and who knows, they may change their opinion of us.

You should not have a problem travelling to Jaffa since it is in fact part of Tel Aviv and is perfectly safe to take the local bus (fully air conditioned and most of the fleet 2-3 years old).

If you need further info/help I'll be glad to lend a hand
yosi@bikerider.com

PD. Is hot over there so take light clothes and plenty of sun tan.
And a pair of dark lenses to discretelly watch the scarcely clad local girls...

And don't forget to sample our food...You'll be surprised, unless you are in a serius diet...

Myckey: I've being trying for years to organize a GS group to visit the Negev and the Galil, however unfortunatelly the ferries services from Cyprus have been suspended. Maybe you can gather info from your end?

Sorry, this should be in the "Anyone familiar with Israel "thread.

Errar humanum est...

Yosi

Yosi said:

[
Myckey: I've being trying for years to organize a GS group to visit the Negev and the Galil, however unfortunatelly the ferries services from Cyprus have been suspended. Maybe you can gather info from your end? [/B]

Click to expand...

Yes, you're right - no ferries, just holiday cruises. I dont know why. I'll try to find out if there's a possibility to get here with a bike and let you know.

Miky

Some info

The ferry lines stopped arriving to Israel since global and local terrorism stopped international tourism almost completely. The ferries to Israel lived off constant streaming of Christian pilgrimage to Israel from the Balkan countries. All the rest of the passengers were negligable.

the two companies that were the agents for the lines are:
http://www.mano.co.il/
http://www.caspi-cruise.co.il/order.php (hebrew only)

There's always the possibilty to use any of the maritime companies that operate in the mediterean and arrange shipment but this ofcourse is much less convenient.

I believe once things will settle down again the ferries with the pilgrims will resume their operation. I used to go on them both with car and bike and it was my prefered way of traveling out of here. the quiet and slow tempo of travel by sea (almost 3 days to Athens compared to 2 hours by air) with stops in Cyprus and some other Greek islands was a dream.
Miky

Thanks. habibi.
Thye other choice is by air. I wonder if CLAL (they fly flowers to Europe) will consider shipping a bunch of GS's and how much will it cost...

yosi..need a hotel tel aviv area then please boss, any recommendations that wont bite my ass off?

Hotel

It all depend how much you want to spend. They range from $40 to $500 a night.
Since I have a house there haven't personally booked for years but I'm sure a web search will be usefull.
remember hotels usually include breackfast in the price and Israeli breackfast is something to remember.

mikyh, can you help?

My son Gadi, member of this forum, is in Israel. You can contact him on gadi@see-security.com
Don't forget to mention GS Club ...

tytyty

yosi..thanks for that ..$40 sounds fine!!!will be an interesting experience for sure!

regards, rob

Hotels in Tel Aviv

robeekay67, look here:

http://www.inisrael.com/hotels/telaviv/index.html

As you might imagine i dont need to use hotels in Tel Aviv but here is a usful source of info.
Try to find a hotel near the beach, you'll enjoy the beach. I wouldnt choose the cheapest (if you could afford more), I would go for the 60-80$ range. Taxis are aboundant everywhere and also cheap (see that they operate their counter) and usually honest (wouldnt take you through the longest route possible).

You are welcome to contact me when in the country
at 050-6955994
Miky

hey miky

very kind of you to offer your number, i will definately call you when im there!

see you sometime after may15th!!

rob