Israel with Astravel
ISRAEL NETANIA 5 NIGHTS + EILAT 3 NIGHTS + 2 nights individually. FEBRUARY 2009.
COMPANY "ASTRAVEL", the host in Israel-InterContinental.
I would like to say right away that I will not talk about the most beautiful places with a deep historical meaning, nice people, in general, about the positive things that you will see in this wonderful country. I write about those shortcomings and minor troubles that happened during my stay in Israel. Maybe this will help someone in choosing a tour or clarify something.
Note that we wanted to take hotels of a higher class, but our travel agency told us that this is a group tour and you should not break away from the group. Like, you can choose something better, but this will create difficulties for us with transfers and excursions. There was no group at all, only us!! ! Only with some we crossed paths on excursions, but we lived with them in completely different hotels.
Upon arrival in Ben Gurion, a fairly quick passport control, then a transfer to Netanya, the four of us were stuffed into a taxi. In such a squeezed state, 40 minutes to the city.
Grand Hotel Metropole, Netanya.
Under such a pretentious name hides a hotel that does not pull even 2 stars: everything is very dilapidated, somewhat reminiscent of Soviet sanatoriums. Everything in the rooms is also very old, it blows from the window.
The only positives are the Russian speaking staff is very helpful and the hotel is conveniently located: the sea is across the road and the main town square is a stone's throw away.
For breakfast they gave: a plate with sliced cucumbers, a plate with sliced tomatoes, olives, 5 slices of cheese for three, 3 slices of canned pineapple per person, a couple of slices of bread, some kind of sour yogurt, watery cottage cheese, a muffin, jam, it’s not clear from which berry.
It seems to be a lot of things, but somehow the cucumbers and sour cottage cheese somehow didn’t fit, I simply wanted some fresh bun, and the dried-up cake did not cause appetite.
Friends, if possible, do not go to Netanya. The city is new, there is absolutely nothing to see there. Every evening you will walk along the main street, rather chaotic, full of various shops and eateries. Yes, hotel prices are probably lower there than in other places, and the beaches are good, but there is absolutely no charm in the city, just a cheap resort and that’s it... Although, maybe it’s more fun there in the season, it depends what what you expect from the rest and what are your aspirations.
As soon as we arrived, the aunt from the local hosting agency called, gave a schedule of excursions, did not offer anything additional, although we were told that other excursions could be bought on the spot.
Tours: Jerusalem.
First, you are taken to Tel Aviv, to the central station, where tourists are shuffled, depending on who goes where. At the same time, at least 40 minutes are lost, the same on the way back.
Before the start of the tour, you are taken to a roadside diner for breakfast and a toilet. Breakfast: a bun and a cup of coffee - 30 shekels (6 euros)!! ! This despite the fact that in Europe it will cost you half the price!! ! The mug, however, was a gift, they say, finished your coffee and take the dirty one with you, but it was so terrible that it was not necessary for nothing!
The tour itself: a good guide, tells interesting stories, constantly quotes the Bible. Naturally, they brought you to the store, where they tell you that you have a 50% discount on everything, but when calculating, the sellers round everything up, in their own favor, of course. The guide said that you can bargain with them, the whole group tried, to which we received an answer that, they say, the price is already good, do not bother. They bring food to some refectory at the church, the usual tourist food is a couple of salads, 3 hot ones to choose from, there are barbecues. Not cheap, besides they fight on drinks. But I didn’t have to choose - it was somewhere outside the city...
We went not in the tourist season, so there were relatively few groups and we calmly examined everything. The guide said that usually the crowds are much larger, which naturally makes it difficult to perceive and move around.
Tel Aviv. They just didn't come for us! After spending half an hour in front of the hotel, we went to chat with the administrator, where we found out that the excursion that was in our program, and for which, as we thought, we paid, was a gift from the Diamond Exchange: that is, first they take you to Jaffa for free ( nice old quarter) and around the city, and then they are brought to this very exchange, where, after a quick story about cutting diamonds, they try to sell you the same diamonds.
We never found out why no one came for us, either the bus didn’t get picked up, or from the level of our hotel they concluded that we didn’t have money for diamonds... We called the office of the host travel agency by phone, which was indicated on the voucher, but despite 9 o'clock in the morning and a working day, no one answered us... The question is: what if something serious happened and we had to contact them? Why give only the office number, which, moreover, does not answer? I understand, of course, if you give a cell phone, then boring stupid tourists will start calling with or without a reason day and night, but in decent companies this is customary, and we are calmer...
As we have learned, it has already happened not for the first time that they did not call for people. Like, a gift, we want, we take, we want, no. But we have it in the program, and we plan the day!
Then a Russian woman from the reception called the company and cursed with them, they seemed to pick us up the next day, but we ourselves had a great trip to Tel Aviv on a minibus from Netanya for half an hour and 12 shekels, and rode around the city on an open bus for tourists - with headphones and commentary in Russian. To be honest, there were no special sights in the city...
Okay, we got our bearings, we asked everything ourselves and found out, since I speak English, but it's not so easy for ourselves to organize excursions in a foreign country, where even many people speak your language... We went to other cities, on public buses "Egged" - you come to the station, take a ticket, and go, the main thing is to understand the system, the inscriptions on the buses are only in Hebrew, which does not envelop understanding. But at every major station there is an information window, you come up and ask what, how, where and what time to go.
At the end of our stay in Netanya, we were to move across the Dead Sea to Eilat. After another shuffle in Tel Aviv, we finally went to the sea. I had to pick up two tourists in Jerusalem, where we lost some more time in city traffic jams. The driver (he is also a guide) illustrated the desert for us, and all the few that came across on our way. Finally, we reached the Dead Sea, where the driver gave us vouchers, which allowed us to use the locker rooms and showers for free, they also gave us the right to a discount in the Dead Sea cosmetics store. My advice: these products should be bought anywhere in Israel, but not at the sea itself, where they inflate prices for tourists. Example: we bought a set of six items in Netanya for 400 shekels, and the exact same one at the Dead Sea cost 1000!
The driver wanted to give us 1 hour 15 minutes for everything (ie swimming, lunch and shopping). The whole group was indignant, and then he gave us an hour and a half. The day was cloudy and, besides, a cold wind, so of all the tourists from our bus, I saw only one person swimming. Without swimming, this time was enough for us. But if it was a sunny day and you would like to enjoy the sea calmly, then you need to rinse, it’s lunchtime - and therefore have a bite - I can’t imagine how to do it all in an hour and a half... No pleasure when everything is done in a hurry and with an eye on the clock... Therefore, when you have a "vacation at the Dead Sea" in your program, specify exactly how much, otherwise it turns into a banal stop for a toilet and a snack.
Eilat. Dalia Hotel.
First about the hotel. Conveniently located, almost in the center and close to the sea and a major shopping center. True, right in front of the city airport, so I think the planes will not let you sleep during the season. The building of the hotel is dirty gray, inside it smells of bleach, I can’t say that it is very clean, although they clean it every day. There is a safe in the room, for which there are no instructions, and therefore, in order to start using it, you have to go to the reception and ask how to do it. There is also a small fridge, which was turned on, but did not freeze at all. The hotel has a small pool with ice water (winter, after all). Breakfast is not a very rich buffet, it depends when you come, some products that should be hot are already cold.
Eilat itself is considered a resort where the Israelis themselves like to relax. Lots of nice hotels. My advice is to spend your money and choose something better than Dahlia. In principle, it is possible to live there, but compared to more eminent neighbors, it is just a barracks.
Our voucher said "Eilat sightseeing tour (half day)". A minibus pulled up behind us. First they drive you to the Jordanian border, then to the Egyptian, then through the city, and the girl chewing gum says that this hotel is built in the shape of a ship, and this one is in the shape of a mosque, and this is the most beautiful hotel in Eilat, etc. . , after which you are taken to the Eilat stone factory. It turns out that the girl is not a guide at all, but a saleswoman from the same factory, and this “excursion” (it lasted no more than 45 minutes, and not at all half a day) is a gift from the factory of this very Eilat stone !! ! Then you are taken inside, quickly shown how this stone (a mixture of malachite and lapis lazuli) is processed and then taken to a huge hall, where they offer to buy jewelry from various stones and, of course, diamonds. There is also a rather expensive souvenir shop. At the entrance, you are given coupons with a supposedly twenty percent discount. I do not argue, if you are interested in jewelry and want to leave a large amount of money here, feel free to go and measure. But if you are not interested, toil until your fellow travelers make purchases! After all, the factory is outside the city, and everyone will be taken back together.
Of the tourists who were with us on the same bus, everyone came out with absolutely no money!!
The weather on some days was cloudy, as soon as the sun disappears, a piercing wind begins, so lying on the beach is not always comfortable. Few swim. A sunbed is an average of 20 shekels. So we had to keep ourselves busy. I will describe what you can do in Eilat.
Observatory (coral reefs). The entrance, if I'm not mistaken, is around 100 shekels, depending on whether you go to watch a movie, if not, it costs a little less. In addition, there is a boat with a transparent bottom (35 shekels), which swims several times a day.
I would like to say: if you have never been to an aquarium or an oceanarium, go, but if you have visited large aquariums in your other travels, which are in some cities of Europe and Asia, then the local one will seem to you just a dirty puddle. There are few pools with fish, the film is rather boring (about how a team of marine biologists saves a rare species of shark from poachers - in Russian). The only thing that is interesting is the underwater observatory itself: you go down 6 meters under the sea level and there are coral reefs around you.
Glass bottom boat ride (2 hours, departs from the seaport - 65 shekels). First you swim towards Jordan, then towards Egypt, again approaching the observatory and look at the corals (by the way, you can see worse than from the observatory itself), then you swim through the local dolphinarium, where you look at occasionally emerging dolphins, then back. All this to loudly screaming music, mean comments and crowds of Jewish-Arab children. At the end, the boat is barely dragging, it can be seen, 2 hours is a bit too much for 10 km. Israeli territory.
King's City. Local amusement park. In the region of 100 shekels is too large an amount for what is there.
1. Bible stories. You approach the glass, you press the button. The story of some biblical story begins, figures move behind the glass. And so eight times. Everything is only in English or Hebrew. The sight is pretty bad.
2. Boat. All the same biblical parables, only now you are sailing in a boat through different halls, and now large figures are moving. Done poorly. In one of the halls, a whole string of boats accumulated - the first in line got stuck and could not move to another hall, which blocked all the others. A skinny clerk came and tried to push a stuck boat with ten bulls inside. It didn't work, so she had to call for help. In short, while they were pushing the boat and the boats standing before us were sailing away, 15 minutes passed. The final chord is an almost vertical descent into the water. Quickly and somehow not captured...
3. Hall of illusions. Various simulators for ingenuity, optical illusions, games of strength and dexterity, a mirror maze, descent in a bag through a pipe, and more. Some are interesting. But the impression was created (which was later confirmed by local residents) that the creators wanted to get by with "little blood" - to spend as little money as possible on the arrangement of this hall, many simulators are rather primitive.
4. A film about the pharaohs. 4D. With glasses, moving chairs, etc. More or less quality.
In general, the general impression of something unfinished, unfinished. If you really have nothing to do and amusement parks are a curiosity for you, go, but if you have been to Disneyland and other parks, then this one is a miserable likeness...
Timna park.
20 km. from Eilat, go only by car, walking there is unrealistic. Rock paintings, mountains of all shades of red, bizarre figures created by nature. A kind of American Grand Canyon in miniature. Quite interesting, beautiful photos are obtained.
Excursion to Petra, Jordan.
Pleasure is not cheap - about $ 200, this is together with the consular fee and lunch. It took us about 40 minutes for various formalities at both borders, then the tour starts from Akba, the city that you see from Eilat on the other side. True, there is nothing special to see there, they bring you to the flag of Jordan, according to the guide, the largest flag in the world, and then 2 hours to Petra. Get ready for the fact that the whole excursion inside the city is on foot, I don’t know how many kilometers you will wind! You can, of course, sit on a horse or in a wagon, but the animals and their Bedouin owners are so smelly that there is no desire to use their services... The city itself, carved in stone, is worth it, very unusual and really beautiful. On the way back you will be served lunch. The whole buffet is included, so the owners of the restaurant try to heat you up on drinks by converting prices into shekels-dollars-euro. It's not clear what they think, so keep an eye on the prices they give you. When our neighbors on the table for drinks were given the same price in dollars, and we were given the same price - almost twice as much in shekels - we were indignant, and then they immediately lowered the price.
The cost of our tour included a transfer to Eilat airport on the day of departure: we were charged $20 per person to....take us to the airport, which is visible from the window of our hotel!! ! Well, it's just complete nonsense, you could walk there, and the travel agency probably knew about it!
Upon departure from Eilat, we were interrogated at the airport. Moreover, it is useless to show them that you do not speak English, hoping that they will fall behind and let them through, and so they will bring a Russian-speaking security officer and he will ask you a series of questions about your stay in Israel (why did you come to Israel, where exactly were you, with whom did you get to know each other, did anyone give you anything, were you in the Palestinian territories, did you pack your luggage yourself, etc. ). Moreover, all these questions were asked to us with great speed and the guy spoke with a big accent, so you involuntarily strain yourself, firstly, to understand, and then to figure out what to answer. But if you stay calm and answer quickly and honestly, then there is no problem, everyone is very polite and explains that they personally have nothing against you as a tourist, but you could meet someone, and this “someone” could use you for my own purposes. . .
Then you are released, you go to registration. Eilat airport is very tiny, and even out of season it was crowded, I don’t even want to think about what kind of crowds there during tourist time... All announcements are only in Hebrew, there was no exit number on the ticket, but then you realize that each airlines have their own separate outlet. 35 minutes and you are in Tel Aviv. Before leaving for Moscow from Ben Gurion, another interrogation, all the same questions. Of all the baggage, the security guards seemed suspicious of two bags that they asked to open - as it turned out, they did not like the bottles of wine and Dead Sea cosmetics. The main thing is to answer that you bought all this yourself in the store, and no one gave it to you, and everything is OK, they even help to close the suitcase, everything is absolutely without rudeness and quite civilized, and it takes 10-15 minutes.
In general, this is the result. Basically, most of the positive impressions were related to how we organized ourselves during the trip, but the overall organization of the tour was not very good. I myself work in tourism, so, believe me, I know what it is to receive tourists. Perhaps in Moscow and Israel, tourists are treated differently. . .
Despite all the shortcomings, Israel is worth a trip, the main thing is to carefully choose a hotel and once again clarify everything about the excursion. And one more thing: Israel is not a cheap country at all, everything costs no less than in Europe.