After we had finished our Bedouin experience, we reunited with our German friend to taxi to the border crossing.   To cross from Jordan into Israel, we used the Wadi Araba border crossing from Aqaba to Eilat.  This is a pedestrian only crossing with about 100m of no man’s land to walk through to get to the custom’s office.  I can honestly say I’ve never a tank gun pointed in my direction before then!

Once through customs (which was a total breeze, our local airport is more stringent!) we made our way to the rental car company.  Renting a car in Israel was our first experience with driving abroad. So liberating!Car rental was not overly expensive, distances are not extreme given the size of the country–especially compared to Canada where driving for 10+ hours to get to somewhere in the next province isn’t unusual!

Eilat is a haven for bird watching being a crossroads for migratory birds from Asia, Africa and Europe.  It’s also a coveted site for SCUBA divers wishing to dive in the Red Sea.  You can even swim with  Whale Sharks!  We didn’t have time for either, not that you could pay me to do SCUBA.  FYI: The water of the Red Sea–not red!

Once we had the car, we realized we needed a quick pit-stop for continuing our journey.  We stopped at McDonald’s.  Yes, I know, roll your eyes!  But, it was different–kosher food laws and all, so we wanted to check it out. No bacon or cheese to be found on a burger anywhere!

Kosher food wasn’t the only shocking difference.  How about these fellows and their accessories?

That’s not something we see at the arches here!  Any thoughts?
~j

ps: We usually check out McDonald’s at least once while away.  There’s almost always something crazy on the menu that we’ve never seen before.  Sometimes the choices are HILARIOUS!