BootsnAll Travel Community

I'm going to Israel this summer for 10 days (birthright) and then I can extend my ticket for up to 3 months. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do, but keep a more or less flexible itinerary.

Places that I want to go to are Israel (first 10 days there and fly back to the states from there), Jordan, Egypt, Turkey and Cyprus.

After reading the Turkey thread, seems like I could spend the whole time there, but I don't know if I'll get a chance to come back to the region (probably won't do it until I get a new passport or relations between Israel, Syria and Lebanon improve).

Rough idea I have so far is going Israel -> Jordan -> Egypt -> (Northern) Cyrpus -> Turkey and then probably flying back to Israel for my flight back home.

I have a few questions:
Does this seem to ambitious for the amount of time?
Will (really damn hot) weather be a determining factor in what I should avoid?
Is getting from Egypt to Cyprus by sea going to be difficult/expensive?

A big variable right now is I don't know when the 3 months are going to start (could start anywhere from May to August)

I appreciate any comments or links, thanks.

There are probably several people who could answer these questions (they just haven't seen this thread yet!), but one that comes to mind offhand is 2wanderers who was just in the areas you're planning to visit last year. I'd say hunt him down (i.e., send him a PM) and see if he can help!

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After reading the Turkey thread, seems like I could spend the whole time there, but I don't know if I'll get a chance to come back to the region (probably won't do it until I get a new passport or relations between Israel, Syria and Lebanon improve).

I know I"M not really answering anything useful here, but can you do birthright w/o getting the Israel stamp in your passport? I've heard they will stamp a separate piece of paper if you ask.

I'm also a bit confused...do you plan on doing 10 days in Israel, flying back to the US, and then making another trip?

i did the same thing last summer. i only had 60 days to extend, but my original plan was roughly the same as yours. i ended up adding e. europe to my trip and skipped greece. i'm really glad i did. from what i heard greece was much more expensive than turkey and other e. european countries and the beaches and ruins are just as cool in turkey. at the time i was able to get a round trip flight from tel aviv to istanbul for approx 230 dollars. timewise it's really doable, as jordan, egypt and israel are so small. it is damn hot but everyone handles the heat differently. i hiked almost every day but i also met backpackers who could barely leave their hostels due to the heat ... feel free to pm if you have any more specific questions ...

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as jordan, egypt and israel

Egypt is not small.

Anyway, onto the heart of the matter:
- Getting from Egypt to Cyprus by sea is iffy. I have heard of ferries running, but the last I heard it had been cancelled due to lack of use.

- You cannot get to Northern Cyprus from anywhere except Turkey, and you cannot get to Greek Cyprus from Turkey. As for getting between the two...this may work for you, but it is not something to count on working in order for your trip to fit together. (Basically, the last I'd heard, and admittedly I have not been to Cyprus, is that you are allowed to cross between the two, but if you arrived from Turkey, you will be charged a fine for entering through an illegal port, and if you are going north, you will not be allowed to take more than a day pack with you. This may have changed, as I last looked into the situation there over a year ago.)

- Weather - I was in the area in spring and it was already damn hot. In Upper Egypt, the heat was just oppressive...we'd carry 3 litres of water with us, and still be parched after a couple hours. Summer will be hot everywhere you're looking at, so definitely don't count on doing a lot of things every day. Weather wise, I'd say try to start the trip in August if you have any influence over that, but on the downside, you would then run into Ramadan, which starts Sept 13 this year.

Frankly, I don't much recommend Egypt anyway, and I would absolutely not want to be visiting it in the summer heat.

- Timeline - for three months this seems doable.

Anyway, that's a lot of ground, so if you have any more specific questions about what's interesting, and what's not, feel free to ask.

yes, egypt is huge. i was trying to multi-task and post. my bad.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Chris D:
I know I"M not really answering anything useful here, but can you do birthright w/o getting the Israel stamp in your passport? I've heard they will stamp a separate piece of paper if you ask.

I'm also a bit confused...do you plan on doing 10 days in Israel, flying back to the US, and then making another trip?

Yea, I know people who have had them stamp a seperate piece of paper, and going into Jordan, there is one crossing where the Jordanians will do it too.

To answer the second question, I plan on doing the 10 days in Israel (with Birthright), and changing the date of my return ticket from Tel Aviv to the states to much later in the future.


I think since I am more inclined to kind of play it by ear, I will try to go to Syria and Lebanon (depending how things are and that's if I can get the paper stamp and not the passport stamp) and maybe getting a 1 way ticket from israel to jordan, which was suggested from a previous post and if I get turned down, just head towards Turkey.

I think I will skip Egypt regardless. I have the choice of going in June, July or August. If I travel during Ramadan in muslim countries, how much does that impact activities during the day (I assume at night its the same if not more fun?)? Are some of the countries less observant than others?

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If I travel during Ramadan in muslim countries, how much does that impact activities during the day (I assume at night its the same if not more fun?)? Are some of the countries less observant than others?

During Ramadan, people are fasting, so food will only be available during daylight hours in tourist areas, and its terribly rude to eat or drink in public, anyway. On top of that, a number of shops will be closed, and from what I've heard, people are grumpier - not just because of lack of food & water, but also lack of cigarettes. Now, I haven't done it myself, but from what others have said, the up side to travelling during Ramadan is after dark. Apparently, its not uncommon to get invited to break fast with a previously perfect stranger. (Inviting foreigners home isn't uncommon at any time of year, at least in Jordan and Syria.)

Of the four Islamic countries I visited, only Egypt appeared particularly devout. Aside from there, public displays of religious devotion became less and less common as we moved north (Jordan-Syria-Turkey). Regardless of how visibly they celebrate their religion at other times of year, though, they'll all fast during Ramadan. In the region, Turkey has the greatest tourist infrastructure, so it'll probably have the least effect on a traveller there.

Thanks for all the info guys. As of now, I think I'm going to catch a 1 way flight from Tel Aviv to Istanbul, and work my way overland back to Israel, just kind of play it by ear. Hopefully I can enter and exit Israel w/o stamps (the first time), otherwise I assume I would need to take another plane flight to get around Syria on the trek back to Tel Aviv.

Yes. Evidence of any connection to Israel will get you turned back at the Syrian border.

Make sure you get your Syrian visa before you go. They don't normally issue them at the border.