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	<title>r a h u lr a h u l | r a h u l</title>
	<link>http://rahee.org/blogr</link>
	<description>Mentally I&#039;m already there</description>
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		<title>Dubai 2011</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We happened to visit Dubai almost by chance in December 2010. We were visiting India and had to change our tickets at the last minute due to a change in my schedule and the only tickets we could get required a 4-day halt in Dubai. &#160; We almost jumped on the chance to visit a new place! We have close friends in Dubai and had not traveled anywhere in almost two years. Tickets booked and all winds indicated getting a Dubai visa was easy &#8211; or so we thought.They had issued a new law that Canadians would require a visa to enter the country but did not have the systems in place to issue a visa so I could not apply at the embassy or online (via the Emirates website). After a lot of tries, we finally were able to get a visa by booking a reservation at the Sheraton and the hotel issued a visa to us. Day 1 in Dubai Our flight to Dubai was at 4:25 AM from Ahmedabad airport. We were on-time but as we went through the security checkpoint, the security fellows decided that the baby stroller was too large and made me run back [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://rahee.org/blogr/2011/01/11/dubai-2011/</link>
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		<title>Arriving in Jerusalem</title>
		<description><![CDATA[January 6, 2009, Eilat, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel (notes from my journal) Even though we had a bit of a mishap with Israir, we finally arrived at Tel Aviv&#8217;s Sde Dov airport at about 2:30 PM (as opposed to the original 9:30 AM). The flight was short and we got a glimpse of the dead sea from the air. We took a taxi to the Tel Aviv Savidor Merkaz train station and purchased two tickets to Jerusalem. Israel has an excellent train network and we used it a lot to get around. We waited at the platform, sipping coffee, nibbling on muffins and chatting to pass the time. There were many IDF soldiers on the train and this was something we got used to fairly quickly. The rail network is used by kids who are in the service to go home for the weekend but also to transport soldiers in time of war. The journey was little over an hour and got scenic as we approached Jerusalem. As we got closer my excited started rising! After all this is one of the most historic places in the world! The excitement was mixed with some fear as well due to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://rahee.org/blogr/2009/01/06/arriving-in-jerusalem/</link>
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		<title>Israir fiasco</title>
		<description><![CDATA[After two days of pure relaxation in Eilat, we were ready to take on Jerusalem, like many who had before us! At 8:00 AM January 6, 2009 we are at Eilat airport ready to board our hour-long flight to Tel Aviv (from where we would take a train to Jerusalem). Sounds easy right? So we arrive at the airport and go through almost an hour or so of security (body search, full bag search, lots of questions on where we were from and why we are here and stuff we have &#8211; all fine with us) then we finally get to the Israir counter to check-in our bags. We were early (can&#8217;t be bad right?) but they don&#8217;t accept check-ins six months early! WTF!! It turned out that they did have our reservation, except that instead of having a reservation for January 6, 2009 the reservation was for June 1, 2009. Our first instinct was that we made a mistake. But how could that be! Luckily the airport had free wi-fi and so I quickly checked all my documents and uncovered the real issue! An i18n bug on the Israir website! So here is what happened: I booked my flight [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://rahee.org/blogr/2009/01/06/israir-fiasco/</link>
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		<title>Two days in Eilat, Israel</title>
		<description><![CDATA[January 3 &#8211; January 6, 2009: Eilat, Israel. (notes from my journal) January 3, 2009: After the immigration and customs, we got a cab to our hotel! The cab driver asked us about where we were from and in turn I asked him his origins. He mentioned his last name and told me that he was a Moroccan Jew, but was born and brought up in Israel. The cultural diversity of Israel was immediately apparent to us: We had just met a Indian Jew, a Russian Jew was our immigration officer and now a Moroccan Jew was our cab driver. This small country is a melting pot of Jews all over the world, each bringing their unique culture and thought with them. We checked in to the hotel, Le Meridian Eilat and were informed that we were being upgraded from a standard to a deluxe suite. We&#8217;re low budget travelers and this was heaven. We had a 1 bedroom suite overlooking the Eilat promenade, the red sea and Aqaba, Jordan. It was simply awesome! And there were two flat screen TV&#8217;s in the suite! Woohoo! Not to mention a fully working shower (see previous post on no water) and a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://rahee.org/blogr/2009/01/05/two-days-in-eilat-israel/</link>
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		<title>Shalom Namaste</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Aqaba-Arava Border crossing, Jordan &#38; Israel After the Wadi Rum tour, we decided to skip lunch and headed straight to the border. Anna had to catch a bus to Jerusalem and we wanted to get to Israel ASAP. It was a Saturday and we were concerned that the border might close early because of Sabbath. The borders were very quiet and we were the only people who wanted to cross. On the Jordanian side, we had to go looking for the guards who would give us the exit stamp (5JD each) so we could exit Jordan (why do countries need this? We had to pay a similar tax in Cambodia and that was $25!). It was our first time walking on no-mans land. Of all the places for such a first time, we were in the middle of Israel and Jordan &#8211; right in the middle of the Gaza War! When we crossed into Israel, the first customs officer we saw was a lady and she definitely looked more Indian.No words were spoken between us, but she radioed in that we were going in to the building. Once in, we were asked to surrender our passports and luggage (which was [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://rahee.org/blogr/2009/01/03/shalom-namaste/</link>
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		<title>Wadi Rum</title>
		<description><![CDATA[January 3, 2009: Wadi Rum, Jordan (notes from my journal) When we got to our room, we took our cold/cough medications, a shower and went to sleep. I woke up at 2 AM and tried to sleep until 5 AM with no luck. At 5 AM, we both were up for good. Since dawn had just started to break, I went up to the terrace of the hotel to get some early morning shots of Petra. We were glad we took a shower the previous night. There was absolutely no water in the hotel and all the guests, including us, had to brush our teeth with bottled drinking water. Since we were up very early, we decided to walk around Wadi Musa for a while. It&#8217;s a lot of fun to watch a city wake up and slowly come to life &#8211; shopkeepers opening their stores, bakers putting out freshly baked goods, porters carrying goods around, street vendors setting up their wares, kids going to school, office goers&#8230; We stopped by a bakery and got some biscuits and bread to munch on. The plan for the day was to do the following: Hire a taxi to take us from Wadi [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://rahee.org/blogr/2009/01/03/wadi-rum/</link>
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		<title>Petra: Higher places</title>
		<description><![CDATA[January 2, 2009, Wadi Musa/Petra, Jordan (notes from my journal) I woke up 4 hours later at 7:30 AM. The antibiotics were finally working and my throat did not ache as much. Heena was absolutely fine &#8211; which means she had enough energy to make up for the time we spent sick. We ate a longish breakfast and at 10 AM were at the gates of Petra. This time we walked very slowly along the siq, taking in beauty of each turn (12 in all), admiring the shrines to the Nabaatean god Dushara, marveling at the grandeur of the place and thinking about how many caravans must have passed through this route and what exotic merchandise they must have brought with them. We reached the treasury at 11 AM. Right across from the treasury are some tea/snack stalls that sell cups of  chay for 1JD. It was really cold and the hot chay was absolutely worth it! We got some of it and sat on the benches admiring the beauty of this grand structure. After about half an hour we walked past the treasury and headed up the path that took us to the &#8220;High Place of Sacrifice&#8221;. It is [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://rahee.org/blogr/2009/01/02/petra-higher-places/</link>
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		<title>Petra: The Monastery</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The route to the Monastery is uphill on stone steps carved into the rock. The climb to the Monastery is arduous. Bedouin kids all along the way will try to sweet talk you into giving them 1 JD for a few postcards. These kids run up and down the hill all day long! Where do they get all that energy? I got tired going up once! Obviously, I&#8217;m terribly out of shape. No surprise there! Ha! We saw some people take the donkey up to the monastery (JD 30. Well, JD 20 if you know how to bargain) After a 45 minute climb, we reached up! The monastery, like most sites at Petra is carved into the rock. It was initially a temple/place of worship. During the Byzantine period it was used as a monastery (hence the name). While its not as impressive as the treasury, it is beautiful in its own right. Especially given its location. It just has a single room inside. Across from the monastery was a small cave through which you get a spectacular shot. I climbed up to it and took some pictures. A little girl came up to me and first demanded to see [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://rahee.org/blogr/2009/01/01/petra-the-monastery/</link>
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		<title>Petra: Lost and Found</title>
		<description><![CDATA[January 1, 2009. Wadi Musa and Petra, Jordan (notes from my journal) We started our day at 6 AM. After a quick breakfast, Atta, the owner of the hotel dropped us off at the Petra visitors center. We wanted to get an early start so we avoid the busloads of tourists. We got tickets (26 JD per person) and also paid for a guide for 4 hours (50JD). I feel that having a guide at historical places enhances the experience since the focus shifts from trying to find every single monument in the book to actually enjoying the place while listening to the history and explanation given by the guide. Our guide&#8217;s name was Ahmed and he had a degree in archeology, spoke excellent English and was very personable. Perfect! &#160; For the first hour Ahmed took us through the siq. On the way he gave us a lot of information about the style of the tombs that are on the path towards the siq &#8211; between the visitors center and the siq. A lot of the tombs have Greek and Roman influences and symbolize the soul moving up towards heaven. As we entered the siq, Ahmed pointed out that [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://rahee.org/blogr/2009/01/01/petra-lost-and-found/</link>
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		<title>Petra by night</title>
		<description><![CDATA[December 31, 2008. Petra, Jordan. (notes from my journal) At 8 PM, Qasam, the manager of the guesthouse, dropped us off at the Petra visitors center. We were going to do the Petra By Night tour. There were quite a few people. The tour started promptly at 8:30 PM. The tickets need to be pre-arranged but our guest house had them arranged for us. The cost for the tour is 12 JD, not including tips. We were requested to be as quiet as possible when we walk down the siq and enjoy the feeling. They had lit 1500 candles along the path and we walked in the glow of these candles. It was fairly quiet and we felt as if we were travelers from an ancient land walking towards the ancient city of Petra. At the end of the siq is the treasury! No matter how many pictures you see or how many times you watch Indiana Jones, being there beats it all. We sat down on the carpet and there were three performances: A Bedouin song A Bedouin song accompanied by music on the rebab A Bedouin song played on the guitar After the performance was done, we heard [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://rahee.org/blogr/2008/12/31/petra-by-night/</link>
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