14th to 15th of July, 2019.
It does not take to much time until someone pick me up. Of course. And it is such a nice man! He and his sun are going to a town just before Akko. Fantastic! He reminds me someone familiar, probably a Hollywood actor. He is a teacher and have some special programs for special kids, like his son who is in the car with us. A very smart boy, quick thinking and good English. He knows a lot of magic tricks and perform in the streets sometimes for some coins.
We have a pleasant trip until… Akko! In the end, the nice man decides to drive me there anyway because it is so close and, in his words: “I cannot leave you here in the middle of nowhere”. People in Israel are lovely or what?
So Akko! Pfff… Yeah, there are some nice fortress and old buildings, plus the tunnels and some of the old stuff you need to pay to visit it might worth it but I truly do not see why the noise about it. I could not even take a picture of the fortress at the sea because it is all in construction. So what? I walk around; someone gives me an apple; I walk a little more and that is it. In a few hours I am walking out of town and trying to hitchhike to Haifa, where Alon arranged me the last free hostel I will stay.
Another really nice guy picks me up. His English is not very good but he is marry to a woman from United States and he tells me about visiting / leaving there (her parents are from there so they usually stay at their place). He looks Irish! He tells me some stuff about Haifa while driving me in and even calls a friend to ask about the specific place to drop me, the Hostel. So he drops me at the front door. Another wonderful Israeli person.
Once I enter, a big and tall guy, with some Arabic traces approach me and says: “You are Lei!” What? It is my first question / reaction. And I ask him how does he knows? He tricks me for a while but then he finally confess me that Alon warned him I was coming.
Saher is a very nice Palestinian man. He lived in Brazil for one year and he loved! According to him, mainly because of us: The Brazilians! So you can imagine that we have a good time together. Speaking a bit of Portuguese, talking about different stuff, about my travels, about his wishes of coming back to Brazil and opening a self-service buffet of Palestinian food, etc. Talking about food, I tell him I was waiting to go to Jericho and eat my first falafel (in Israel) there, because everyone keep telling me it how good it is. He promised me that the best I would eat here, in his hostel, made by him. So I wait very excited. Since I arrive pretty early, just around mid-day, I go check my room and relax a bit before go to explore the town.
The Hostel is pretty nice! Al Yakhour it is the name. Located in a great spot, it is an old building, incredible, and Saher told me he was lucky to find the place and be able to get it, just some years ago.
One thing I noticed is most of the volunteers were quite lazy and disrespectful…? I do not know about how they treat the “actual” guests, since I was just staying for free, but what I mean is: even the guy who showed me around, who sounds nice at first impression, later on, when he was with this other volunteer guy, at the front desk, and Saher came to talk with them about some organization things, they treated him in a way that really bothered me, like they were the owners and not him. It was not in the friendly and kind way I would play with Alon, but in a mistreating way. I did not like. It makes me think in how so many young people around the world want to go to volunteer just for the “fun” of having free food and accommodation, while they go party at night. But not all the volunteers were like them because I met a very nice Russian lady later at night, in the kitchen, and even that she talk a lot about her personal problems, she was very sweet and I liked her.
So I go around the town, just to check out and possibly to swim. I get information from the volunteer who showed me around about where I could swim. Not surprisingly, later on I figure that all his information were wrong. One of the beaches he showed me it was private and the public ones were not allowed to swim and the far ones were even further than the map shows. I enjoy the walk though. And luckily I did not swim actually because when I was almost to get in, I see this huge jellyfish on the water. That was close.
Coming back I buy tomatoes and cucumber for my pasta dinner. I talk with the nice volunteer girl while cooking and eating. I arrange some things before going to sleep.
Next morning I take my time at the hostel. I organize some stuff I need for the close future travels. And with Saher’s help I decide to take a bus to the point where I can hitchhike. At this point he brings to me The Falafel. Oh my Loki! He is right: it is the best falafel ever! I was stupid enough to not take a picture but it is understandable since I was so excited to prove it. So the picture you will see as featured image I took it from the internet. Anyway, their falafel is just perfect. Do not miss it if you decide stay at Al Yakhour or even if you are just passing through Haifa, go there and get some. It is just amazingly delicious! Oh, Loki, I would love some now…
After a cosy hug in Saher I leave just after 12 to catch the bus. Israel is quite developed as I already told you about Katzrin. So here in a big town is not different. The bus system is super modern, like in Europe, and you buy the ticket before get in the bus. Or not. There is no way of checking that once you are on it. Probably there are guards who show up once in a while to ask for it but in my case I could just leave the bus and keep walking, not buying. Why I did? Maybe because there were a lot of witness who told me how to do it.
Just a few minutes after I am standing in the road, two girls stop the car. They are sisters! They are actually heading to Tel-Aviv but they will drop me somewhere there because lots of people go to Jerusalem from there. The big coincidence is that the older sister is going soon to Brazil for a workshop of natural products and their other sister, the youngest one, is also going soon there because she study capoeira so she is going to spend one month in Brazil. Crazy!
They are very nice and friendly. And even that the older one rough on me a little when I tell her that I am taking continue pills for the last few years because I do not want to have my period (I do not understand why she freaked out so much, I am a human being and should be completely free and able to do whatever pleases me when it is about my body). Anyway, in the end they actually do not leave me in a good spot to hitchhike. It is close to the exit of town but is too busy and I do not have a way to check of how much I will need to walk or what. So I stand in this bus stop, hoping that someone will at least drive me a bit further, out of town. A wonderful old lady, a tourist guide, stops and try to help me. Unfortunately she just drives me a little bit further (better than nothing!) and shows me where to carry on. There, I wait for about half an hour until this guy just going to the airport decides that is better if I stand there. I agree and we go. He gets pretty impressed about how I travel with little money and even offer me some. I refuse, of course. He drops me in a good spot, at a bus stop. Soon enough, a Jewish man stops. I go in the back for the first time in my hitchhike long adventure. He drops me just at the central bus station in Jerusalem. I arrive in the sacred land.