Egypt-Israel: The taboo border crossing

I find borders fascinating. While some borders are quasi-inexistent (did you ever drive from France to Belgium? You won’t even notice you crossed...) some separate economically disparate worlds (Dare I say Mexico-USA?) or, in some rare occasions, separate countries that have, for decades and until recently, been diametrically opposed - politically, culturally, historically, who have stood on opposite sides of trenches, and who have lost men and women to defend these very borders.

The Egyptian-Israeli border is one of these.

Even if the huge “CASINO” sign at the border doesn’t give that away immediately!

Curiosity - and money concerns! - led me to take the bus from Jerusalem to Cairo, thus crossing the Eilat/Taba border at around 4:00 AM.

(a few travel tips, by the way, are available here. You're welcome).

That was nearly 10 meters from the border. We hadn't cleared customs yet..

Israel-Egypt: the night ride

The Israelis cleared me relatively rapidly. The Egyptians kept me hanging around for like an hour - not too many Egyptians cross through there.. But I guess once you’ve done the fajr prayers with the border police, it somewhat breaks the ice!

The odd couple

At the very border - after Israeli customs, and before the Egyptian one - I looked up and, for an entire minute, observed the two flags, fluttering in the windy starless night. Not sure what I felt. Probably a mix of disbelief, amusement, and wonder. No resentment or any such thing: I never really doubted that this border should be open (I do cringe at some provisions of the peace agreement, but that’s a different story). No, I just found it objectively interesting. A little like, I don’t know, watching a shooting star, or perhaps a cloned sheep - it’s a little strange, surely unusual, and perhaps even an anomaly - but very much real.

I snapped a few photos, and made my way into Egypt.

The first soldier I spoke to - a friendly 20-something from the falla7een - was somehow under the impression that I was coming from somewhere else, but arrived through Israel. He was almost reproachful - “and you couldn’t find anywhere else to come through?”.

Took forever to get through Egyptian customs, then another eternity to find transportation into Cairo. But eventually, I made it there!

I love those (probably hand-written) signs...

Cairo-Taba-Cairo-Taba-Eilat-Jerusalem (yes, that was the route)

The return journey was in broad daylight, allowing for the visual contrasts between the good ol’ “Welcome to Egypt”, and the big sign on top of the Israeli terminal. Although, truth be told,

the Egyptian terminal is pretty shiny from the outside, too.

I was actually rejected EXIT by the Egyptians. You read this right: forbidden EXIT from my own country! Turns out, an obscure - and unpublished, I checked - regulation requires a pair of special permits to go to Palestine or to Israel from various government authorities.

So I was actually sent back to Cairo (hence a grand total of 1100 pointless kilometers), where I was stuck for 3 painfully long weeks and during which I made calls, pulled strings, etc - and got my permits. I was back at the border crossing the very next morning...

On the road out of the border post. The distinction involves paying an entry tax, so it's less ugly than it looks.:)

Another hour on the Egyptian border - they love me, what can I say? - followed by a crowded crossing - a large group of elderly Brazilians with yellow and green “on the footsteps of Jesus” t-shirts, coupled with a brief border closure on the Israeli side - which led to a long queue by the border line, with the Israeli officers observing us queuing from across the border with binoculars...

I took a photo with one foot in each country. On the spot it was more amusing than anything. Thinking back though, I now realise it’s rather amazing that I have the chance to do that. I mean, really? Crossing into Israel, on foot? I am one of the lucky few - of my country, particularly, to have had the chance to do the journey.

Right now, peace sounds like a very good plan...

Left foot in Egypt, right foot in Israel. And yes, I wear sandals. Bite me.

The Israeli officers kept me for over an hour, going as far as to call the Foreign Affairs officer who signed my visa to check whether it was still valid (!!). But they finally let me through.

And onwards to Eilat, a plastic-and-neon city that’s even more soulless than Sharm-El-Sheikh, if that’s even possible... then Jerusalem and Ramallah.

Back to the holy land. Gotta love this place.

(Related post: travel tips)