My trip to Tel Aviv wasn’t a well-planned trip. Heck, I didn’t even know if I would be able to get there just 4 hours before catching my flight. I got my visa hastily in just 2 days. Getting the visa deserves another blog post.

I got the opportunity to visit Tel Aviv for a hackathon on a scholarship by Adobe. This was my first ever international as well as my first solo. I was in Tel Aviv for 4 days. Out of the 4, 2 days were reserved for the hackathon and 2 days I kept aside for sightseeing. I have a separate blog for the hackathon. Out of the remaining 2 days, one day was a Saturday, which is the day of Sabbath and is a holiday, therefore the markets are closed and public transportation is not available.

Design Tools hackathon 2018, Wix Office, Tel Aviv

Information pamphlet for hostellers at the entrance

Travel in Tel Aviv

I would suggest that you forget the idea of taking a cab because the bus services in the city are amazing. To get the schedule and location of bus stops, download the Moovit app. It navigated you to the bus stop, shows you the time for the next bus and also, once on the bus, keeps you updated with the number of stops left. Just before getting down, inform the driver just before the stop by calling out ‘drop’ when your stop arrives.

The cost of all the trips, irrespective of the distance, is 5.9 shekels. So you just get onto the bus, don’t need to tell the driver where you want to go. Just hand over 5.9 shekels and take a seat.

They also have small, 12 seater, cabs. The schedule of these cabs is also shown on the Moovit app. These are basically private cabs but they work similar to buses. The cost of these is 8 shekels. They also work on Saturdays.

The buses are not available after 9 on Fridays till Sunday morning.

Day 1 – Old city Jaffa

It was a Saturday and since the buses weren’t available, I decided to stay in the city. Jaffa or Yafo in Hebrew is an ancient port in Israel. It is associated with many biblical stories. The city has picturesque stone buildings and galleries with the view of the sea alongside.

Jaffa was about half an hour away on foot from the hostel, so I decided to walk to get a good view of the city as well. The walk to the old city is one hell of a walk. It is one of the most beautiful walks which you should really take. The complete trail is on the shore. You basically walk on the beach for half an hour and you would reach Jaffa.

Once you reach Jaffa, you’ll start seeing a lot of people. The crowd in the morning, around 10, was much less than in the afternoon and evening. You can just start entering the stone buildings, go through the beautiful, narrow steps. I think what I missed was that I didn’t have a guide with me to tell all the stories around the port, mostly biblical. So I just stood by the groups that were with guides. It’s very interesting to see how deeply they believe in all those stories and tell these stories with the same enthusiasm and passion. You’ll also see people singing and performing throughout the area.

After roaming around for 1.5 hours, it was time for some lunch. I had read good reviews about the restaurant named ‘The old man and the sea’. If you keep walking next to the water, you’ll see many restaurants and one of them would be ‘The old man and the sea’. It’s quite popular and very crowded so you might have to wait. Now, when you get a seat, they serve you with 20 different types of salad with pita bread and fresh lime juice. This is given, you can’t opt out of it. It was brilliant and trust me if you’re alone or even 2, you can’t eat all of it. This would cost around 65 shekels. Now you could order on top of that or order nothing. And even if you do and in case you cannot finish it, you can always get it packed.

Salads at The Old Man And The Sea

Ater lunch, I did a little shopping in a small market and then walked back to the hostel.

It was just 4.30pm when I reached back and then decided to go to the beach. I grabbed a beer and some snacks from the shop in front of the hostel and a bed sheet and headed towards the beach. On Saturdays, it feels like the whole city has come to the beach. People were playing, drinking, swimming. I sat there till sunset and it couldn’t get any better.

Day 2 – Jerusalem

On day 2, I teamed up with a guy I met at the hackathon (his name was Johannes) to go to Jerusalem. Tel Aviv has regular buses from the bus station to Jerusalem. I took a bus from the hostel to the bus station. I met Johannes at around 10 and we took the bus. It cost us 18 shekels per person, one way. Also, you don’t need to buy the ticket at the ticket counter. The tickets are available on the bus. Hop on and pay the driver for the same.

The journey through the desert is of 1hr. The bus will drop you at the Jerusalem bus station. From there to the old city Jerusalem, you could either take the Rav-Kav light rail which will cost you 5.9 shekels per person, one way or you could just walk. So soon as you come out of the station, you’ll find the light rail stations on the road. We decided to walk to the old city of Jerusalem and take the light rail while returning.

After reaching the old city, you’ll see a map after entering the city gate. Keep in mind that you would not be able to see everything in 1 day on foot. We started walking and whatever came in our way, we went through it. So, we completed The Church of holy sepulcher, Tower of David, City of David and Western Wall. All the places are historically and religiously important. The amalgamation of all the important religious buildings in one place just brings in a sense of admiration and overwhelm. This place will blow your mind even if you’re not religious!

City of David

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Western Wall

Flee market in the old city of Jerusalem

For lunch, we stopped by a small eatery and had open shawarmas. There are a lot of small stores within the old city, just after you enter the gate.

We took the light rail back. Johannes was going to stay in Jerusalem for a while, so I left for the bus station. I took the bus at 7pm. The station was really crowded. Again, you can get the tickets on the bus for 5.9 shekels.

After I reached Tel Aviv, I took the bus again to the hostel and had my dinner in a local restaurant just opposite the hostel.

I had my flight next morning and had to leave the hostel at 5 in the morning. The guy at the reception booked a cab for me to the airport. My flight took the same route back.

In all, the short trip changed a little something in me. We don’t really think about visiting Israel for vacations but being at the places which have been an important part of the history, going through the same lanes and witnessing the changes over time certainly forces you to think how places become important in the lives of people and shape the world for better or for worse.