I'm going to start by saying “HOW LUCKY”How lucky we were to have traveled to so many places without any problems, while watching how a pandemic behind us devoured everything around it.
At this time (March 2020), when countries are closing their borders, airlines are massively canceling flights, and tourists, with some justification, are seen as walking viruses, I must admit that many things could have gone wrong, or at least differently than what one had planned.
That's why I repeat, having returned just in time, without corona (I hope) and without experiencing any setbacks, makes me say again and again...how lucky we were :).
Fate extended a helping hand to help us finish this adventure, and today we are here, at home, happy and calm, fulfilling the 14 days of shelter-in-place as required, slowly beginning to remember everything we experienced just a few days ago.
And it occurs to me what better plan than to spend these days of confinement telling you how it was to make this trip that took us to know 5 countries from 3 different continents and with 3 very different yet similar religions.
All the destinations we visited on this trip have so much to see. They have so much history behind them that I would feel guilty not sharing it with you. Especially the itinerary we did through Egypt, Jordan and Israel moving on our own, since most people visit it on an organized tour, and there is not much information on how to move around freely on the Internet.
Table of Contents
Trip Planning
The original plan was to visit Egypt, Jordan and Israel (in that order) moving everything by land, but since from Argentina we have nothing direct to Cairo, I had to make a stopover somewhere else first. That's why I decided to start the trip in Istanbul, flying with Turkish Airlines.
Türkiye is a large country that deserves several days to explore not only Istanbul but the rest of the country, but that's for another trip. This time, I'd just want to visit ancient Constantinople.
Then, for reasons unknown to me, Turkish Airlines launched a promotion that, if any section included passing through Malta, it cost the same as the round-trip ticket from Buenos Aires to Istanbul (I discovered this thanks to the website Air Promotions who are always on the lookout for this type of promotion).
So, before going to Cairo, we would make another stop of a few days on the beautiful island of Malta. From there, the airline Air Malta, has 2 weekly flights to the capital of Egypt with very good prices, so everything worked out.
Finally the whole circuit was as follows:
- One way Buenos Aires – Istanbul – Malta (Turkish Airlines)
- One way Malta – Cairo (Air Malta)
- Return Tel Aviv – Istanbul – Buenos Aires (Turkish Airlines)
It's now or who knows when!
Although I had this trip planned in my mind for a long time, the decision to organize and carry it out ended up being hasty (almost 1 month before traveling).
Because?
In Argentina, the arrival of a new tax on travelers abroad was already being warned about. In mid-December 2019 (until the date is unknown), a 30% tax was implemented on any expenses incurred by Argentine residents in foreign currency.
The objective of this measure is to reduce the dollar drain (at least in this area), which negatively impacts the country's coffers. This means that all those traveling abroad will have to deal with an increase in the 30% tax on all expenses.
In addition to our unfavorable local context, the international situation in the Middle East and its surrounding areas also appealed to me. It's unusual to feel so calm (media-wise) in those places. We know there's always news of an attack or a threat of war. These are calm times in the region, and I felt it was time to take advantage of it.
For these reasons, I thought I had to make this trip right now or resign myself to paying more for everything and risking not knowing what might happen later.
Days after booking tickets and accommodations, the conflict between the US and Iran began (over the assassination of an Iranian general), which continued with threats to Israel and culminated in the accidental downing of a Ukrainian plane. Not to mention the coronavirus crisis that followed, making travel completely impossible at this time.
On your own or with an organized tour
So, with the firm decision to take this trip, the biggest challenge was finding information about how to get to know all these countries without the help of an agency. Those who know me know that I try to avoid this type of trip, because if there's one thing I hate when traveling, it's having to follow someone else's timeline and schedule, and the fact that the costs of this option are usually higher than traveling independently.
Thanks to travelers who started sharing their experiences traveling independently, I was helped find useful (albeit sometimes outdated) information to help me plan an itinerary to my liking. I'm not referring so much to Istanbul or Malta, which are very easy places to explore freely, but to Egypt, Jordan, and Israel, countries where information is scarce.
Itinerary Organization
The articles I will publish from now on will be related to this itinerary that took me to destinations and cities as diverse as Istanbul, Malta, Cairo, Aswan, Luxor, Dahab, Wadi Rum, Petra, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, and Tel Aviv.
The itinerary will be divided into different articles to make it easier to find information related to a specific location. Each one can be read independently, although there will likely be mentions or references to information detailed in previous posts.
Important: I am aware that at this time it is not advisable to travel anywhere (we are in the middle of a pandemic called Coronavirus), but I'm going to take advantage of the quarantine we're currently doing to share some information that will surely be useful for organizing your trips when all this is over...or not? o_O
Travel itinerary to Istanbul, Malta, Egypt, Jordan and Israel
Istanbul, the former capital of empires such as the Byzantine and Ottoman
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