Pictures from Eilat
They’re a bit late coming, but here are some photos from my recent trip to Eilat.
Here’s the view from our hotel room balcony. To give you an idea how close to Eilat Jordan is, those mountains in the background are Jordanian territory, and the Jordanian flag is visible where you see the red square (click picture to enlarge).
We were able to have a better view of Jordan when we took a ride on the Jules Verne glass-bottomed boat. From one side of the boat we could see Jordan, which looked pretty barren (We were told that King Hussein’s seaside villas are located near the shore):
In contrast, this is what Eilat looked like when we peered over the other side of the boat:
In other words, the Israeli side is extremely developed, full of hotels, shops, and restaurants for everyone’s enjoyment. The Jordanian side, on the other hand, is not very developed, and is used for the exclusive enjoyment of the Jordanian Royal family.
After arriving on shore, I spotted this sign. I’m not sure if it was for ear piercing, or karaoke on the pier.
On one of our nights in Eilat, we went to the IMAX 3D movie theatre. The theatre happened to be hosting a wax museum exhibit from Amsterdam. While I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit, it was, without a doubt, the worst wax exhibit I have seen. Ever.
Here’s what I’m talkin’ about:
This is supposed to be Darth Vader from Star Wars.
And I’m guessing this is meant to be Chewbacca.
‘Nuff said.
It was still fun, though – the highlight being the opportunity to sit next to the wax Yasser Arafat in tiger pose.
Note: Here’s some pictures from my last trip to Eilat 3 and a half years ago.
Update: David corrects some errors in my post regarding Jordan.
That’s what happens when you are out in the sun for too long – your brain gets fried.
About the Author
An Aussie immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave is founder of Israellycool, happy family man, and lover of Australian sports and girlie drinksFiled Under: My Charmed Life
Nice. Hope you had a pleasant stay. I met my wife in Eilat, so this will always be a special place for me. Ah, and “Park Avenue” is a nice bar, a bit away from the hotel blocks behind the small airport.
Now to your posting. It seems that you tour guide didn’t know much about the area. There are some factual errors that I would like to humbly correct without acting too much like a faltzani. Sorry for any spelling mistake here, English is not my first language.
Jordan is really much closer to Eilat than those mountains. In fact, the border facilities begin right after the last hotel complex on the north-eastern shore of the bay. The red square on the photo points to Aqaba, nowadays a quite well developed city of 70.000 inhabitants, slightly bigger than Eilat. It’s less attractive than Eilat, because of it’s large oil and phosphate port. The ports have a combined capacity of 25 berth which makes them rather large – about as big as Haifa port. And it’s not a pretty sight. The beaches are not used for the exclusive enjoyment of the Jordanian Royal family. There is plenty of tourism. Also, the private mansion of the King of Jordan there served as the backdrop for the current series fashion photos for GOLF, an Israeli fashion chain.
And about the the flag: it is NOT the Jordanian flag. The flag of Jordan is different. The Jordanian flag has a white star thing in the red triangle and the white bar is at the bottom.
This flag bears the colors of the dynasty of the Banu Hashim, or Hashemi and it was later the flag of the Arab Revolt against the ottoman empire. (remember E.T. Lawrence?) It was then that Aqaba became Arab again under the rule of King Faisal.
The flag pole in Aqaba was built in October 2004 by a famous US-based company (US Flag & Flagpole Supply LP https://www.usflag.com/monster-flagpoles/aqaba-jordan-425-current-world-record.html)
The pole is 136 meter high and the flag itself measures 80 meters by 44 meters. It is the tallest free standing flag pole in the world.
Why it doesn’t shows the Jordanian flag? The Hashimi flag is supposed to say a big “fuck off” to Wahhabi Muslims who now rule in what is known as Saudi Arabia. I think the flag is there to greet Saudi ships since
secular Jarden has become a target for muslim wahhabist terrorists as well. So you can consider this flag as a kind of geopolitical statement against the mentors of wahhabism in Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Jordan, Iraq and Syria.
Some Hashimi Rulers are said to have been supporters of the early Zionists. I don’t know to what extend. But here is a picture of Weizman and Faisal: http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%AA%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%94:Weizmann_and_feisal_1918.jpg
DEBKAfile has more on the flag in Al Aquaba:
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=921
Laila tov,
David
My hebrew isn’t too good but on that sign, In russian it says “You can pierce your ears here”
Yuri from Chicago
The last picture confused me a bit. It appears that “smiley-face guy” (which I presume is AussieDave) is in the process of hypnotising Ringo Starr and making him dress up like Yasser Arafat. I must say the figure in the picture is quite life-like (I mean the “smiley-face guy” on the left.)
Oh man, your first 2004 set (with Michael Jackson) had me on the floor. Do you know he’s being sued by a Bahraini prince by the way?
Damned hilarious if you ask me. Time that could’ve been spent developing the country further is being wasted on suing an insane celebrity whose nose is on the verge of falling off, and who roamed our country with an abaya.
Anyways, looks like you had a blast. Not literally of course, I’m sure my Arab brethren behaved themselves this time.
David,
Thanks for the clarifications. Don’t blame it on my source (not a tour guide, but rather the skipper of the boat)…I probably wasn’t paying enough attention.
Yuri,
Yes, I know it was for ear piercing. Just making fun of the spelling.
Jim,
As I said…worst wax exhibit. Ever.
Esra’a,
Your comment was damn hilarious.
your co-blogger ck’s friend doesn’t hide your face in your pics heh
Shaun,
Maybe it is because my brain is still fried, but I don’t get the joke.
you could also see Saudi Arabia from your balcony, normally.
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