Sinai, Then and Now in the Gulf of Aquba

The Sinai Peninsula includes Israel's beach resort andPort of Eilat by unloading and then reloading to leave
spectacular entranceway to Egypt at Taba calledwith a full cargo.
Eilat.The vessels are then destined, possibly for the Far
Across the Red Sea from Eilat, which is the beachEast or Africa. Despite the Arab League's boycott
city of Israel, one can see the mansions, palaces andand insistence that other nations also boycott Israeli
hotels at the Jordanian coastal city and the Port ofgoods since they still do not recognize Israel as a
Aquba.legitimate nation.
It is here at Aquba where the King of JordanMany countries still elect to sell their exports to Israel
vacations, according to the biography of Queen Noorand accept imports since there is much prosperity in
Sharing the border with Israel on the Sinai Peninsula isthe Holy Land.
both Jordan and Egypt.One of the freighters has a cargo of hundreds of
For travelers heading into Jordan, about two hoursJapanese compact cars that are being unloaded and
inland by car is the ever popular, Petra, Jordan. Petrathen driven to where thousands of other cars are
is where the Indiana Jones movies filmed the ancientalready parked.
ruins of the royal tombs there for the last of theThese cars seem like they are part of a huge car
Indiana Jones movies.dealership; or a car factory with all these cars on
Historians claim Petra was also where Mosesdisplay.
wandered off after his banishment and separationThe Israelis love compact cars, the smaller the better
from his people the Hebrews whom he freed fromfor the few parking spots around in the cities, if that.
slavery from the ancient and mysterious nation ofThey also like driving in cars with high fuel efficiency.
Egypt.They don't buy many American cars in Israel. The
Forty years later Moses finally made it to theIsraeli's buy mostly Nissans, Mitsibishis, Toyotas,
''promised land'' of Israel but he upset the AlmightyHondas, Mazdas, Hyundais and Kias.
when he broke the tablets of the first tenEilat is located on the southern most tip of Israel on
commandments.the Sinai Peninsula that borders Jordan and Egypt at
God's punishment for Moses was that he wasthe Coast of Eilat which is all part of the Gulf of
forbidden to enter into the Holy land. His people wentAquba (or Aquaba).
without him as he must have watched them leave.Aquaba is an Arabic name for the gulf which includes
The rock tombs of Petra were built approximately aSaudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel at Eilat, and Egypt.
thousand years after Moses was banished to thisThe Coast at Eilat is part of the Aquba Gulf and is
land.considered the gateway to Africa and the Asian Rim
Moses, it is believed was destined to wander offfor importing and exporting goods from the Sinai
alone while his people would soon become thePeninsula and the Red Sea.
Israelites.The way into Taba, Egypt at the Sinai Peninsula is at
The view to the other side of the Red Sea fromEilat where the Israeli border exists with Egypt.
Eilat continues past the buildings and past theBen Gurion, the first Israeli Prime Minister back in
Jordanian coastal city up to and beyond to even the1949, knew that one day Eilat on the Red Sea would
Red Mountains of Jordan.be developed and become an oasis in the desert.
The name of these mountains comes from the factAlthough he was a visionary, Ben Gurion could not
that when sun light hits the Jordanian mountain rangehave possibly envisioned Eilat becoming what it is
it gives them a reddish brown hue.now, the 'pearl' of Israel with its' summer like climate
Of course at night it is too dark to see the barren,even in winter.
distant Red Mountains of Jordan from Eilat. However,Eilat may be one of the ten most beautiful places on
one can see the far away flickering lights comingthis earth. With immaculately plush and green
from the thousands of residences and homes andlandscapes with tropical trees many bearing fruit of all
even from the traffic in Jordan.types, bushes and plants with many different
From a distance this view resembles millions of tiny,varieties of flora, Eilat on the Red Sea has indeed
bright, white and yellow neon twinkling lights thatbeen turned into an oasis.
almost appear to be connected.This is all proof of Israel's irrigation success of being
If you can imagine what an aerial view at Douglaston,able to recycle water for reuse even in the desert.
New York City would look like, where all the majorAlong the beaches the Israeli residents and tourists
highways connect at night during rush hour you couldtake their beach chairs on to these beaches and then
almost share this vision.stretch out with their feet in the Sea.
In early December there is no winter in Eilat. WinterMany Israelis come here almost every Friday and
doen's exist in what once was all desert before itSaturday to celebrate the Sabbath, when Israelis
became this beautiful city on the Gulf.have off from work since the Israeli work week
There are many vessels on the Red Sea includingbegins Sunday for them having Fridays and Saturdays
one very large yacht as big, perhaps as the biggestoff from work.
vessel in the Jordanian Navy; other ships, sail boats;The biggest attraction for many tourists is the world
even little sail boards and even a few parasailingrenowned snorkeling and scuba diving; which may
surfers are gliding along the vast blue sea.have the best shallow water coral reef experience
There are also oil refineries, oil tankers, navy ships ofanywhere.
Israeli, Jordanian and Egyptian nationalities cruising notIt is here in the Sinai where the rare Black Corral can
too close to one another while protecting theirbe found. Black Coral is sold as a commodity on the
respective spaces on the Gulf.black market and is as valuable as gold. Black Coral is
There are several huge freighters and large cargofound in jewelry and has many medicinal uses and
ships that are anchored to exchange goods at thesold as art for it's beauty.