The Israeli security is something else. So efficient, that they are a complete pain in the butt. We once again had to unpack everything – by that I mean even stuff as small as a toothpick. We were told to take the gas bottles from the roof, remove all the locks from everything, open the safe. The car was an empty shell, and then they started searching for who knows what. I thought Jannie was going to have a heart attack. By now it was 21:00. Lovely evening breeze, spanking clean border post, everyone so civilised, speaking fair English, but not apologetic for the circus at all. After loading all our stuff onto four trolleys, we proceeded through three sets of scanners, while the chaps with the guns went over the car with a fine comb.

Obviously they found nothing, and they happily returned our three items that the Egyptians had found so offensive.

Next came the episode about buying insurance for the vehicle so that we can drive on Israeli roads. The girls who had to complete the paperwork were quite useless as well, this took another 45 minutes. Finally the green light, and the friendly tip that we could park a km or two down the road along the beach, where camping is free. We just took our sleeping bags, had a couple of drinks and flopped down on the sand, like old hippies.

This morning we explored Eilat, it reminds us of Plett. Supermarkets stocked with everything, shopping malls (Zara, Mango), flowers in the public spaces, hordes of divers, the Red Sea crystal clear – we are going to stay about 5 days, because Jannie has had enough of driving, and he is fed up with the desert. We’ve decided to walk through the border post at Aqaba and try to find a taxi on the other side that can take us to Petra. No way are we going through another episode like last night, which makes you lose your sense of humour entirely.