Ashdod is Israel’s #1 port and the gateway to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, not to mention Massada and the Dead Sea. Having been to all the aforementioned in November, we opted for a ship’s tour to Jaffa and Tel Aviv. Jaffa is an old city and Tel Aviv is a big city. Neither offers anything of real interest unless the tour skipped all the good stuff. Our tour guide appeared to me to be an elderly homeless person although she did have quite a sense of humor and wit. Her walking pace on the tour was glacial. And still, other passengers were always way behind.
O.K., time to talk about ship’s tours. We generally try to avoid them like the plague. They are overpriced by 100% and attract the least adventurous of the passengers, many of whom opt to stay on the bus rather than exert themselves by walking anywhere! They whine if there are stairs to climb, distances to walk, no restrooms available, no time to shop for junk souvenirs and postcards, can never get back to the bus by the assigned time and always talk over the guide who is giving meeting times and then want to know what time to be back. Not that they will be on time.
Back to Ashdod. Unfortunately, all the must see sights of Israel are a minimum two hour bus ride and that’s without traffic, of which there is plenty. But to be able to visit Jerusalem, see how it works and watch the interaction (or lack thereof) between the people is well worth the ride. Likewise Mossada, located on top of a mountain overlooking Jordan and the Dead Sea and on the ride, passing by the caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were found is pretty nice stuff. We just did the wrong thing this time. I would not advise attempting to arrange your own tour on the pier with the cab drivers, which is a common method of avoiding ship’s tours. The distances are too great and traffic can be unbelievable, jeopardizing your chances of getting back before the ship sails.
An intriguing destination with a very high hassle factor.
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