The person who posted the info stated that Israel has diplomatic ties with Turkey. That's why I remember the remark. I didn't know Israel had diplomatic ties with any of those countries. Turkey=Jordan? Either way, he didn't get into Iraq in the usual way.
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 11:57:52 -0600
Subject: Prometheus Towers/Nick howdy from the Middle East
Hi folks -
Knowing in advance that most of you will madly delete this message due to
its generic form-letter quality, I submit this brief summary of my travels
thus far.
If you would like me to remove you from the receive list, or want to add
someone, please let me know. Sorry to clog the boxes of those who are
uninterested...
So I flew El-Al, just barely, on the 22nd (Monday). They were not able to
check my equipment on the same check, meaning I arrived at Ben-Gurion with
some climbing rope, my notebook, and a jacket. I did manage to scrape
together some olive leaves for rigging, but not much in the way of change of
clothes or anything. After a rather lengthy interrogation courtesy of the
Israeli Airport Police and then Internal Security, I set off to City Center
and found my way in to my first real gyp of the trip. Being tired and
anxious to set down my 200' climbing rope (wrapped around my head in a
manner suggestive of certain Palestinian tribes), I wimped out and got a
room at a "regular" establishment, rather than a C-W or C-H Motel as
those
of you familiar with Prometheus Towers SOP whilst traveling, will
understand. Anyhow, I ended up at the beautiful Metropolitan Hotel nearly
on the Mediterranean just south of City Center and (I found out the next
morning while running) adjacent to the US Embassy. It really was a nice
place and for the 300 some Shekels it cost I really rammed them for almost
two days worth of service and several free gallons of tap water.
Grandpop/mom Berg would have been proud... My conclusion after about 24
hours on the waterfront there is: coastal Tel-Aviv is sort of like Atlantic
City, only backwards, and not as much Yiddish.
Anyhow - those of you who recently consulted in the great clothes-buying
epidemic of December 2003 will be horrified to hear – rather than spending
my first (and last, for a little while) full day in Israel in the Negev
looking for a good rock to climb, I found myself in the common market buying
clothes. I left there looking rather dapper, I must say. Olive green
slacks and a khaki vest, sure to say "I might be a westerner but I won't
admit it" right away. On my way to Jordan I got several comments from the
many border guards I saw, so I am confident my mission succeeded.
OK – I'll summarize here. This anecdote will necessarily leave off before
my current location, so don't anyone get wise on me and pick up a map. I
left Tel-Aviv for the Jordan Valley Border Crossing, passing some beautiful
land and a large prison on the way. The crossing was not as involved as I
expected but still very lengthy. I had no problem leaving Israel and only a
little suspicion entering Jordan. At the time my combined Hebrew vocabulary
consisted of about five words, though, so I was in a weird way happy to
leave and get back into good ole' Arab-speaking lands (seeing as how my
pre-trip Arabi vocab sported at least 15-20 words). Five minutes into the
150 km-long taxi ride to Amman, though (it was too late for the public bus I
tried to catch), I realized how different the East African/Swahili accent
and the "true" Arabi are. I'm just now realizing that, although I can
write
words and expressions for a number of occasions, and say them, too, my
pronunciation is so off that I must sound to these guys like a Texan Mexican
does to a Peruvian or Spaniard.
So I safely reached Amman and found a really cool place called Firas Palace
which featured an Elevator and a tape recorded sound track reminiscent of
the Havana Inn in Kampala, circa 1998. (Michael Jackson, over and over
again). Other than several beautiful Minirets and a good 600' tower, I
can't say much about Amman.
I will give more detail on my next message. For the stockholders out there
– we've made some contacts and I am seeing some opportunities here. Bear
with me and I promise dividends. For the mean time I hope everyone had a
safe and happy holiday of whatever form you chose. Feel free to respond
anytime you like…
Sincerely
Nick Berg
Prometheus Towers
I found several news stories that said Berg went to Israel then Jordan then Iraq.
The only reference to Turkey I found was as a possible point for departure on his way back home, along with Kuwait and Jordan (after having declined the Governments offer for a flight out).