Never thought we'd make it here, but sure enough, just in time for New Year's Eve, we touched down in Tel Aviv, Israel. Great new modern airport with plenty of security. We barely got off the plane when Jihye was pulled aside for a random security check that led to quite a few questions about our reasons for being there, if we had any associations in Israel, even having to open my e-mail on the iPod and prove that we had booked a place to stay already. More of the same at the immigration desk. And unique to Israel, they don't stamp your passport. Several Arabic countries won't allow travelers to enter their countries if they have an Israeli stamp in their passport. Knowing this I asked the woman to stamp a separate piece of paper that I could fold and put into my passport. Turns out it has become common practice to avoid stamps altogether and simply provide a visa 'stub'.
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