Fresh sea breeze and sounds of roosters in Gaza City ...

A quick update from my travels in Egypt this week. This will be the first of many notes I hope to post from Gaza in coming days...

Last night after nearly 12 hours driving through the Sinai, 13 checkpoints and 3 granola bars (and a cargo ship that held up the Suez bridge for 2 hours), I'm finally in Gaza City...

I may be one of the only internationals to get into Gaza on my own in these past few weeks of intensified security on the border. A large convoy of aid called Viva Palestina led by former British MP George Galloway from the UK has been held up in Al-Arish - I met with some of them on my way in but they were unable to pass so far.

This was my 2nd attempt in 24 hours, having been turned back by Egyptian security at the 1st checkpoint at 2am when I did not have all my papers in order. The next morning with 3 hours of sleep, I scrambled to get letters of support in Arabic from the Indian Embassy and the Foreign Ministry to make it back in time before the Gaza Rafah crossing officially closed on Jan 5th.

While I had been held-up at nearly every checkpoint for verification - sometimes for upto 2 hours... having an Indian Passport really helps - nearly everyone mentioned their favorite bollywood actors at the crossing ... geez :-)

I finally managed to get to Rafah last evening, where again they kept me back for 2-3 hours saying I was not on their official list (despite interventions from my Embassy) - I was ready to take out my sleeping bag and camp out there, but last minute negotiations by a young Palestinian on my behalf finally allowed me in and I was glad to have the Palestinian stamp on my passport going into Gaza.

I'm staying at the Marna House in Gaza City for the coming week... this morning after catching up on some much needed sleep, I woke up and finally did some yoga to the call of morning prayers and roosters - a very relaxing soundscape...

I'll be keeping busy capturing video footage and meeting with local organizations and individuals all week to initiate my work here - so hope to make this a productive trip...

I'll try my best to post regular updates on my experiences here, given there are so few outsiders who can access Gaza during these difficult days.