Need unstacked startrail help.

So, I procrastinated on a number of things, one was making this thread, the other was buying a cable release.

I am leaving for Israel today and I will be in the desert. There is definitely less light pollution their then where I am now, so I thought, I really wanna try shooting star stails their.

Here is where my ubernoob questions/important points come in.
1. Forgot about buying cable release until packing last night, too late to get one. Am I completely screwed? (Also, any Israelis care to tell me where to get one there? )

2. Relevant gear I am bringing would be an 18-55, 50 1.8, and a mini tripod; should I bring the 55-250 if I want to shoot startrails with static objects on the ground? I feel like I would be good without the telephoto.

3. I don't want to stack exposures.

4. What ISO is recommended?

5. Will the sky appear different (not in a good or bad way, just different) because I am closer to the equator?

Thanks guys.

1. If you're planning on doing single exposure star trails then a remote isn't so important. To prevent wiggles in the trails at the start and end of the exposure have somebody hold something in front of the lens while you press the shutter to start the exposure then remove it after a couple of seconds. At the end of the exposure put cover the lens again, then stop the exposure.

2. The 18-55 at 18mm will probbaly give the best results.

3. OK, but it really is the best way to get good results.

4. As high as possible without making the black bits of the sky too bright and without having lots of noise. I'd start at ISO800 and do a test exposure of around 5 minutes - then see what it looks like. If the sky is too bright, or the noise is unbearable, then drop ISO for the longer exposure.

5. Yes, it will look quite different. For a start, Polaris (and, therefore, the centre of rotation for your startrails) will be lower down in the Northern Sky.