We rode the rather short section from Akko (Acre) to Haifa today. We are getting into the heavily populated coastal area that extends from here down past Tel Aviv, so we did our best to avoid riding on Hwy 4. We did have to ride 4 for a bit where there was no alternative. It is fine when there is a shoulder, or a sidewalk, but there were sections with neither and trying to share a lane with drivers who are not willing to share can be a bit, ummm, exciting. So, we took a bit of a circuitous route that wended through some residential areas but mostly through industrial areas of scrap yards and trucking terminals and power substations and the like.

As we got into Haifa the road we were following through an industrial wasteland petered out and we hauled our bikes over the guardrail onto one of the main roads into town and rode the dwindling shoulder. Once we got to Haifa we had to climb the hills (Carmel) as we wanted to go to the Eshkol Tower at Haifa University. The university is right at the top of Carmel, and it was a tough haul of about 8 or 10km, many of which we simply walked up on the sidewalk to avoid playing tag with 4 lanes of furious drivers.

When we were in sight of Eshkol Tower Jodi noticed she had a soft rear wheel, and within moments it was flat, so we stopped on a bench in the shade to change her tube. We have both had one flat now, both on the rear wheel, which is the more difficult to deal with.

The view from the Observation Level of the tower was impressive, giving views in all directions, from Haifa Harbor to the west all the way across the Carmel Forest to the west.

Our original plan was to descend down to the German Colony area and spend the night in a guest house there, but after making the hard climb up Carmel we decided we didn’t want to have to do it again, so we changed our plans and headed for the Dan Panorama Hotel, which is much higher up. We also decided to spend two nights here, so we won’t be leaving until Thursday. We will spend tomorrow being tourists, patching our flat tubes, and likely swimming in the very nice pool at our hotel. On Thursday we will head west through the Carmel Forest and then turn south and start making our way towards Tel Aviv.

Allen & Jodi

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