I unwound my headlamp from the hammock ridge-line and put it on my
head, but did not turn it on. Then I unhooked my sandals from the cord
at the foot of my hammock where I keep them and put them on before
dropping out the opening of my hammock to have a look around. It was
about 10pm so the moon was up, but I could see nothing in the area.
Being a bit of a chicken-shit I opted not to go tramping around the
woods investigating, so I basically stood around for a few minutes
listening and watching. Nothing.

Eventually I crawled back into my hammock, and believe it or not I
went right back to sleep. Then some hours later I woke to the sound of
some big animal moving past me and snorting, so I called out and
whatever it was moved away downhill towards the stream in Sages
Ravine. It sounded like a moose, though moose are very rare this far
south. Every once in a while one seems to wander down from further
north in Massachusetts, but as far as I know there is no resident
population in Connecticut. Given how everything sounds bigger at
night, I’m guessing it was a deer.

I looked around in the morning and could not see any distinct tracks, so
I guess I’ll never know what it was. It sure made for an interesting
night, though!

If you’d like to see some photos from the trip: https://plus.google.com/photos/117957848509101633801/albums/5739858958661759873

If you look at the elevation profile you can see that we started at a decent altitude, but still climbed the first day as we made our way towards Mount Hermon, then we descended down below sea level at Yam Kinneret — The Sea of Galilee –. From here we climbed again as we made our way up through the Meron Forest, then descended to sea level at Rosh HaNikra on the Mediterranean. We stayed at sea level as we made our way south through Nahariya and Akko, until we reached Haifa and climbed Mount Carmel. From here it was through the Carmel Forest and down, then rolling along until we reached sea level again in Tel Aviv. From Tel Aviv we climbed again to Jerusalem before descending below sea level even more at the Dead Sea. Finally, from the Dead Sea we climbed up to the high Negev at Mitspe Ramon, then descended to sea level to end our ride in Eilat on the Red Sea.

Phew! It makes me tired just looking at it.

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I have added the last of the Israel photos to:

https://picasaweb.google.com/117957848509101633801/Israel2011

Picking up the rental car proved incredibly tedious, with lots of waiting around for whatever reason, then eventually I was lead out back to the parking garage and handed over the keys to the car.  I told the guy I needed to go around to the front to pick up my wife and our gear and he told me I could park there no problem, but he didn’t bother to tell me how to get there. I figured I would just drive around the block, but the roads weren’t organized that way and I promptly got lost. I probably had 5km on the car by the time I finally found my way there.

We spent the day driving north up to and along the Dead Sea, then west through Jerusalem and on to Tel Aviv. Coming into Jerusalem from the east there is a split just after the security checkpoint which takes you around Jerusalem. Unfortunately we missed it and ended up in central Jerusalem during the afternoon rush hour. It took forever to get through that and back onto Rt 1, so it was dark when we reached Tel Aviv and had to navigate to our hotel.

The next day we were up at 3:30 and on the road by 4:00. I dropped Jodi and the bikes and panniers at the airport, then headed to the drop-off location for the rental car. Luckily I had the correct address for this location and navigated my way there with the GPS.  Again the paperwork and check-in took a ridiculously long time, then the driver for the airport shuttle was more interested in sitting around smoking cigarettes than doing his job, and kept delaying until I finally yelled at him and he finally drove me to the airport.

There is lots of security at the airport and we had our passports examined multiple times and were questioned several times. We had to pay extra for the bikes and that entailed a trip to another desk for that transaction, then back to the check-in counter for boarding passes, then another detour to the oversize luggage area, so checking in took some time. Finally we had run the gauntlet and all we had left to do was endure our flights. For this return journey we were on a BA ticket but the second flight, from London to Boston, was on American. The BA flights were far superior to AA; more leg room, better food, and much better service. Finally though, we arrived in Boston to a cold fall rain, and after collecting our luggage and going through customs, we emerged from the terminal to find Jodi’s dad sitting right there with the car waiting for us. Thanks Mel!

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Ilan, the Warmshowers host we stayed with on Sunday night, is the controller at the Underwater Observatory here in Eilat (http://www.coralworld.com/eilat/eng/). I emailed him this morning to tell him we were going to ride down there to visit the park, and to ask if he would be available for a few minutes to say hello. Ilan replied and told us to ask for him when we got there.

The park is down Rt 90 just a kilometer or two before the Taba border crossing to Egypt, so we rode to the border before doubling back to the Underwater Observatory. Back at the beginning of our trip we rode north on 90 to Metula, where it ends at the Lebanon border. Now we have also been to the southern end of 90.

When we got to the Observatory I told the cashier that we were friends of Ilan’s and she called him for us. Ilan met us and we spent a few minutes visiting over coffee, then he set us up with admission to the park and audio headsets for the exhibits. The exhibits were excellent, showing the sea-life of the Red Sea and the coral reefs. They even have an underwater observatory wherein you descend below the water level and can view the reefs and fish through windows. It’s like putting the visitors in the aquarium and leaving the sea-life free to roam.

We’ve been enjoying our time here in Eilat, but tomorrow we have to drive back to Tel Aviv and get ready to fly home early Thursday morning.

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Jodi and I slept a bit late this morning so when we got up Ilan and his wife had already left for work. I was really sorry we missed them. We spent a couple of hours sipping coffee and working out arrangements for the rest of our time here in Israel. First we reserved a rental car to get us and our bikes back to Tel Aviv and to the airport for our Thursday morning flight. Then we reserved a room at the Hilton Queen of Sheba Hotel here in Eilat for two nights, and a room in a hotel in Tel Aviv for Wednesday night. Then I plotted the addresses of our hotels and the car pick-up and drop-off points so I could upload them to the GPS. That doesn’t sound like much when I write it, but it took plenty of time to do.

Finally we were done with chores, so we packed up the bikes and rode down to the beach promenade in the area where the hotels are. We stopped at a coffee shop and sat for an hour or so enjoying the air and watching people walk by, then around 1pm we checked into our hotel.

When you reserve a hotel on-line you are never sure what you are really going to get.  We had reserved a double room with sea views. Well, our room has a double bed; it also has sea views. It also is the largest hotel room I’ve ever had. We have a separate living room, a bedroom, a small kitchenette, and the bathroom. We have views east to Jordan, and west down the coast towards Egypt. It is really quite nice!

As icing on the cake, when I told the clerk at reception that we had bicycles she said “no problem, it is a large room.” Everywhere else we have stayed in Israel our bicycles have created quite a stir and usually resulted in a huge discussion among various members of the staff. We have never been allowed to bring them into our room, and have had to leave them in the luggage storage room.  In one hotel they even insisted that we carry them across the lobby rather than wheel them across the floor.

The easy day seems to be good for Jodi and she is feeling a bit better today, though still fighting a stuffy head.

Well, we are off to sit by the pool and relax for a while. Bye for now.

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From Mitspe Ramon 40 descends into Maktesh Ramon (Ramon Crater) via some tightly stacked switchbacks which were quite spectacular to ride. Then we mostly rode through the Maktesh on easy grades with just a couple of ups that required some strong effort. We found ourselves at Neot Semadar about 12:30, and were very surprised as we pulled in to spot two fully loaded touring bikes outside. The bikes belonged to a French couple that had been on the road for 5 months already, and were headed to Jordan and on to Africa. Quite an amazing bike tour!

We had a wonderful lunch at the organic restaurant run my the folks from the kibbutz; Jodi had lasagna and I had a couple of stuffed peppers, all accompanied by glass after glass of water. Jodi said she was feeling better after eating, and we decided to try to make Eilat after all. We had about 3 1/2 hours of good light left and 65 kilometers to go so it was a bit of a challenge, but as it turned out it was a relatively easy and fun ride. There was one uphill left, then we descended steeply to Hwy 90, where we turned south for the run to Eilat. 90 was a steady stream of buses, trucks, and cars, but the road was almost a constant gentle downhill and we had a good tailwind. We made two stops for refreshments and cranked down the road at top speed, often doing 40 – 50 km/h.  The only negative was the very narrow shoulders. I did have one exciting moment when a truck in the oncoming lane decided to pass another truck and in doing so took most of the shoulder I was on as well.  It was quite intimidating to see him coming at me at 90km/h, and I barely managed to stay on the road. Jodi was well behind me and saw the whole thing unfold. She turned off on to the soft shoulder to avoid the whole thing.

After riding 152km (about 95 miles), we arrive in Eilat and found our way to the home of our Warmshowers host, where we have had a snack and a shower, and spent some time chatting and drinking beer. Soon dinner will be ready. A fun and pleasant end to a great day. It is both satisfying and sad that our cycling in Israel is complete.

Our flight back home isn’t until Thursday morning, so we have a few days to enjoy Eilat and figure out how to get ourselves and the bikes back to the airport.

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By the way, we did see camels today, probably a dozen or so all together. Mostly they were too far from the road for photography, but one trio was quietly munching on whatever it is camels munch on along the roadside, and we stopped to stare at each other for a few minutes, and take a couple of snapshots.

Somewhere along the way to Mitspe Ramon we were passed by a group of club cyclists, then a bit later we passed them as they were stopped on the side of the road. Finally, just as we were getting to Mitspe Ramon, another cyclist caught us up from behind and chatted us up a bit. He flattered us by saying he had raced a bit to catch up to us. He was cycling with several others who soon caught up from behind, and they invited us to join them at a cafe for a bit of refreshment and conversation, then showed us where the hostel is. A very pleasant introduction to the town.

It is about a quarter after 5 now, which is dusk, and we just went out to look at Maktesh Ramon — Ramon Crater — which is just out in front of the hostel. It is quite impressive, though it is quite hazy tonight. I don’t know where all the haze in Israel is from. It can’t be moisture in the air, as it is so dry here. Also just outside the security fence of the hostel there are three Ibex browsing on the foliage of some irrigated plantings.

Pretty much everything in Israel has a security fence, and an armed guard. Hostels, hotels, malls, restaurants, pretty much any public place. Some towns and villages even have gates coming into and leaving town, with armed security guards. We also get checked out by nearly every cop that goes by on the road. None have ever stopped to talk to us, but almost all of them slow down for a good look. Security is serious business here.

We are staying two nights here. I am not sure what we are going to do tomorrow; I’ve left that up to Jodi as she wasn’t feeling all that strong today. Hopefully she was just a bit dehydrated and will be back in form tomorrow.

Allen

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I have added new photos to https://picasaweb.google.com/117957848509101633801/Israel2011

The first new photo is https://picasaweb.google.com/117957848509101633801/Israel2011#5665586747189373810

But today we left the Dead Sea. And being the lowest place on earth, there was nowhere to go but up. So we climbed and climbed. Luckily there was a good breeze blowing today, and as we climbed the temperature dropped, so we stayed comfortably cool. That made a big difference in our day.

We also played leap-frog with a group of cyclists from a cycling club, and we stopped to chat with their SAG driver, who also topped up our water bottles with nice cold water. That also made a big difference because it meant we didn’t have to ration our water, as we otherwise would have had to do since we didn’t pass any place to replenish all day. We just cycled, mostly uphill, through the empty desert. On one long stretch of road every few kilometers we passed a large sign cautioning us to Beware of Camels Near Road,” but we never saw any.

We made it to Dimona early this afternoon. Dimona is a hard-scrabble, depressed, working class town. We had a bit of a hard time finding the Guest House as none of the signs are in English, and of the few people we passed on the street and tried to ask directions from, most spoke no English. Finally we asked one man who spoke just enough English to understand our query and pointed to the building right across the road from us. Not until we approached the front door did we spot the sign identifying it as the Guest House we were looking for. The woman here when we arrived didn’t speak English but she dialed the phone and handed it to me to speak with someone else who does. I believe we are the only people staying here tonight. It’s a rather large guest house and I can’t imagine who their clientele is; my only guess is people working at the electrical generating station down the road, or on the railroad serving the mineral quarries a bit further east.

There is a small shopping plaza down the road so hopefully we can find something to eat there. Tomorrow we will head south to Mitspe Ramon, on the lip of Maktesh Ramon (Ramon Crater).

Allen

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Yesterday we cycled past the turn off for Masada, and today we backtracked north to see it. We didn’t feel like cycling back in the heat, so we decided to take the bus. Well, the bus came and it was jammed full with people heading back to Jerusalem from Eilat (I suppose) so the driver would not let anyone board. In fact, one couple boarded with their bags through the rear door, and the driver spent the next few minutes yelling in Hebrew at them. Finally the man exited the rear door and walked up to the front door to talk to the driver. After a few more minutes he stepped off, the driver shut the door and started to drive away. Well, the wife was still aboard with their bags so the man started running along banging on the door, and the wife was yelling inside the bus, until the drive finally stopped and the wife got off the bus with their bags.

After that bit of excitement, we bargained for a ride on a sherut (shared taxi). Actually, the second sherut. The first time I bargained a bit too hard and he left without us. He offered to take us to Masada for 100 shekels and I offered him 50, then he left. The second sherut driver also offered 100, I countered at 70 and we agreed on 80.

Masada is amazing. All by itself it almost would be worth the entire trip to see it. The complex is much larger than I imagined, and a lot of the ruins remain. From on top of the plateau the camps of the Roman legion that besieged Masada are clearly visible, as is the massive ramp they built to finally reach and then breach the walls of the fortress.

Dusk is approaching and it’s cooling off a wee bit, so I think it’s time to head to the beach for a float in the Dead Sea before dinner. Bye for now.

Allen

Hwy one heading east from Jerusalem goes through the West Bank, but is in an area completely controlled by Israel. Once you cross into the West Bank the contrast with Israel is quite dramatic. The landscape is completely barren. Alongside this beautiful road, built to get Israelis to the Dead Sea and beyond, in pretty much every little wadi, is a shack with a few goats grazing on something completely invisible to me.

Once we reached the Dead Sea we turned south on Hwy 90. We stopped at a gas station / snack bar at the junction for s cold drink and a snack. There were crowds of Israelis standing watching the release of Galid Shalit unfold on TV. Ever since the announcement of the deal last weekend, the mood in Israel has been jubilant. There seems to be a variety of opinions as to whether the deal should have been made, but now that it has everyone is thrilled to have him home.

We cycled pretty much the entire length of the Dead Sea, 60 kilometers or so, to the little resort town of Ein Bokek (or Ein Boqeq). The town is one street that loops off of Hwy 90, lined with hotels, a few restaurants, and a McDonalds. Just after turning south we passed Quamran, the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls that we saw yesterday in the Israel Museum, were found. Then about 15km before Ein Bokek we passed Masada. It is quite an impressive sight, even from the highway. We had planned to stay there but couldn’t get a room. We are staying here two nights so hopefully we can find a way to get back to Masada tomorrow for a proper visit. Jodi couldn’t wait for a float in the Dead Sea so as soon as we got here she headed out, but I will put that off until tomorrow and I just sat and enjoyed the view of the Dead Sea with the mountains in Jordan rising beyond it.

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After our morning planning session we walked over to the Israel Museum and spent a few hours there. The highlight was seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls and the clay jars they were found in.

I have added photos from Jerusalem to https://picasaweb.google.com/117957848509101633801/Israel2011

We spent the day with one other couple and a guide, exploring what seemed like every nook and cranny of the Old City. Churches and temples and ancient fortifications and Roman ruins and mosques and ancient underground waterways. I’m afraid it was a bit of overload for me and by the end I couldn’t tell one ancient rock from another, but it was an amazing experience. I can’t write about each place in detail because there was just too much.

We are wickedly tired tonight so I’m not going to write much.

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https://picasaweb.google.com/117957848509101633801/Israel2011

Carmel, Oded & Tal’s 18-month old daughter, honored me this morning by asking me to read one of her story books to her. The only thing I know about reading Hebrew is that you read right to left, so I couldn’t actually read it to her, but we enjoyed looking at the pictures together.

After breakfast Tal put together a bunch of food for us to take with us, and we packed up, said our good-byes, and headed out for Tel Aviv. Our route for today included some more unpaved roads, but they proved much looser and more sandy than the ones we rode yesterday, and after pushing our bikes while the front tires snowplowed through the sand, we gave up and went to Plan B. We headed west to Hwy 4 and just rode the shoulder into Tel Aviv. Hwy 4 through here is like an interstate with 3 or 4 lanes in each direction and high speed entrance and exit ramps, some two lanes wide, so it made for interesting riding.

We managed to navigate to the Tel Aviv Guest House / Hostel with relative ease, and have been out for lunch and a walk down by the beach and back.

Tomorrow we are going to try to make it up to Jerusalem. It’s only about 80km but there is quite a bit of cimbing so we’ll see how it goes.

Allen & Jodi

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Once we found our way up to Haifa University, we were back on track and we enjoyed the mostly downhill run down through the Carmel Forest. We were following 672 south and as we got to the end of it at the little village of Even Yizhaq, we came to a gate across the road. We had sen these gates elsewhere but they had always been open. This one was closed. We couldn’t see anybody around so we went through the pedestrian gate, which was closed but unlocked. We weren’t sure of the purpose for the gate so weren’t sure if we were doing something wrong by entering, so were half-expecting to be accosted by some angry official, but nothing happened. We cycled through the village and turned west on a unpaved road which took us down towards Hwy 6, then we turned south on another unpaved road that paralleled Hwy 6. We followed a series of paved and unpaved roads roughly paralleling Hwy 6 before finally turning west to catch a short section of Hwy 4, then turned in towards the Moshav of Beit HaLevi. Here we noodled around until we found the house of Oded and Tal Danon, who are members of the WarmShowers list and had offered to put us up for the night.

The Danon’s make their living growing greens to be used in flower arrangements on 20 acres of land. After a shower and a wonderful dinner, Oded and their two children showed Jodi and I around a bit of their farm. Later this evening a friend of Oded’s stopped by and we spent some time discussing marine biology, israeli and US politics, cycling, and a host of other subjects. Now Jodi and I are tucked cozily up in the loft above the kitchen and ready for a good night’s sleep.

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Jodi wanted to walk down through the Ba’hai Gardens, which descend the hillside in a series of 11 (I think) terraces. Alas, they are open 6 days a week, and today, Wednesday, was the 7th day. We could still see the gardens from a couple of vantage points, then wended our way downhill on adjacent streets.

We strolled around for a while, then had lunch at a cafe on Ben Gurion St in the German Colony. I had the worst fish & chips ever. The menu declared it to be “the British Classic”. Well, I’ve had fish & chips in Britain, and this wasn’t it. Instead of a big, flaky fillet breaded and deep fried, I was served 8 or 10 little whole fish, no breading, fried, and as tasteless as could be. The chips were good.

Once we’d had enough exercise we headed to Paris Square to get on the Carmelit, Israel’s only subway system. It’s really an underground cable car system, with but six stations, that runs from Paris Square down at sea level uphill to Carmel Center. The stations and the trains are built terraced. The trains doors are angled, and the cars are a series of terraces so the passengers sit more or less level while the train moves up and down the hill. There ate only two trains, with one going up as the other comes down. The tunnel is but one track wide except for a short section in the middle where the two trains pass on each trip.

We spent a bit of time hanging out at the pool this afternoon, then this evening we had drinks at the bar, where I had to explain to the bartender how to make a Cosmopolitan for Jodi, then we went out and got a falafel for dinner at a store-front shop.

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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We spent some time sitting outside at the waterfront drinking Cokes and snacking, then played tourist in the afternoon, visiting some of the sites from the era of the Crusaders.

Tomorrow will be another very short riding day when we head for Haifa, though riding the busy Hwy 4 is no picnic.

Allen & Jodi

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After yesterday’s epic ride we took it very easy today. After sleeping for 13 hours we settled up with the hostel and set out in search of breakfast. We had a easy, short ride down to the coast, then turned north for the short ride up to Rosh HaNikra, on the border with Lebanon. We were here to visit the grottoes, but first we had to eat. The restaurant kitchen wasn’t open yet, so we sat for about an hour sipping coffee and tea, and when the kitchen finally opened we had our first meal in 24 hours. We enjoyed our visit, then heading down a side road along the water front until we got to Akhziv National Park, where we stopped to have a swim in the warm, blue waters of the Mediterranean, and to sit around in the shade for a while enjoying the view and the breeze off the water.

Finally we left there and continued easily along the coast until we reached Nahariya. It took a bit of circling around but eventually we found the Carlton Hotel on Ga’aton Street where we got a very nice room at a very reasonable price. Nahariya is a beach town and Ga’aton is the main strip of restaurants and shops. We ate sitting outside watching the world go by on the sidewalk, then took an after dinner stroll down along the waterfront promenade. It gets dark early, around 5:30, and with the dusk comes relief from the heat. Everybody is outside, and the parks and playgrounds along the promenade are full of kids playing. The parks are also full of feral cats, which I understand are endemic in Israel. I find it kind of creepy to see people feeding herds of wild cats liker you sometimes see people feeding pigeons back home.

We are going to have another easy day tomorrow. We’ll head down to Akko which is only about 10km from here. Depending on how much time we spend exploring there, we will either stay there or continue south to Haifa.

I have also added more photos to https://picasaweb.google.com/117957848509101633801/Israel2011

Allen & Jodi

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This morning, after a mediocre breakfast (scrambled eggs fresh from the refrigerator), we set out early knowing we had a hard day ahead of us. Our goal was Shlomi, just a few kilometers from Rosh HaNikra, the northernmost point of Israel on the Mediterranean. To get there we would have to climb out of the basin Yam Kinneret is located in, up to the Hare Meron (Meron Forest) and finally descend down towards sea level. Our maps doesn’t give any elevation detail so we didn’t know exactly how much climbing we had to do, or exactly where we would stop climbing and start descending again, but looking at the mountains surrounding us we knew we were in for some work. Being Yom Kippur we knew we wouldn’t have to contend with much traffic, so we decided to use the main roads figuring they would take the easiest route through the hills and have the gentlest grades.

We left Tiberias heading north on 90, soon passing Karei Desche where we stayed the night before last, completing our circumnavigation of the Sea of Galilee. This time instead of turning east at the north end of the lake, we continued north on 90 and immediately started climbing. It was wickedly hot grinding up switchback after switchback in our lowest gear, with the sun beating down on us. The temperature was already 29C in the shade (of which there was none), and in the low 30s out on the road in the sun. We stopped once for snacks in the shade of a bus stop shelter, then pressed on. Eventually we made it to the junction with Hwy 89, turned west, and continued to climb.

Around noon we reached the town of Zefat. At the bottom of the road that entered Zefat from 89 there was a police checkpoint, and we asked them if there was someplace we could get some water. They conferred for a minute and suggested the hospital, “500 or 600 meters up the road.” It certainly was up and we climbed and climbed until finally reaching the hospital, where we filled our water bottles and bought a coke from a vending machine. I’m not sure but this might be the most expensive Coke I’ve ever bought. The machine too credit cards, and not being able to read Hebrew I’m not sure I did the transaction right. I suspect this Coke cost be 10 shekels.

By now we were high enough that the temperature dropped a bit, and some intermittent cloud cover came in that also helped relieve the heat. We kept thinking we must be at the point where we stop climbing and start descending more than ascending, but it was not to be. We just kept climbing and climbing. Somewhere along here we pulled off the road under some trees for another snack break. We didn’t realize it until we were back on the road, but we rolled our bikes through a thorn patch. We were soon pulling thorns out of our tires and hoping we wouldn’t have any punctures. Alas, we were not so lucky. A bit short of the town of Jish my rear tire went soft and we stopped at another bus shelter to change the tube and dig the offending thorn out of the tire.

Eventually we reached the Druze town of Hurfeish where shops were open and we stopped at a gas station/convenience store and bought another coke and some candy bars.When we left here we had a nice downhill, but then the road turned upwards yet again. Luckily, not too long after this the road turned much more down than up for us, and we started making decent time. We were thinking we might make it to Shlomi by 4:30 or so, and in fact we were within a few minutes of that guess. We had a little bit of trouble finding the Hostel / Guest House but after stopping twice to ask directions of random passers by we found it.

When we pulled up to the gate we weren’t surprised to find it locked, as security is serious business in Israel, but the parking lot was empty and the hostel was dark. Uh oh! We rang the bell at the gate but got no response. We thought/hoped there was a chance they would be opening after Yom Kippur ended at sunset, which was only a few minutes away, so we decided to wait until 5pm. At 5 we tried the buzzer again, and this time the security guard appeared and told us the hostel was closed. We told him we had a reservation, and after a few minutes of discussion he let us into the compound while he made some phone calls to try to figure out the situation. Eventually it was decided to let us stay, and he opened a room for us and turned the power on. We had the whole hostel to ourselves! Unfortunately there was no food, and won’t be any breakfast in the morning. We haven’t had anything but junk food to eat since breakfast so we will be going to be hungry, but we have a shower, a bed, and AC for a comfortable night’s sleep.

A tough day, but it feels good to have made it.

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