Journey to the Promised Land 2022
After a few years of teaching, my feet got itchy again. So I packed a tent, a guitar and a few more things on the bike and headed for the Promised Land. I was very curious about all the countries and cultures on the way, and have long wished to spend some time in Israel.
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On New Years Day, Kathrin and I visit the Coral Beach National Park, where Snorkeling is allowed along designated routes through a reef. The Red Sea is rather warm, yet a steady breeze makes me shiver. On the following day, we visit the Underwater Observatory close to the Egypt border. In 1974, the Israeli build this futuristic looking thing into the reef, where visitors climb down 6 metres below sea level and watch this fascinating marine world. In addition, we watched an amazing 3-D movie on whales.
On the third day, we venture out to hike for a few days through the dessert. The bicycle remains at the AirBnb, and we stuff our backpacks with food and water for the next few days. A bus brings us to the trail head for the impressive Red Canyon trail, from where we walk on through Wadi Shahan. We see rock hyraxes and ibexes. We reach the INT and spend the night on the Raham Etek camp, that is luckily equipped a water faucet and a toilet.
The next hiking destination is the Timna National Park, famous for prehistoric copper mines and petroglyph. Flowers start to bloom in the dessert, fueled by last weeks rain. The (not that easy) hike up Mount Timna is pretty popular. We find ourselves in the middle of school classes. Two hikers sit beside the trail and invite us for a cup of coffee. They spotted my nerdy shirt, tell us about their IT carriers and the recent rise of Chat-GPT, a new and amazing generative AI.
It is a strenuous descent for Mount Timna, and a long way to the visitor center. We manage just before sunset. The ranger there insists that we stay at their small trail angel campground. Tomorrow he'll tell us where we will find water on our way to the kibbutz of Neot Smadar.
For tonight, we are grateful for electricity and toilets. A cyclist from Poland arrives later and puts up his tent. We light a small fire and talk about cycling and his self made dry food. Since he is almost at the end of his journey, he provides us two or three portions of his sweet potatoes and dal, enough to carry on for two ore three more days.
Much more lonely dessert trails that appear uninspiring on photos yet amazing if experienced by yourself. We are taken away by those thousand of rock forms, color nuances and petrifications on rocky walls, flats and table mountains in the Arava. Later, we arrive at the INT camp of Be'er Milhan. There is still water, and we get in touch with a some young Israeli long distance hikers that startet at the very beginning of the INT in Kfar Giladi. Now they are almost at the end of their voyage (as well as I am), and it's great to hear how they feel and what they think in the bright light of the full moon.
After a rather cold night, we move on to the next camp, Shaharut. Wadi in, Wadi out. Giant ball shaped rocks at one place. No sounds for hours, except for the rushing of the blood in my ears.
On the following day, our trail leads through the dunes of Kasui where Israeli people go for wake boarding and hiking. The GPS shows a shortcut through the dessert to the kibbutz of Neot Smadar but after half an hour following that trail, it seems rather risky. So we follow the highway for 12 kilometers to get there. It is Shabbath, yet luckily the kibbutz Cafe is open when we arrive in the late afternoon. Some cold beers help to cool the glowing feet and easy the muscle pain. We stay to volunteer for two days, and get a glimpse of what life would be like in this art kibbutz that has only been founded in 1989.
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After the short volunteering in Neot Smadar we take a bus back to Eilat. After Kathrin has recovered from the cold of the cold dessert nights, we go by bus to Jerusalem to spend the last few holidays in the Holy City. Traveling on public transport is a chapter of its own - it is rather cheap yet requires a so called Rav-Kav card. And, since long distance services are very popular, one should try and reserve tickets in advance.
Through the window, I watch the bus climbing up dessert roads, passing by forests and eventually reaching populated areas again. After 5 hours, we arrive in Tel Aviv. Navigating in the 7-storey bus terminal of Tel Aviv to the connecting bus turns out to be a challenge. However, we manage it to Jerusalem just after sunset. Our apartment is not far away from the old town, near Mahane Yehuda Market.
Compared to the warm days in the dessert, it is rather cold in Jerusalem in the morning. We take a walk to the Jaffa Gate and join a guided tour organized by the Abraham Hostel. Joni, our guide leads us through the famous Armenian, Muslim, Christian and Jewish quarters of the Old City and pinpoints interesting facts. It is a cool hike that provides a great overview.
Later, we visit the Western Wall with all the praying Orthodox Jews. Afterwards we miss the time slot to visit the Dome of the Rock (and won't see it at all). The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is crammed with visitors. The Old City with its narrow cobblestone alleys and bazars and limestone houses is fascinating anyhow. Instead of queuing there, we just sit in front of the church and pet a smart cat that knows how to fetch some caresses.
On the rooftop of the Austrian Hospiz we chat with a young couple from Palestine. The boy tells me something like, he'd never trust Palestine people.
At diner, we talk with some American students that study the Tora in Jerusalem. On the way back we stroll through the vivid Mahane Yehuda Market and listen to some street musicians. As well, we wonder about civilians wearing guns in the middle of the city.
Our trip to Bethlehem is not under a good star. At the bus station near Damascus Gate, a "student" named Amir from Bethlehem tells us that our requested bus 231 doesn't run on Fridays. Wouldn't we like to take a tour with him for 100 dollars?
Instead, we are on bus 234, which only goes as far as the checkpoint just before Bethlehem. Behind the checkpoint, dozens of "helpful" cab drivers are already waiting with their tour offers or false information (This way my friend). We continue stubbornly to the high border wall that separates Rachel's Tomb from the Palestinian territory. After a while, the cab guys finally give up. The border wall is full of more or less successful graffiti about the oppression of the Palestinians.
At the "Walled off Hotel" we just wanted a cup of coffee and go to the toilet. As the staff tells us, the hotel contains an exhibition. Thus, we'd have to pay the equivalent of 5 euros to go to the toilet.
The streets are very busy and the sidewalks are wildly parked up, which makes walking a pain in the bum. My interest in Bethlehem is already at rock bottom. Luckily, Kathrin agrees to drive back to Jerusalem immediately.
Back in Jerusalem we see the 231 bus, which would have gone straight to Bethlehem. At this point, many thanks to young Amir and the adorable taxi drivers at the checkpoint - you are no good advertisement for Palestine.
Back in Jerusalem, we enter the Old City through the Damascus Gate, walk the bazars in the Muslim quarter again. Today, there is not that much of a crowd in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. So we take the chance to visit the sacred place where Jesus was crossed and buried. It is a very special atmosphere in here, even for an atheist...
Last day in Jerusalem, last day of the journey. In the morning, I visit a free Yoga class at some nearby hostel and actually come to cycle the Holy City. Later, Kathrin and I take a walk to the Israel Museum where we spend the rest of the day.
We take an early train to the airport on the next day, and I find a taxi driver who helps me to fetch the bike carton I left at my first warmshower hosts. The check-in procedure is a bit of a hassle, but at least I don't have to open the bike carton again. The flight to Istanbul starts with a delay, and with a lot of running and goodwill from the staff in Istanbul, we can still hop on the connecting flight back to Switzerland.
That was almost 5 months, and more than 6000 kilometers of cycling. Someone in Neot Smadar asked me, what I was looking for on this journey (instead of, where I was going to go to). I'm still contemplating on a reasonable answer. Shalom, salam, and many thanks to all the kind hearted people I met on this journey...