The Negev

Last weekend, The Chicken and I decided to rent a car and head out for a warrior weekend. South to the Negev Desert we went to see what was there. And yep, sure enough, there were bedouin shacks beside the main road, herds of camels grazing in the ditch, ibexes meandering though the towns, people riding horses bareback though the grocery store parking lot in Be'er Sheva, a giant field of sabras cactus, beautiful scenery, funky geology, a spy Zeppelin parked in the middle of nowhere, a "chocolate factory" that gives off gamma particles and some great history lessons.

A highlight was a visit to Avdat, an ancient city on the spice route high on a hill. What amazes me is how they collected enough water for all of those people! As I was walking though the ruins, pondering the amazing thing that was the spice route, I tried to imagine what it would have been like in the town. I imagined an overpowering smell of frankincense, myrrh, cardamon, pepper, cinnamon, camel and unwashed men. James was less moved. "Five bars, Hen!" he exclaimed as he held up the cell phone.

We spent much of the second day in Mishpeh Ramon, a huge geologic crater that looks a bit like the grand canyon. We did some hiking through a wadi to a spring that had dried up for the season, and are we ever glad we made the trip in December and not July. Hoooooot and dryyyyyyy.

Our friends Danny and Itai had told us to drive Route 227 as it was a pretty drive and at one time was the only way to get to Eilat. We turned off this wonderful straight, flat, wide, four-lane highway onto a one lane road of which a good foot of each side was eroded away. This is where the cursing of Danny and Itai began. We ended going up this intense set of switch backs with too few barrels full of gravel serving as the guardrail. I was petting the dashboard of our rented Hyundai Accent all the way, coaxing her to the top. She made the "scorpions ascent" in a noisy manner since James wisely insisted on honking the horn at every blind corner- which was every corner. Despite the tense moments the view to the desert valley below was worth it. Since it was near dusk, the shadows were long and the colours very red and the whole effect was breathtaking.

After getting lost in Be'er Sheva for the second time on the way home, we headed into J-town and back to reality. The real achievement of the weekend was renting the car and driving in Jerusalem. I would only recommend driving in this town if you know EXACTLY where you are going and how to maneuver though the maze of twisting one way streets. Like I said, this city was planned out by a four year old with a crayon.