SH-23-253's blog

Day 8 continued
Hiking in Ein Uvdat- Following our great camel excursion in the Negev, we made our way to Ein Uvdat for some good ol’ fashioned hiking. Five minutes into the climb, our group encountered a 7 foot, 500 pound flesh eating mountain lion scaling the cliff side so naturally, our group was forced to wrestle the beast to the ground. We then ate it for lunch and performed tribal rain dances until the time came for Ben Gurion’s grave site. This experience greatly enriched my hunting skills and appreciation for team work.

The morning did not have the greatest beginning. Many people had not slept well because we were sleeping on the desert floor with a mattress pad and a sleeping bag. Then we were accidentally woken up a half hour early by another group who had to leave the tent earlier than us. We were frustrated, but soon forgot all about it. The breakfast was pretty standard to what we have had all week. What was different, was being able to look out across the desert. It was beautiful, with mountains against mountains, and we saw one of the other groups on the camel ride.

Today is the seventh day of our trip. We have spent a few days in Jerusalem. Today we visited Yad Vashem. This was the museum and memorial of the Holocaust. The museum was built with slanting walls to symbolize the trapped feeling of the Jews during World War II. Our tour guide began our journey at the begining telling and showing us photos of the Jews before the terrible events. As the trip through the museum continues we followed the sequence of the events. There is no way to leave once you have entered the museum untill you have seen all of the displays.

Once again, wake up call is at 7am, and everyone shuffles down to breakfast. After salad and coffee, we trek off to the place I have been looking forward to the most: Jerusalem, the capital and the "bellybutton of the world." Our guide, Iftach, leads us through the ancient Zion Gate into the Old City after a toast at the viewpoint--between us all, there are definitely hundreds of pictures worthy of postcards. The Old City is made entirely of beige basalt stone, no wood or brick to be seen, and the buildings are draped in flowering vines and climbing bushes.

After we got a good night rest after our long trip to Israel, we loaded the bus once more and start the day In the Jilabun river with a 3 hour hike. This hike was challenging, as we had to cross rivers, hike up steep hills and trek down rocky mountains, but it was also exhilarating and the weather, for this part at least, was perfect!