ahhhh! the desert
I traveled on Sunday to a town in the midst of The Negev Desert called Mitzpe Ramon. I was planning on spending a night or two, and ended up spending 5. I fell in love with the place. I stayed with a modern dance company, and I participated in many stretching/meditation/yoga/tai chi/martial arts/dance classes. They're pretty cool. The setup was very laid back, there is a herb garden which I went to every morning to pick my own herbs to make tea with. I feel I learned alot about my body and Israeli culture while I was there.
the real reason I stayed was I fell in love with the desert. The sky is wider, the stars gleam brightly, and I saw animals I could never describe. The town is a small one, overlooking the world's largest crater, Makhtesh Ramon. The crater is a thing of pure beauty. Picture the Grand Canyon with no tourists with wild horses running through it, ibixes on the cliffs edge and eagles that soar over it. The town itself is changing, they are building the first hotel there right now.
Last night, I was waiting for a southbound bus, to go further into the desert when a German girl that I met at the dance company (the other lonely traveler through there) saw me at the bus stop and told me she was going to a campsite in the crater. I decided to trash my plans and follow her into the wild. So we hitched a ride into the crater, and got some Jordanian Israeli man to drop us off where the walking path to the campsite begins. So we walked along side a long-ago desertified river valley where I saw more rock formations and colours than I have seen anywhere else in nature. The desert stores wonders. We walked and talked, and at some point, we realized our map was a piece of shit and we are not going to find this campsite, she suggested we set up our sleeping bags where we were. I was scared to sleep on the desert floor when I knew there were vipers, wolves and deadly scorpions running around. She said it would be fine, they won't attack humans, and her ease with the situation put me at ease. We talked more and slept well. At one point in the night, I woke up and saw a horse walking by us. The stars were more magnificent than I have ever seen in my life, and I decided that if I did die here tonight, I could accept that. I must admit I was seriously surprised to notice I was alive when I woke up this morning, and after a breakfast picnic overlooking desert vegetation from the top of a mountain, we walked back, and I almost went with her to Egypt, but I didn't have my passport, so she went south, I hitched a ride north (hitchiking is my new favourite adventure. you never know who you're going to get) with a guy who runs wilderness tours of the crater. He dresses like he's going on an African safari, calls himself The Leopard Catcher, and gave me a boatload of business cards to distribute to all my friends. He told me he once wrestled a viper and shoved it in a trash can, I don't believe that, but whatever.
I'm now in Jerusalem and I'm going to spend tonight and tomorrow at my sisters, then go to Ramallah because I need to see the West Bank while I can, and to Akko because I want to see the ancient world undisturbed. Then on Wednesday, I'm off to Istanbul. Tomorrow I'm going to explore parts of Jerusalem I've never seen, and my adventure is turning out well.
I feel ready to make bigger travel plans for the future. Rugged wild places where the tourists don't venture to. Perhaps bike through The Balkans, check out the GAP project in Hasankeyf, or maybe go to parts of the Middle East where I'm not supposed to go. Either way, I'll be back in Montreal for June 1st and all of this is in the future, but I want to go bigger and wilder. I feel less afraid of potential than ever before, and a life as a nomad seems plausible. Who can settle down with a desk job while there are scorpion filled craters that need someone to sleep in?
Oh, and my hebrew is getting fucking awesome. It's fun to speak with Israelis because I still don't understand the culture one bit.
To Jerusalem checkpoints, the west bank, istanbul and maybe a train ride through turkish countryside. Ho Hum!
the real reason I stayed was I fell in love with the desert. The sky is wider, the stars gleam brightly, and I saw animals I could never describe. The town is a small one, overlooking the world's largest crater, Makhtesh Ramon. The crater is a thing of pure beauty. Picture the Grand Canyon with no tourists with wild horses running through it, ibixes on the cliffs edge and eagles that soar over it. The town itself is changing, they are building the first hotel there right now.
Last night, I was waiting for a southbound bus, to go further into the desert when a German girl that I met at the dance company (the other lonely traveler through there) saw me at the bus stop and told me she was going to a campsite in the crater. I decided to trash my plans and follow her into the wild. So we hitched a ride into the crater, and got some Jordanian Israeli man to drop us off where the walking path to the campsite begins. So we walked along side a long-ago desertified river valley where I saw more rock formations and colours than I have seen anywhere else in nature. The desert stores wonders. We walked and talked, and at some point, we realized our map was a piece of shit and we are not going to find this campsite, she suggested we set up our sleeping bags where we were. I was scared to sleep on the desert floor when I knew there were vipers, wolves and deadly scorpions running around. She said it would be fine, they won't attack humans, and her ease with the situation put me at ease. We talked more and slept well. At one point in the night, I woke up and saw a horse walking by us. The stars were more magnificent than I have ever seen in my life, and I decided that if I did die here tonight, I could accept that. I must admit I was seriously surprised to notice I was alive when I woke up this morning, and after a breakfast picnic overlooking desert vegetation from the top of a mountain, we walked back, and I almost went with her to Egypt, but I didn't have my passport, so she went south, I hitched a ride north (hitchiking is my new favourite adventure. you never know who you're going to get) with a guy who runs wilderness tours of the crater. He dresses like he's going on an African safari, calls himself The Leopard Catcher, and gave me a boatload of business cards to distribute to all my friends. He told me he once wrestled a viper and shoved it in a trash can, I don't believe that, but whatever.
I'm now in Jerusalem and I'm going to spend tonight and tomorrow at my sisters, then go to Ramallah because I need to see the West Bank while I can, and to Akko because I want to see the ancient world undisturbed. Then on Wednesday, I'm off to Istanbul. Tomorrow I'm going to explore parts of Jerusalem I've never seen, and my adventure is turning out well.
I feel ready to make bigger travel plans for the future. Rugged wild places where the tourists don't venture to. Perhaps bike through The Balkans, check out the GAP project in Hasankeyf, or maybe go to parts of the Middle East where I'm not supposed to go. Either way, I'll be back in Montreal for June 1st and all of this is in the future, but I want to go bigger and wilder. I feel less afraid of potential than ever before, and a life as a nomad seems plausible. Who can settle down with a desk job while there are scorpion filled craters that need someone to sleep in?
Oh, and my hebrew is getting fucking awesome. It's fun to speak with Israelis because I still don't understand the culture one bit.
To Jerusalem checkpoints, the west bank, istanbul and maybe a train ride through turkish countryside. Ho Hum!