Leaving Jerusalem and Venturing into the Desert

On Sunday we went to Ammunition Hill, left Jerusalem and headed south to the Negev. That morning everyone was reluctantly lugging their massive suitcases around the hotel to the lobby, waiting to leave. We were also kinda depressed because our beloved Israelis were leaving us. Our first stop, as I said, was Ammunition Hill, a memorial to soldiers from the battle for Jerusalem. It was very powerful, with pictures and bios of all the soldiers who died, and a film recalling the battle. When we left, we headed for Ein Gedi, an oasis growing in a desert mountain. The walk was simply beautiful. At first it was a very rocky trail, but as we went higher, there was more and more greenery until there was a veritable jungle growing on the side of the mountain. There were all kinds of plants, unique rock formations, and my favorite, waterfalls all up Ein Gedi. Being the lucky adventurers we are, we dipped our feet into one of the ponds (don’t worry, the water was clean) created by a waterfall. And when that wasn’t enough to cool us down, we rolled up our pants and hopped into the pond. It was a well-needed rest from all of our hiking. After we finished with Ein Gedi we had a delicious box lunch at the bottom of the mountain in a little rest area. And by delicious, I mean nasty. Afterward, we drove down the highway a little bit and made our emotional farewells to the Israelis. With that we continued our long drive to the Negev. Eventually we began to drive parallel to the Dead Sea, which at one point, became perfectly pristine, completely calm, strangely still, and alliteratively reflective. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. You could see the Jordanian Mountains and the clouds in the sky reflected perfectly in the mirror-like surface of the water. It was as if there was an upside-down world right at the base of the mountains. On our way we also passed Masada, but that’s a story for another day. We reached the Negev and the roads became still from a lack of cars. The scenery was amazing. I couldn’t even describe it because I had never seen anything like it and couldn’t compare it to any other sights I’ve seen. The mountains were beautifully arrayed, strategically placed to make the most aesthetically pleasing array possible. It was as if they were painted into the perfect landscape portrait. Later that night we finally arrived at the Bedouin Camp where we would stay for the night. The people there were incredibly hospitable and offered us coffee, tea, and snacks when we arrived. After dinner we went outside the camp and into the desert to look at the stars and talk about the things we thought were important about, our Birthright trip so far, things we learned about each other, and things we learned about ourselves. After that we crowded around a fire outside the tent where we sang Backstreet Boys, Queen, and Eagle-Eye Cherry, along with Shomi’s cover of “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry. After that we went to bed because we had to rise very early the next morning (5:50am). And that was how we ended another exhausting yet satisfying day in Israel.

By Izzy Hausman , Stonybrook '12