'Vroom Vroom' around Israel

For the Sukkot break we had 10 days off from the program to do whatever we wanted. Sooooo… me and 2 other roommates, Dotan and Manny, planned to rent a car, grab a tent and some sleeping bags and go on a MEGA road trip all across Israel! Thankfully I did keep a little journal of what we did each day so I can give some good details:

Day 1: We took our time getting up in the morning, packed our bags, picked up the rental car... and were on our way! I was the “designated driver” and I was so damn excited to drive all over Israel. I expected some challenging roads along the way, but we would make it our adventure! We drove up from Ashdod to Nahariya where we camped on the beach for the night. We met up with 4 others from the group: Josh, Arielle, Lindsey and Gabby. The next day the 3 girls were starting a Sea-to-Sea hike from the Mediterranean to the Kineret, GOOD LUCK!



Camping on the beach in Nahariya

Day 2: We woke up in the tent sweating bullets, with sand in all kinds of places that you do not want sand, brushed our teeth and off we went. There was no sleeping in! Our first stop was further north to a place called Rosh Ha’Nikra: A love story between the Sea and the Mountain. Its main attraction is the caves. They are formed by the work of the sea water which dissolved the rocks forming tunnels and sea caves. After walking through these tunnels, we watched a light and sound show about the site and off we went to our next destination: “try to see Lebanon” as I like to call it. We drove up to the most northern place that we could find and luckily asked a tour guide for directions. He ended up showing us around a Kibbutz, a museum and some amazing views of Lebanon and the West Galilee. I even got to hold a piece of a rocket that was shot into the Kibbutz from Lebanon. Kind of cool right?! By then we had worked up quite an appetite, so our free tour guide suggested a place to eat called Arazim. Inhaled some good pita, hummus, falafel and shwarma… stomach ache much?! Next, was Akko! By the time we got there and found parking amongst the chaos it was almost sunset time. We walked around the marina, around the shops and around some old sites. It was beautiful. We watched the sunset on the sea, took some pictures and called it a day. After driving around looking for a camp site we finally fell on a nature reserved called Habonim. It was on the beach, we were able to set up our tent in the sand, use the bathrooms and take a nice cold shower (where there was a line-up to use the ONE outdoor shower!) Oh yes, the joys of camping… and there would be many more nights to come.

Rosh Ha'Nikra caves

Akko old city

Day 3: Haifa! Wow, what a beautiful city, and it is built on a mountain! We took a tour of the Bahai Gardens which were breathtaking, then headed for the Stella Maris church, where we had to wait 2 hours for it to open from “lunch break” or whatever. In the mean time we looked for Elijah’s cave… which we never found and later became a running joke for the rest of the trip “Where’s Elijah’s cave?!?!” The church ended up NOT being worth the 2 hour wait, but that’s ok, we had some good laughs during our waiting time. We then left Haifa and headed to Caesarea where we visited a site with the old Roman Theatre and the Crusader City. Ate on a café on the beach, and decided to head back to Habonim for another night of camping. We were too lazy to search for another campsite, and besides there was no need!



Bahai Gardens in Haifa

Falling in love with Caesarea

 Day 4: Woke up for the 3^rd morning in a row to the sounds of the sea. So peaceful. Hopped in our little car and went to Daliat El Carmel. There we visited an old church where people were coming to get baptised (or something along those lines, I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on). From the roof of the church we had an incredible view of the Israel Valley. Ok… so here is where I had the best pita and hummus of my life: Pita Druzim! We headed down into this little Druze village, and stopped for some food. The woman was making the pita as we ordered, which is more of a large & flat pita. The hummus was wrapped inside and was so warm and delicious. Mmmmmm…! After this deliciousness we drove into the Israel Valley to look for some good hikes. Luckily we found a couple: Mount Fort, Ein Ziv and Ein Tamir. All of these hikes were worth every drop of sweat! In Ein Tamir we had a nice surprise at the end of the hike. We found this pitch black cave which led to a spring. We needed a flash light in order to walk through it because it was literally pitch black. The cave was a walk through cold, cold water and at one point we even needed to crawl because the cave was really low. I’ll admit I did feel a little claustrophobic in there. By the time we had hiked back to the car it was getting late. We called the girls who were doing the Sea-to-Sea hike and met up to camp with them for the night somewhere near Mount Meron. Josh also joined us and we made a BBQ in the woods. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so many hot dogs… EVER! That night was an experience. First of all our tent was set up on a hill, so all night we were sliding to the bottom of the tent. Second, there were wild boars roaming around outside. We could hear them make noises and were a little freaked out that they would attack us. Well, I was freaked out! In the end I passed out because I was too tired to worry about those stupid pigs anymore.

Mount Fort - What a view!

Day 5: Went to Tzfat where everything is painted blue and white. This is one of the more religious cities in Israel, and we definitely noticed. After eating some of the best falafel we then drove up north to the Misgav Am lookout. From there we could see right into Lebanon, it is so close to the border. There we met an old Israeli man who kindly told us a few stories and pointed out a few things to us from the lookout. He was quite the funny character! He kept asking Dotan “Why you ask so many questions?” Haha, we had some good laughs with him. It ended up being a bit of a foggy day, so we decided to take it easy, hang out in the Aroma café and charge our phones, cameras and use the internet. That night was the first HOT shower I had taken in 5 days and it was magical! I can still remember the feeling of cleanliness. Too bad the camp site smelled like horse poo…

One of my favorite pictures taken in Tzfat



Day 6: First we went to Tel Dan Nature Reserve located on the Dan River. It was like stepping into a mini wonderland for hiking. Next, we went to Banias Waterfalls, Springs and Floating Trail. All I can say is that the waterfall at the end of the trail looked like paradise. Afterwards, we went to Nimrod Fortress. I still laugh at this name, Nimrod! It is located in a magical mountain scenery on the slopes of Mount Hermon. There we discovered all different trails in the fortress and made our own little adventures and photo shoots. After this we went to find Syria. We were told to go into a Druze village called Majdal Shams and to find a lookout point from there. Well, we didn’t end up finding the lookout point but we definitely found Syria because we came to a large fence and couldn’t drive any further. There we saw many army tanks drive by behind the fence and we met some little kids and their crazy dog who took a liking for us. Quickly snapped some photos and got out of there. We ended up driving around the mountains for an hour or so, met up with the 3 girls and Josh (aka: Josie and the pussycats) and went for dinner at Dag Al Hadan. This is where the Dan River meets the Hatzbani River, and the restaurant is actually located right on the river. We ate like kings and queens that night, well I did anyways. All you can eat salads and potatoes, the fish is served to you FULL (head, tail and all), and we had some good wine from the Golan. Finally, just because I was missing home a little, I ordered the Apple crumble for desert… not as good as my mom makes it but gave me a little taste from home. By the end of this meal, we all had bellies out to Timbuktu! Time to sleep: where? IN TIPIS! Yes, I loved this night. We found this campsite in Nimrod (haha, once again) and met the drunk owner who rode over on his horse to meet us. The best part of the night was that we did not have to set up our tent again! Woot Woot… And of course, my first time sleeping in a tipi was a night to remember.



Banias Waterfall



Nimrod Fortress



Dag Al Hadan Fish



Day 7: We woke up in the tipi to the view of Mount Hermon right in front of us and about 10 horses. I, of course, jumped on one the horses and wanted to take him for a ride. But no, I couldn’t run away with the horse, so I got off and got into our little car again for another day of adventures! And adventures we got. Kayaking! We did this for about 3 hours on a site called Kfar Blum. Took our time, swam, lounged in the kayak, attempted to race and quickly gave up. We then went into the city of Tiberias to buy some meat for our BBQ that evening, then headed to Hamat Gader hot springs. These can be found next to the Jordan border. Can I just say one word: eeeww. Because they are natural springs the sulphur smells like rotten eggs, and therefore we smelled like rotten eggs. It was not pretty but worth the stench. I would definitely go back for more hot tub time! Next it was time to BBQ, eat and sleep. All this goodness happened on a campsite on the Kineret across from Tiberias. At night the lights from the city were amazing. ZzZzZzZz…



Waking up to Mount Hermon, Tipis and Horses

Camping & BBQ-ing



Day 8: Hiked to the Meshushim pools (Hexagon pools). They get their name from the hexagonal shapes of the rocks. Next we headed to the Yehudia Forest and waterfalls. Because it was the Sukkot holiday, the site was closing early. Unfortunately we weren’t able to complete the hike, so I definitely need to go back! That night we camped on the Kineret again, but it was so windy that setting up our tent was a nightmare. It actually took an hour, when it normally took us 5 minutes. I had to sit inside the tent to hold it from flying away while the boys attempted to tie it down. It was insane! I thought that once I fell asleep the wind would carry us into the Kineret, and we would wake up floating in the Sea!


Meshushim Pools

Yehudia Forest: Waterfall

Day 9: Time to head South! Drove through the West Bank and somehow felt safe. Went to Ein Gedi and did a beautiful hike there called Wadi Arugot. Next, the moment I’ve been dreaming of the entire trip: time to “mud up” and float in the Dead Sea! We dug for our own mud and lathered up from head to toe. Ooops, I got some in my eye and suffered hard for a good 5 minutes. It burns like you can’t imagine and you have no escape because your hands are full of mud and the only fresh water is a 10 minute walk from you. Try doing that with one blind eye through a maze of rocks. No thank you! So basically you suck it up. After getting our float on in the Sea, leaving with our skin feeling soft like a baby’s bottom, we headed towards Masada. Set up tent and camped right at the bottom of the mountain. Wonderful!

Wadi Arugot Hike 

Mud Monsters in the Dead Sea

Day 10: Woke up at 4:30am in order to hike up Mesada for the sunrise at 5:30am. Was I tired? No, I was exhausted beyond belief, but somehow knowing that I was going to see something so beautiful I found the strength to climb that mountain. Knowing that it was only 10:30pm in Montreal, I called home. I will forever remember hiking up Mesada to the beautiful view of the sunrise on the Dead Sea while talking with my mom on the phone in Montreal. A memory for a lifetime. After the sun had ‘done its magic’ we drove south into the Negev (aka: Desert). Luckily we found what we were looking for, these flour caves. We call them flour caves because the walls actually give off a floury powder. It was quite the maze to walk through these caves, and it was hot! After all it is the desert! We hiked up to the small crater, drove through the big crater and camped overnight in the biggest crater with Bedouins and ate their food. I must say that it is only in the desert that I learned to appreciate really warm and dusty water. When you’re thirsty, you’re freaking thirsty and will drink anything. “Give me that bottle of water!!”

Sunrise on the Dead Sea from Mesada 

Flour Caves... wanna bake a cake anyone? 

Small Crater in the Negev

Day 11: I think it was time to finally get home, we stopped by to say a quick hello to Ben Gurion’s grave and then continued on home to Ashdod J I think you can all guess the first thing I did: SHOWER!!! If I can say one thing about our road trip it would be that I definitely fell in love with the country. “I love Israel” and it will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Camping at the bottom of Mesada

I love Israel