AUSTRALIA DAY!!!
Australians, all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free!
Just because we're in Israel, us patriotic Aussies (yeah, right!) could never forget Australia Day. The most important day of the year, right?
Actually, I forgot about it, and I think most other people did too. But someone remembered, and because they did, we ended up singing the Aussie anthem on the bus, after we'd had breakfast and left the hotel this morning.
Today was also Jezza's (Jeremy Lanzer's) birthday, so on the bus we had a big "Happy B'day" song for him. Later in the day, the madrichim were even thoughtful enough to get him some presents.
This morning our bus drove us west out of Eilat, and into the barren mountains of the surrounding desert. There were lots of high-tension power lines running through the desert - many of the metal supports were built on mountaintops - and as we drove past, I wondered how hard it would have been to built those supports.
The place we reached was the starting point of a 6-hour hike, which would take up most of the rest of the day. The weather started out crappy, but intermittently improved during the day.
Mt ShlomoWe started by hiking to the top of a lookout hill, where we had a gorgeous view of the mountains around us. Nimrod pointed out the line of dark mountains, which were extremely tall and steep, and made of volcanic rock (happened to be basalt); and right alongside them, the light-coloured sedimentary hills formed by erosion and ancient water systems. Mt Shlomo - the tallest in the area - was part of the line of volcanic mountains.
Hiking near EilatThe lookout we stood on was also the place where two of Israel's finest soldiers died. They were members of "The Unit" - the most elite combat unit in the Tzahal - and they both dehydrated whilst training in temperatures in excess of 50C, with no humidity and very thin air. It was the commanders' fault, since they sent them training without heeding the weather.
Falling down the cliff, on the Mt Shlomo hikeWe descended a steep and slippery trail to the base of the hill, and came to the spot where the sedimentary rock ended, and the elementary (igneous) rock began. The colour difference was plain to see, and there was also a concrete marker. At this point, several people who didn't feel up for the rest of the hike returned to the hotel, and the rest of us began the real journey.
The hike was a long slog, but we took heaps of rests, and ate and drank plenty; after desert survival, I was handling it easily. There were some points where we virtually had to slide down trails; and in other places, getting down a slope was only made possible with the help of built-in ropes and handholds.
Mt Shlomo hikeSeveral times, we had to queue while everyone climbed down: it took a while, since many people were scared and went really slow. For some reason, by about mid-way through the hike I was feeling really high: I was singing loudly (often with Burnett); and I was generally pissing off the people around me. But boy, was I having fun! Nothing quite like a Jaza-Dave MI:2 duet.
We stopped for lunch, and I ate pretty much everything in my pack, except my olives. I had 3 or 4 pickles (only one of them mine). A funny game was started, where two volunteers had string tied around both their hands in a twist, and they had to untangle the string and separate from each other. In order to do this, they performed some uncomfortable, and some very intimate manoeuvres.
Up a tree, on our way back to EilatWe picked up all our rubbish, and then we continued on our way. Wasn't much further 'til we reached the road where the bus was waiting. Before we got on the bus, though, a whole lot of us climbed a big tree, and got photos of ourselves up there.
Surprisingly, I wasn't tired at all after that 6-hour hike. In fact, I found it quite pleasant. Once we were all on the bus, we drove back to Hotel Nova, and quickly picked up all the "sick" people that didn't come on the hike. Then we continued through Eilat, travelling along the Israeli shore of the Gulf of Aqaba.
So we drove along the shoreline, with Jordan just across the gulf from us, and Nimrod pointed out all the landmarks. There was the navy yard with its ugly drydock hangar; the oriental hotel; and the port of Eilat, where thousands of Japanese cars are parked, waiting to be transported by truck to Ashdod, and from there shipped to Europe. Apparently, the Japanese calculated that it worked out cheaper that way.
We drove all the way down, until we could go no further (not without our passports, at least); and there we had reached our destination: the Egyptian border crossing.
We didn't stay long: we literally just drove past the gate - where we saw an Egyptian flag, a guard post, and a casino on the other side (gambling's illegal in Israel, but not 20 metres south of it!) - and then drove right back. Very exciting.
Next, we drove back into the mountainous desert (this was quite a long drive) - at times taking the same road we took this morning - driving up and up, until we reached Mt Herkezila, or whatever the hell it's called.
Getting out of the bus atop this mountain was not a pleasant experience: extremely windy, and hence not too warm at all. However, we had a great view of Aqaba and Eilat and the sea to the east; and of Egypt and the Sinai desert to the west. For this mountaintop is the border.
The Egyptian border, upon Mt HerkezilaThere's barbed wire running along the ridge; and on the other side, there's a guard tower where Egyptian soldiers are made to sit in the sweltering heat for 12 hour shifts. Egyptian soldiers patrol the border on foot - or on camel, if they're lucky - and they have to man this destitute shithole for periods of 6 months straight.
The views from this mountain are impressive, and we got plenty of snaps on top. Also, on the fence are two border stones: the first one is an old brick one built by the British in 1906; and the second is a newer one built by Israel in the 80s.
Because it was so cold, we didn't stay very long on the mountain. We got back on the bus, and drove back to the hotel. When we got back, we relaxed, watched TV, and talked a fair bit.
We ate dinner; and then at 7:30, the bus drove off and dropped us in the centre of town, and our free night began (didn't have to be back 'til 2!).
Our free night began with a stroll down the markets and stalls along the waterside. Ari was with us some of the time, and ****, the guy was absolutely hammered! He was screaming and singing, shouting pickup lines at any girl he saw, and generally embarrassing the lot of us. The next day, he couldn't remember anything he'd done, that's how drunk he was.
A few people got their names engraved on necklaces, and I was thinking of getting mine done; only I didn't have time (maybe another night). Me, Beck, Asher, and Dane also found some dodgem cars, and drove them around for 8 sheks, bumping each other like crazy.
Then Me, Asher, and Dane decided to split off, leave the rest of the group (who mainly went to bars and got smashed the rest of the night), and get a taxi to the cinemas. The movie: LOTR:RoTK.
I'd rather not talk about RoTK here (because I could write a whole entry just on that!), so I'll just say it was damn excellent. Watching it took up most of our evening; we got back at 1am, and then went straight to bed.