Shevil Israel, Day 7

Monument on the 'Burma Road'.

Eigtheen miles, and no relief for my aching feet.  I also have a pounding headache thanks to the red wine last night - well, I suppose it is appropriate that I should suffer on the road to Jerusalem.  I limp along at around two miles per hour, with breaks the effective speed is rather lower...

I actually feel happier as the trail makes a steep climb of the 620m Mount Orna, endorphins or something I guess.  The route here follows the 'Burma Road' - so named by a British Journalist - which was built during the 1948 war to get supplies to Jerusalem.  Much respect to the volunteers who cut a road through this hilly terrain, I could wish it was a bit less rocky mind you.

On the slopes of Mount Orna.

After a steep descent I reach the martyrs' forest, where six million trees grow in memorial to the victims of the Holocaust.  It is of course impossible to visit this country without contemplating the horrific tragedy these people suffered just before the birth of their nation.  If any man's death diminishes me, how much more so the death of so many?  The number is too large to comprehend, but certainly as a European I feel my continent diminished by the loss of those men, women and children.

Home for the evening.

Well... I keep walking, a gentle climb for six miles or so then a last steep push to Tzova.  Google maps showed a couple of hotels here so it seemed a reasonable place to stop, but I arrive to see a barrier across the road.  The guard speaks no English, so I dig out my phrasebook, and it turns out that yes, there are restaurants, but no, they are shut 'cos it is Shabbat.  Oh well, it's actually nice to retreat to my tent and not have to deal with the real world.  Again, can't be bothered to cook, but I have some remarkably calorific 'savoury cookies' and chocolate left over from lunch, so, all good.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Shevil Israel, Day 6

Roman mausoleum.

Another long day, twenty-four miles, not really looking forward to it as I pop my last ibuprofen tab - really should have done that shop.  I pass a Roman mausoleum - a haunt of John the Baptist apparently - then hike on into woodland.  Seems the INT follows the Tel Aviv to Jerusalem cycle trail here, makes for easy walking and I make decent time.

My only food though is my supply of dry meals, so I need to go fourteen miles to reach a picnic area with water for cooking and cleaning.  Can't say I'm sad to find a man there selling food... His English is limited, but his 'borekitos' (?) are most tasty.  Some kind of flaky pastry and cheese, plus the obligatory olives.

Cyclists get actual signposts...

Still a way to go though, and my medication is wearing off... I struggle on, telling myself that it is 'only' eighteen miles tomorrow.  I do notice that my guide says there is a mall on the trail at around the twenty mile mark, with a pharmacy.  This becomes a goal, I need some batteries for the GPS too.  Maybe there will be a bar!  So, it's a little disappointing when the 'mall' turns out to be a deserted industrial estate.  Maybe there are shops off in the distance, maybe even open ones... damned if I'm wandering off to see.

So, me and my GPS exert the last vestiges of our energy and get to Latrun, which has a roadside service area, excellent.  Batteries, lunch for tomorrow, check.  No painkillers sadly, but there is a surprisingly good Italian restaurant where I consume pasta and a bottle of Israeli red.

Judean hills.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Shevil Israel, Day 5

Heading towards Tel Aviv - Reading Power Station is in the
centre - close up images readily available on the internet.

Trouble with a real bed is, I really don't want to get out of it, for one thing my feet are killing me.  Twenty-one miles to go though, so best, or least worst, foot forward.  I successfully improvise a route to join the INT at a beach just North of Tel Aviv, then walk along the prom until I say goodbye to the Med in the scenic environs of Reading Power Station.  Time to get the camera out then - no sooner done though, than a fat old guy wearing a pair of speedos jogs over and demands I delete my photo, or he'll call the police!  Not wishing to prolong this disturbing encounter I comply... "I care about my country" he says.

Walking through the grapefruit groves...

Well, not sure if he called the cops, but a hundred yards along another black 4x4 rolls up, this time the machine gun toting guard wants to see, and indeed photograph, my passport.  Well, you know what?  I too care about my country, as much as anything because for all its faults it still upholds certain freedoms, such as, you know, being able to photograph things without having automatic weapons waved at you...

Anyway... my route from here stays beside water, this time the Yarqon river.  For several miles I'm in parks on the north side of Tel Aviv - I planned to get some shopping done here, but forget to do it, trying to get to the safety of the country I guess.  Well, before long I am walking between tall reeds, and the Yarqon is little more than a creek.  Having failed to shop, I eat into my chocolate reserves for lunch, supplemented by a grapefruit from the, er... grove? I am walking past.

Seems the river is with me all day... eventually I reach the Yarqon springs.  I had planned on cooking my own dinner this night, but after the day I've had I fancy a beer, so, I attempt to go to Rosh Ha'an... I get as far as the old train station, which is now two rail lines and a motorway away from town.  Oh well... a quick hike through Tel Afek park - lovely in daylight I'm sure - and I'm at my planned camp spot.  Seems to be a ploughed field, so I keep walking and after a bit find some bare earth to camp on... Not feeling too hungry, also can't be bothered to cook, so I eat the last of my chocolate then go to bed.

Bedroll worked surprisingly well at cushioning the rocks...

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Shevil Israel, Day 4

Hiking on the beach.

Another long day, twenty-three miles in fact, but at least it is pretty flat. In fact after a few miles along a river, I find myself back on the beach, looks like I'll be on it all day.  No problem then, the sand is firm and easy to walk on, and I make excellent time for lunch at the pleasant seaside town of Netanya.

As the afternoon wears on though I grow disenchanted with the beach, walking with one leg slightly higher is getting painful, and at times the surface is more like a fine gravel that makes for very heavy going.  It doesn't help when I realise I should have been up on the cliff for the last few miles... explains the nudist beach I suppose.  So, at the point the INT rejoins the beach, I take a look at the guide, and it says something about taking the cliff path if rocks block the beach.  So I head up, anything to get away from the beach... of course this is a bad idea.

Netanya.

The cliff path zigs and zags, and then a deep gorge opens up before me.  Looks like I could scramble down it to the beach, but on the other side I can see houses and streets, presumably another resort town.  So, I head inland, aiming for a road... annoyingly there's a fence between me and it, but I find a gap, get to the tarmac and sit down for a breather.  I haven't been there two minutes when a black 4x4 turns up, and the occupants politely explain I am on private property.  Oh good, a gated community... well, nothing else for it, I backtrack, descend the gorge and return to, yay, the beach.

Well, another couple of hours, including bouldering by headtorch for a bit, I reach my hotel - four star luxury today, very nice too.  I consume some excellent fish, a few Goldstars, and retire to an actual honest to goodness bed.

Sunset over the Med.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Shevil Israel, Day 3

Al fresco gaming outside Zikhron Ya'akov.

Only eighteen miles today, but after yesterday I feel rather broken and resolve to take things slowly.  At least the going seems easier.  The history of this land is now showing, I pass Herodian and Byzantine ruins, then a small aqueduct which impressively is still running with water.  Then I reach, and walk along a much larger Roman aqueduct, which once fed the town of Caesarea.

Caesarea amphitheatre.

After eating my lunch on the beach, and dipping my toes in the Mediterranean, it's not far to Caesarea itself.  It is certainly well worth the trip, I marvel at the Crusader fortifications, the Byzantine palace, and the still functional amphitheatre.

From here it is a short schlep to Hadera, where after the 30 Shekel (£6) beers yesterday, I worry I don't have enough cash.  A helpful young man lets me get some money through his till - as it turns out I don't need it of course.  Food comes from a fast food style place where despite limited English they supply a tasty kebab with many pickles.  And next door a 'bar' will sell me a bottle of local Goldstar beer for 12 Shekels, provided I sit outside to drink it...

Carmel cliffs.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Shevil Israel, Day 2

Slopes of Mount Carmel.

The first real day of walking, and certainly a full one with twenty-five miles to do.  After an hour climbing through the desirable districts of Haifa I reach the Mount Carmel National Park, and immediately decide it was a good idea to come here.  The view is glorious, spring has come and the hillsides are covered in wild flowers.  Funny to think it was snowing on me yesterday morning.  The paths are well maintained, and I'm sorry to leave the park, not least as I now have several miles of busy road before joining the INT.

The trail makes itself felt with a steep climb, interestingly there are no signs, rather there are orange, blue and white 'blazes' painted on rocks every fifty yards or so.  Soon I'm in Ein Hod, an artists community charmingly decked out with examples of the residents' work.  Better yet it has a store where I buy cheese, biscuits, beer and chocolate...

With an INT blaze.

Sadly after lunch things go downhill.  Basically my route is South along the coast, but perversely the INT regularly detours off to find a rocky scramble halfway up a hill.  The blazes are little help, I rely on my GPS and still keep going wrong - a couple of times I find myself on a nice flat track alongside the banana plantations at the foot of the hill, not sure why the INT couldn't follow these.  Progress is slow, and when the sun sets I still have a long way to go.

At least now the route is along dirt roads through forest, easy enough going... The trees mean that the full moon isn't much use, but my head torch works well, even when I'm faced with a sudden mad scramble up a cliff, in the dark.  On all sides I can hear the howling of what I assume are dogs, in these darkened woods though they sound very like wolves.  Finally I reach Zikhron Ya'akov, a nice little place.  I get food from of all things a Domino's Pizza, and a few pints of Guiness from an Irish pub which is having a fancy dress disco - the Israelis do seem to love their fancy dress.  Refreshed, I walk back to the trail and pitch my tent.  The wolves are still howling...

Stone age habitations.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Shevil Israel, Day 1

A new adventure then, this time a long distance walk in the holy land.  Well, I was feeling in need of exercise after Christmas, and getting away from freezing London sounded good too.  The plan then is to hit the Israel National Trail, or Shevil Israel, a six hundred mile long distance path inspired by the Appalachian Trail.  I'll be doing a 150 mile section between Haifa and Jerusalem over the course of a week.

Hotel Marom.

So, a four and a half hour flight from Luton, and I'm facing Israeli border control.  I'd read stories of single male travellers, particularly those with passport stamps from arab countries, being detained for hours... I worry a bit about my stamp from Morocco, but in the event it is like any European airport.  Next, a train to Haifa, where I head to a mall to buy gas for cooking.  After getting through the mall security, I struggle a bit finding the store, it is only signed in Hebrew, but succeed in the end.  Now I just need to get to my hotel...

Of course this is not simple.  It is around four miles away up Mount Carmel, and I am at sea level.... still, it is only a thousand feet or so, can't be too bad even at night.  And indeed the first mile is fine, turns out to be a gently sloping dirt bike track, well lit by the full moon.  But then I go the wrong way, and soon am fighting through thorny thickets on a steep hillside... doh.  I manage to backtrack, and after ten minutes or so of steep ascent I reach a road.  There is even time for a beer or two before heading to the hotel, how civilised. Although it has been a while since I had my bag searched before getting into a pub... mind you I probably do look a bit rough after scrambling up here.

View across Haifa from the hotel.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.