I am currently on a train to Beer Sheva, which unfortunately means that Passover break is officially over. What a shame. But what an unbelievably fun break it was! I spent the first few days hanging out in Tel-Aviv where I ate well and did the Seder, went on a three day hike from the medeterianian Sea to the Sea of Galililea, and finishes it all off with a cruise to Cyprus. Where is the restart botton?
Sea To Sea
Organizing a three day hike through the forest takes a lot preparation, careful consideration, and of course the right people. For Yam Le Yam we had all of these things.
After completing Shvil just last week, I wanted to put my newly acquired hiking skills to the test, and Yam Le Yam was the perfect way to do just that. I calculated exactly how much food we would need for the three days, and headed to Shuk Hacarmel to buy 30 apples and plenty of Tuna. Shopping for this trip was particularly difficult, because everything had to be Kosher for Passover. You would think that in Israel this should be no problem, but in fact in it is actually quite tedious, because as an Ashkanazi Jew (Someone from Europe), I am not allowed to eat rice or beans (Kitniyot), as where the Sphardim (Jews from the middle east) can. So even though it says “Kosher for Passover” on the packaging, I need to look extra carefully to see if it contains Kitniyot.
Late Sunday night Jacob, Hersh, Danny, and I met up at the train station in Tel Aviv, and headed up to Naharia to start our hike. We all had huge bags (except Hershel), and at one point I got stuck in the turnstile trying get onto the train.
From Naharia we hopped a 30 Shekel cab ride to Achseev Beach. On the way there Danny asked the female cab driver if the beach was safe to sleep at. “Someone was murdered there last night”, she told us. “Someone cut someone else’s ears off”. “Are you Joking!?” we all asked her. She then said in a very serious voice, “No, check the papers”. There was a good two or three minute where we all freaked out a little. Danny peed himself, and Hershel called his friends who were already there. Then the evil cab driver started laughing. What a crazy Woman. The next three days went like this:
Day One: We woke up at 5:45, packed up our tent, and started walking through some beautiful Banana fields. We soon noticed there were many other groups doing the same route as us. We left the Banana fields and hiked through Nachal Achsiv all day. We had to cross many streams. I became an expert rock hopper, but often we would slip and get our feet totally wet. It was awesome. We made it to the city of Ma’alot around 4:30, and went directly to a gas station to eat ice creams and relax. After eight hours of walking, nothing tastes better than a Kosher for Passover Magnum. We made camp in a public park, and geniusly found a way to place our tent on a platform, so we would escape the sprinklers in the morning. We finished our first day with an epic BBQ!
Day Two: The five kilometer walk on the high way actually wasn’t to bad. At around ten A.M. we entered an unbelievably beautiful valley, and ate breakfast. Because it is spring here, there are flowers everywhere and animals making some cool noises. We spent the rest of the day walking through a beautiful valley, until we arrived at the foot of Mount Meron. As we were climbing the mountain, a large youth group was making their descent. This slowed us down a bit, but each person who passed us wished us a Happy Holiday, which was something you can only get in Israel.
After a very tiring and long day, we arrived at the mountainside town of Meron. Meron is where a famous Rebbi is berried, and people from all over come to pray at his toumb. Many people who follow the teachings of Rabbi Nachman hang out in Meiron, and are absolutely the nicest people ever. They believe in being happy, and blast loud techno music from large trucks, while dancing about wildly. They gave us some hot soup, and one nice guy gave us each a book of the stories of Rebbi Nachman.
Day Three: By the third day of our hike my feet were killing me, and I had many painful blisters. Luckily our journey was enlightened by a friendly Yellow Labrador, who decided to tag along for the journey. We named him Shvil, which means trail. On the final day I was carrying the tent, which made it very difficult to navigate through the windy and steep mountains of the Galil.
After three and a half days of walking, we got our first glimpse of the beautiful Kinneret, and made our way through another Banana field. On our way to the finish line we spotted a group of Thai workers who are employed by the Kibbutz, slaughtering a pig for their new year. We left Shvil behind the gate, and watched as they expertly removed all of the organs. They said they bought the pig for 1,500 Shekels. Pig is definitely a rarity is Israel, but is not totally unheard of. In fact, it is actually not legal to raise a pig on the physical land of Israel, and so Israeli pigs are raised on platforms.
Jacob pointed out that the shadows were getting longer, and we still weren’t so close to the Kinneret. We tried one path to the Sea, but because of the very rainy winter, the water had covered many of the access routes. We decided to walk through Kibbutz Ginnasaur, and made it to the edge of the Kinneret just as the sun was going down. The two Yeshiva boys were too timid to go Mikvaing (religious skinny dipping) in the Kinneret, but soon followed Jacob and my lead. The water was freezing, but it was absolutely beautiful! I think every time I swim in the Kinneret it makes me want to make Aliyah.
We left Shvil sleeping on the side of the trail with two cans of tuna in his stomach, and caught a Sheirut to Tavaria, where we went to an incredible restaurant called Decks. We feasted on delicious stakes and hot sweet potatoes, while we discussed the positives and challenges of the trip. Danny tried grilled tuna fish from a can, Hershel learned to share things, Jacob tried to convince us all to become vegetarians, and I learned how to plan a trip. It was an unforgettable experience, and I recommend doing any sort of hiking next time you are here.
The Tel Aviv Passover break scene from the Karas's apartment (shout out to Lynne and Steve for having me). When we were walking along the boardwalk to our seder we got some strange looks for wearing kippas. Never thought that would happen in a Jewish country.
Beginning of Nachal Achsiv
Danny enjoying his osier for passover Magnum bar after a long day
Our fortress
Hershel doin' work
only 25 Kilometers to Meiron!
Malibu's Israeli cousin Shvil.
Prayer break
Thai workers at work
Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm
After three long days we made it to the Sea of Galilee
Picture credit to Maya Lee Perretz
Victory dinner
