Eilat

wall of the red canyon

Alfonso told us our brains would cook so we had to cover them

Border with Egypt

Hyena Prints

This weekend I went to Eilat with some friends in celebration of the end of Ulpan. We took the five hour bus from Tel Aviv and stayed at the Eilat Youth Hostel and Guest House. It was pretty nice for a hostel, but a little bit on the expensive side. From the balcony of the hostel I could see the red sea and the mountains on the other side of it which is Jordan. The weather was so hot the whole time--about 90 degrees and sunny. I made sure to reapply my sunblock many times every day. The first highlight of the trip was a hike that some friends and I did around and through the Red Canyon. The drive to the canyon was along the boarder with Egypt, and we ended the hike on Mount Yoash with a view of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Our tour guide, Alfonso, moved from Switzerland to Israel in 1960 and served in the '67 war. He still serves in the civilian sect of the Search and Rescue. He was so knowledgeable about the rocks and plants and animals of the area in which we were hiking that it made the hike really interesting. Later that day, my friend Lauren and I went tubing and banana boating in the Red Sea. Besides the fact that I thought I was going to die the entire time on the tube (the crazy Israeli driving the boat thought it was funny to make me fly 20 yards away from the tube with every sharp turn at 80 mph) it was a great activity in the hot weather. Eilat is a fun town to visit for a day or two if you're interested in water sports or fish, but I was reminded how trashy the boardwalk is and how touristy the entire city is. It was a nice feeling to return to Tel Aviv. Today, we started classes at Tel Aviv University! Finally, there are Israeli students swarming the campus and the exciting first week of school feeling is definitely in the air.


Alfonso






Alfonso taught us how to make soap in the desert