Digital Wanderer

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Israel — 3, day 2, the road to Revivim

2013-12-26

 

Mike!

Here is the man who did the most for me in Israel, and who left an indelible impression with his calmness, advice, humor, knowledge, confidence, and wisdom.

But meeting him is still a whole day away, a day, however, already illuminated by his experience. And in the Negev desert you can hardly ride at random: the military scurry about here and there; a barrel near the ruins of a hut means a training target, and on weekdays you can get caught in an artillery barrage. I connected with Mike on a crash-pad site for bike maniacs https://warmshowers.org, and he was the one who told me how to get to Revivim safe and sound.

My restless nature, forever thirsty for life and impressions, made me jump ahead, but now my mind is galloping back to square one, and the day starts in all its warm velo-magnificence.

First up – a bike shop, the only one I could find on Google Maps. The latter saved me more than once or twice; mobile internet came in handy to the max!

Interestingly, the inner tube I bought turned out to be self-sealing, which I only discovered some time later. Mike told me later that it works quite well, and small holes heal up perfectly on their own – magic! But it also has a fatal flaw – decent-sized holes will stay there forever – you can't patch them manually, the green goo from inside the tube that fills small punctures  corrodes the glue on patches, should you wish to use any.

 

Dry rocky landscape with a riverbed overgrown with shrubs, and a long stone dam across the valley. On the elevation near the dam stands a small concrete building and a white pickup truck is parked.

A mountain biker will find off-road anywhere

 

Following Mike's advice, I rode out of Beersheba along one of the three transport arteries connecting the north and south of the Negev; that is, Beersheba and the pampered resort of Eilat. The western one  - near Egypt, to ride there you need permission from the ubiquitous army, and the eastern one – near the Dead Sea, but the most picturesque one is right down the center, and that's the one I chose.

Gray metal fence with decorative patterns and partially open gates in front of a house with light stone walls and wooden canopies. In the foreground is paved sidewalk tile, and in the background — green trees and a blue sky.

For some reason, the GPS brought me to these gates as a tourist attraction. Feast your eyes!

A dirt road with tire ruts leads through dry sandy terrain to a small concrete viaduct bridge with several openings. To the left of the road grows a spreading green tree, and in the background sparse bushes and power line poles are visible.

There is nothing sweeter to a cyclist's soul than dusty dirt roads

 

A tall metal sculpture resembling bulldozer tracks and a blade stands on a pedestal by the road. In the background is a sandy slope with railway tracks under a gray sky.

The army is everywhere, and monuments to it aren't rare either

Local merchants clearly paid off the creators of my GPS (Sygic for Android); it led me to a supermarket as if it were a landmark. Well, I'm not discouraged – let's use this spot as a vantage point to show you a panorama of the city I just left.

Sunbeams break through the trees and illuminate a quiet forest pond surrounded by thick green grass and bushes. Bright light glares from the sun are visible on the water's surface and in the air.

 

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Holes for ventilation, a roof against the sun, metal – one of the types of bus stops in Israel. The display board isn't electronic yet

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Bike path

Thanks to Mike's advice, I rode a considerable chunk along the gradually built bike path between Beersheba and Sde Boker. Interestingly, intersections in Israel often have names related to the settlements that once existed there. I turned onto the path near Ohalim. I think it's a great practice – everything should be given a beautiful name to improve orientation and increase cultural diversity. For the nerds and geeks, they could also add a universal number in small print, but that's probably overkill.

A tall green tree with a hollow at the base stands in the middle of a dry sandy plain under a clear blue sky. In the background, sparse trees and power lines are visible.

Occasionally, a tree or two stands out, a sort of mini-oasis

The oases left me slightly disappointed: they are just as pale and plain as the surrounding reality (not that I'm complaining about the desert). I was expecting it to be like in a video game – fountains where young maidens in burqas fan sheikhs with ostrich feather fans, with baskets of fruit and camel caravans nearby.

A flock of sheep grazes on a dry sandy wasteland with sparse grass under the shade of spreading trees.

Instead of this magnificence – a prosaic shepherd with a herd of goats

An industrial facility with tall smoke stacks and numerous power line transmission towers is located on a hilly desert plain. In the foreground, rocky ground with a cut of light rock is visible, and a highway runs on the left.

Or an oil refinery/power plant/other technical structure

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It's hot all around, not a cloud in the sky, the temperature is probably about 25 degrees

 

The Israeli people have only two friends – the Air Force  and the Army!

At sunset, a bright sun with a vertical glare illuminates an orange-pink sky above a stubble field, on the horizon the dark silhouettes of mountains, power line towers, palms, and buildings are visible.

The former

A sandy landscape with low hills covered with sparse trees, and several military vehicles. Some vehicles are moving along a sandy road, raising dust.

The latter

A tall abstract sculpture made of light concrete blocks, arranged at dynamic angles and pointing upwards, stands in a desert landscape under a clear blue sky.

Therefore, their honor must be respected by installing a large number of reinforced concrete sculptural structures

A green praying mantis stands on rough gray concrete, its front legs raised in a ready posture, and sunlight casts a sharp shadow.

This terrifying monster pounced on me right in the middle of the road, I almost fell off my bike

 

 

An asphalt bike path with bicycle markings goes into the distance, surrounded by rows of palm trees, sandy soil, and green grass. To the right of the path is a low stone wall, and in the background among the trees is a dark container next to a red truck.

Even the road markings have appeared

One of the secrets of the Israelis' success in turning the desert into a blooming garden is drip irrigation. A separate hose is connected to each of these palms, delivering the exact amount of water right to the roots. The Negev desert didn't once belong to Israel, and the first settlers had the right to create only “experimental farms”. After some time, a UN commission arrived in Revivim to finalize the Jewish question. Instead of sand and rocks, they found flowerbeds, fruit trees, and hard-working farmers content with their lives. Jaws dropped, hands moved on their own, signing the papers handing the Negev over to the newly-emerged state to continue the favorable processes.

A white pickup truck is parked on a sandy patch next to an alley of tall palm trees casting long shadows. A highway bridge and power lines are visible in the background.

The grove was created by the local oil refinery as a status symbol and a sign of care for the people and the environment

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Drip irrigation is our everything

A concrete pillar with a round blue bike path sign set against a sandy terrain with sparse trees. The structure is complemented by horizontal metal handrails and yellow details in the upper and lower parts.

A wonderful rest stop with a pillar for bike repairs. Civilization!

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In theory, there should also be water for washing and drinking, but there was a slight hiccup with that

A half-full bottle with a cold, cloudy pale yellow guava drink stands on a wooden table. In the background, a snack billboard, chairs, and a blurred street background are visible.

Guava drink – it's best to buy it with your eyes closed, so you don't have a heart attack from the prices

 

Yellow-green guava fruits growing on a tree branch surrounded by large green leaves.

The Guava itself

A ruined asphalt road covered with sand runs through an arid landscape with rare bushes and trees. In the distance to the left, a busy highway with cars is visible, and on the horizon — power lines and hills under a cloudy sky.

Following Mike's advice, I turned onto the old highway

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Tunnels under the highway

During the rainy season – from autumn to spring – there are flash floods in the desert, so the tunnels here are more for the preservation of the highway than for the animals.

An asphalt road with a yellow median stripe passes by a brown sign to Golda Meir Park. To the right of the road stretches a rocky shoulder with dry vegetation and green trees against a clear sky.

The vegetation is thicker in Golda Meir Park

Desert landscape with dry rocky ground covered with sparse bushes. In the center, green palms and other vegetation are visible along a shallow valley, against a background of sandy hills under a clear sky.

A sight for sore eyes!

Picturesque landscape with a green lawn, palms, and sparse trees against arid light hills under a clear sky. In the middle ground, a small circular amphitheater area and a lone person are visible.

A beauty to behold!

An oasis in the desert with a lake, on the shores of which green palms and grass grow against the background of sandy sloping hills under a cloudless sky.

You can count the open bodies of water on one hand; most of them are artificial

A small oasis with a pond and green palms against the background of dry sandy hills. A wooden pedestrian bridge with steps crosses the stream.

Kids were hanging out in the park – bus tourists

The kids tried to chat with me, but unfortunately, they didn't know a single international language out of the ones I speak. I just had to dumbly stare at a young, slender, sultry southern beauty, and move on.

 

A sunny landscape with a modern curved building in light purple and beige, surrounded by palm trees. In the foreground is a parked silver car, and a round fountain sprays in front of the building with Hebrew inscriptions.

The oasis has been commercialized by a spa center. Nothing is sacred anymore!

Three men in a sandy area interacting with resting </section> <section class=

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