Digital Wanderer

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Israel — 3, day 2, the road to Revivim

2013-12-26

outings trips cities travels tourism bike photo people creative israel

 

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 might get caught under artillery fire. I connected with Mike on the couchsurfing site for bike maniacs https://warmshowers.org, and he's the one who told me how to get to Revivim safe and sound.

My restless nature, forever thirsting for life and impressions, forced me to run ahead of myself, but now my mind leaps back to square one, and the day starts in all its warm velo-magnificence.

First – a bike shop, the only one that turned up on Google Maps. The latter saved me more than once or twice, mobile internet came in totally handy!

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

 

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

A mountain biker will find off-road anywhere

 

On 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 omnipresent army, and the eastern one – near the Dead Sea, but the most picturesque one – through the center, and that's the one I chose.

A grey metal fence with decorative patterns and a partially open gate in front of a house with light stone walls and wooden awnings. In the foreground — paving slabs, and in the background — green trees and blue sky.

For some reason GPS led me to this gate as an attraction. Check it out!

A dirt road with tire tracks leads through a dry sandy area 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's nothing dearer to a cyclist's soul than dusty dirt roads

 

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

The army is everywhere, monuments to it are also not uncommon

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

Sun rays break through the trees and illuminate a quiet forest pond surrounded by thick green grass and bushes. On the surface of the water and in the air bright light glares from the sun are visible.

 

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Holes for ventilation, a roof for 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 fair chunk along the gradually built bike path between Beersheba and Sde Boker. Interestingly, intersections in Israel often have names related to 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 navigation and increase cultural diversity. For geek-nerds you could also provide 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 there's a tree or two, a sort of mini-oasis

The oases disappointed me a bit: they are just as pale and plain as the surrounding reality (not that I'm complaining about the desert). I expected it to be like in a game – fountains where young maidens in burqas fan sheikhs with ostrich fans, 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 pipes and numerous power line supports is located on a hilly desert plain. In the foreground rocky ground with a cut of light rock is visible, and to the left runs a road.

Or an oil refinery/power plant/other technical structure

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Heat all around, not a cloud, 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 over a field with stubble, on the horizon 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, kicking up dust.

The latter

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

Therefore we must honor them by installing a large number of reinforced concrete sculptural constructions

A green mantis stands on rough grey concrete, its front legs raised in a pose of readiness, and the sunlight casts a clear shadow.

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

 

 

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

And now even 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 routed to each of these palm trees, delivering the exact amount of water right to the roots. The Negev desert didn't belong to Israel at one point, and the first settlers had the right to create only "experimental farms." Sometime later, a UN commission arrived in Revivim for the final resolution of the Jewish question. Instead of sand and stones, they found flower beds, fruit trees, and hardworking farmers content with life. Jaws dropped, hands moved on their own, signing the papers transferring the Negev to the ownership of the newly emerged state to continue these favorable processes.

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

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

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Drip irrigation is everything

A concrete pillar with a round blue bike path sign, set against a background of 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 here

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

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

 

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

The Guava herself

A ruined asphalt road covered in sand runs through an arid landscape with sparse 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 an overcast sky.

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

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Tunnels under the freeway

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

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

In Golda Meir Park the vegetation is thicker

A 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!

A picturesque landscape with a green lawn, palms and sparse trees against a background of arid light hills under a clear sky. In the middle ground a small round amphitheater platform and a lone person are visible.

Lovely!

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

Open bodies of water can be counted on one hand; most of them are artificial

A small oasis with a body of water and green palms against a background of dry sandy hills. Across the stream a wooden pedestrian footbridge with steps is thrown.

Kids were hanging out in the park – bus tourists

The kiddos tried to chat with me, but unfortunately they didn't know even one language of international communication out of those I speak. I had to just dumbly stare at a young, slender, sultry southern beauty, and move on.

 

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

The oasis is commercialized by a spa center. Nothin' sacred!

Three men in a sandy area interacting with resting saddled camels against a background of trees. Two of them are holding one camel by the head, while the third watches the process.

The beast resisted getting bridled quite a bit, but human cunning and perseverance won out

The camel spat, snorted, roared and snapped its teeth. Its teeth are the size of a lighter each, I'd be wary of standing nearby, to be honest. Later, Muslim schoolboys and schoolgirls in headscarves rode these beasts, the staff told me to keep my distance, so I cleared out. In the wrong direction, though – the further I rode, the more suspicious hobo-looking tents I saw. Realizing that I was walking right into the clutches of bloodthirsty Bedouins, I hurriedly headed back.

About the viciousness of the Bedouins, that is, of course, a joke playing on the idiotic fears of regular folks. There are a lot of problems with the local Arab nomads in Israel: they defy registration, they  don't want to send their kids to school, and most importantly – they lay claim to vast lands where their ancestors dwelled.

Mike vividly acted this out.

A Bedouin pitches a tent wherever, a hundred more of his relatives appear nearby, erecting dwellings. An official arrives.

– Could you please leave this land, it doesn't belong to you, it's private (or state) land.

– The herds of my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather grazed here, which means I will live here too. I'll be wherever I want, I'm a free man after all!

Also an infringement on the rights of the indigenous population in a way. But all this clinging to an archaic and traditional lifestyle leads to you-know-what: poverty, illiteracy, poor medical care and a low standard of living, yet they want to live well like everyone else.  As a result, theft as a livelihood, conflicts with other residents of Israel as a hobby.

Rumor has it, though, that Bedouins are quite hospitable – if you walk into a tent, they'll offer you a smoke and ply you with tea, all for free, although globalizaster is creeping in here too, they're commercializing.

An asphalt road in a desert area under a clear sky, at the fork of which is installed a brown road sign in Hebrew, Arabic and English pointing to Tali Observation and the Fountain of Youth.

See a brown sign – follow it. An adventurer's motto

 

A wide concrete bridge with two spans rises over a dry riverbed lined with large stones. Ahead is a dirt road, a plaque is visible on the bridge wall, and on the horizon under a cloudy sky — a line of trees.

Huge culverts

Panoramic view of a green oasis with an artificial lake and palms, located amidst an arid hilly desert under a light, overcast sky. In the oasis park areas with grass, trees and roads are visible.

Goda Park – view from above

There's nothing else nearby.

A dirt road leads through a desert area to green metal gates. To the left of the gates an Israeli flag is installed, to the right — a large light stone with a Hebrew inscription, and in the background gentle sandy hills can be seen.

The “fountain of youth” is closed and plastered with prohibition signs. So I never managed to drink the living water  and rejuvenate!

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Here it is, the famous forbidding stone

Go deep into the desert – you'll turn into chunks of meat flying in all directions! (C) IDF

The fact that such a danger lies in wait only on weekdays, and on weekends you can risk it - is not mentioned, it's info for the insiders.

A straight asphalt road with markings recedes into the distance, surrounded on both sides by rows of tall dense trees and dry vegetation. Along the road street light poles and power lines are visible against a light sky.

The road to Revivim  is wide and smooth

 

A bright sun shines through a cloudy sky over an arid landscape with palm silhouettes, a dirt road on the left and a tall comms tower on the right.

Time is drawing towards sunset

An elderly bald man in a blue striped shirt is captured in profile against a background of a wooden fence with barbed wire. In the background a dry rocky area with sparse vegetation and buildings is visible.

Mike

When I made it to Revivim,  it turned out to be a kibbutz. Well, I'll be! I really wanted to visit a kibbutz, preferably not as a half-wit tourist, but as a guest of a local resident. To my boundless joy, the hospitality of Mike and his wife Yael allowed me to dive much deeper into the essence of the Israeli mentality. But more on that – in the next episode.

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