Thursday night I went to bed early- a bit miffed by the groups laziness.
Friday- a beautiful walk!! About 20km up a mountain then down into a forested valley before another climb and descent. I was first and arrived in time for an ice cream before the shop shut for Shabbat! Met a man on a quad bike who showed me fruit you could eat off a tree. I set up camp and we had a new South African older couple join today for a week and a couple of people who were here earlier in the walk come back for the evening. I made dinner and we had to sit through the Shabbat ritual- I won't be sorry not to observe it after the walk has finished (it's boring and you just want to eat).
Saturday: another hot day! I read a bit, played a few games with people and some of them were giving each other henna tattoos. Then a couple of their families showed up with a feast of food for everyone! It's the best thing about having Israelis on the walk- it's a bit like the families are trying to outdo each other by who can provide the best buffet! Haha! Although our camp was plagued by flies. One of the guys done a Thai massage workshop- was great to get some much needed back and shoulder massage! A chilled evening- chatting with people around the fire. There were loads of fireflies around the field where we were camping- they look magical!
Sunday: about 20km today- again very hot! Mostly through pasture land, past a water mill from the ottoman era, through an Arab village and across a spring then up through some forest. I walked with Daniela for some of the way! Tonight/tomorrow is the memorial day for remembering the soldiers who've died fighting for Israel- so we had special candles which people lit in memory and songs and stories. But I must admit I was thinking of the poor Palestinians that they slaughter every day as they told the story of how someone they once spoke to on the internet was killed by a "terrorist" or they once heard an announcement of a soldier dying and the name has stuck with them since (tedious links alert!). A siren sounded at 8pm and we stood for a minutes silence.
Monday: a long, hot day! I took the wrong trail, but unlike many others who made the same mistake, I walked back up the mountain to the correct trail. While they hitchhiked or called daddy to get one of his drivers to give them a lift. We finished climbing Mt Devora, we're near Nazareth. It was a nice day- I saw turtles and we walked through an Arabic village where the people were so friendly (and ice cream cheap!). Another siren sounded at 11am for another minutes silence- it's amazing how you hear them even in the middle of nature. While today was Memorial Day, when it gets dark then it becomes tomorrow which is Israeli Independence Day! So it changes from being very somber to mass celebrations tonight and tomorrow. The group had decided to throw a party and were asking for 30shekels (£7) each to get alcohol and meat! As you can imagine, I wasn't very keen as a vegetarian teetotaller! But I gave a donation! And to be fair it turned out to be a fun evening! We had vege kebabs and chips and alcohol/diet coke and strawberry/marshmallow chocolate fondue, etc. They had a loud speaker with music and so everyone was dancing and there were fireworks in the surrounding villages.
Tuesday: rather nice being one of the only ones waking up without a hangover! Today is marked as one of the toughest days on the northern part of the trail as you climb and descend Mt Tabor. I walked some of the way with a new Israeli guy who's joined us for a week, having done odd parts of the trail with the group in past years. I was left rather amused as I ascended the 'mountain'- it's only 600m high and the climb took 30mins and was not very steep! So I don't know why so many of the group were unable to walk it and had spoke with such fear about it! Although I did have a big, black snake cross my path! At the top was a monastery and I waited there for the others and saw the forming of a fly past- it was impressive to see these fighter jets and planes fly past at the same height as us. Amos's parents bought us an Independence Day buffet, which was very nice but not leading the parent buffet competition! I walked the rest alone- a steep descent, then 10km of farmland to the camp. About 24km and it's still very warm! My highlight was finding an almost complete toilet roll on the side of the road- it's been tough stealing from the sporadic public toilets we come across or nicking napkins from shops/restaurants or else utilising nature. I had a cold shower on the truck and spent the night chatting to the South African couple.
Wednesday: I was on breakfast duty, I'd put myself with the SA couple as I'm still doing the rota and it was so refreshing that they were up 30mins early and getting on with it and using their initiative to wash up, etc. It was a relatively short day- 15km. We reached a spring that was in a hole in the ground that you had to climb down a rope to get in to, but I wasn't hot enough to swim. We had beautiful views of the Sea of Galilee and Jordan across the Jordan river! I walked a bit with Daniela and we found a nice spot to sit for a while and were joined by others, before arriving at camp. We had a very nice dinner, I finished "the shack" (thought-provoking) and I got a message from sarah to say she finished the trail today- she done amazing! If I had the chance again, I would do the first couple of weeks with the group and walk the rest alone! But it's certainly been an unforgettable experience!
Thursday: I walked with Ron and Miriam down hills for 5km and through a kibbutz to lake Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee)- it's huge and very beautiful. It's where Jesus is supposed to have walked on water and fed the 5000, etc. We found a beach area, although we thought it was probably private, and lay there chilling in the sun looking out at the Jordanian mountains on the other side. I had an ice cream, they had beer and a joint! Then we were joined by two others from the group. After an hour or two we walked further along the beach and found a father with his two sons in a very sophisticated camp site on the beach and they invited us to sit with them for a bit and gave us a cold drink, fruit and Ron a hot dog! They'd been there for a month! Then we had a steep, long climb (tougher that mt Tabor) to the campsite, which had beautiful views over the town of Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee. I helped do dinner!
Shoe update: my toe is now hanging out of the sole of one of the shoes, but it's bearable and I can walk in my trainers if needed. The final countdown- a week to go!! I'm sure you can tell from my blog that I get a bit frustrated by the group and am not impressed by the Israelis- boycott Israel and free Palestine will be my take away message! But after this experience I feel my patience is improving and managing in any workplace will be a doddle!
Hope you all voted today and are enjoying nice weather! Hopefully, when I blog again I'll have finished the walk!