Mud in everything. Socks, jeans, shoes, hands, hair. That was the picture after a day of amazing hiking.
It all began with a hike down the magnificent cliffs of Arbel. It was beautiful, though I’d never climbed down cliffs with ropes before, so it was a bit harrowing. We had to be careful not to step in the piles of cow – er – dung, for lack of a more polite word. Yum.
After that we had lunch at McDonald’s. Everyone constantly complains about how American culture is taking over the world and the McDonaldization of society and all that, and yet, there was our group, in Israel, with a falafel place right next door, and we were all eating at Mickey D’s. Go figure. I think everyone was just sick of falafel by then. These days I have a strict no golden arches policy when I travel, but I actually ate quite a bit of fast food on that trip. Lunch was the only thing besides souvenirs and free time that wasn’t included in the “free” portion of the trip, so we were all being cheapskates, especially since the breakfasts and dinners were so awesome. 3-course buffet meals and all that.
After lunch we did a nature hike at Tel Dan Nature Reserve, which is a national park area located near a stream. It’s one of the only spots in Israel with an abundance of water, and the trees looked more like ones that you’d find in Yosemite or something than in Israel. Massive tree trunks, lush green vegetation… there was even a tree that looked like a perfect Winnie the Pooh tree. Naturally, the Winnipeg contingent had to take a photo sitting in it. (Incidentally, the Winnipeg people on the trip managed to convince poor Boaz, who’d never been to North America, that Winnipeg is *the* happening place in Canada. We tried to correct him, but he was taken in, and I shudder to think of him walking around Winnipeg on some future trip down the road, wondering what all the fuss about Canada is about, and freezing his Israeli ass off. But I digress.)
Shoe shopping is always a popular activity among Birthright participants, so the Naot kibbutz factory store proved to be a very popular spot. Everyone rushed to buy sandals in the few minutes of time that we had. Then, off to a Kibbutz in the Hula Valley, below the Golan, to spend the night.