Day 7 - February 25 - Dancing in the Desert

I loved the beginning of this day - now I was in the middle of the Negev desert, it was pleasant, sunny weather, the road was nice and broad, traffic light - perfect conditions for a great bike day. I have noticed that as time goes on a cycling trip, the later I start the day - well, I apparently wanted to get the value for the buck (hundred bucks) for the hotel, it was only around 9 am that I started.

I soon turned off the main highway, as it would have led me up north - and my plan was now evident - I wanted to cross the Negev desert and head to Eilat - which now just was 250 kilometers away.

So I was cruising south on Road 204, being quite a content fellow. It was not all too hot. Nothing in life is perfect - I started hearing some squeaking noise from the chain - so I stopped at a small petrol station, tried applying some grease, but it did not help. It was not all too bad, but I could have been better without it.

I got to Yeruham, where there were signs to a touristic destination - that of a crater. This was not caused by a meteor crashing on the surface of our planet, but by erosion work during millions of years. I decided not to visit it, it would have been a major detour and I started the day rather late. On top, I found out the road would lead to a much larger, more interesting crater.

The noise still bothered me, so I stopped at a larger petrol station, to get some help. They did not have grease, but a gentleman, who I later found out was called Schraga Mor with his wife, were coming out with some 20 Cola bottles (wow, they must have been thirsty), told me to make a small detour to their place, where there would be some grease.

I would have probably not made that turn off the main road, but it was something indeed very interesting - amongst the highlights of this tour. OK, let us see through this step by step.

When making the turn, without knowing my destination, I was just following the route Schraga told me. I did see, however, there was a breathtaking view to my right - to a gorge within the desert. I would take a closer look on the way back.

It was just a few hundred meters away where I was told to go. It turned out to be a boarding school, where students were preparing for Purim, a Jewish festival. The focus of the school was on ecology and environment protection, so the students build huge statues of trashed beer cans and other waste material. On top, they were rehearsing funky dances to loud pop music - and this was just a great combination, I felt to be 20 years younger. Here, in the middle of the Negev desert, under some multi-meter-high statues, I saw teens shaking it to loud music - it was so funny! Not to forget was the nice treat of hot pita bread and hummus that I received - plus some grease for the bike. It was definitely worth the visit!

When I finally left the performance in the middle of the desert, there was yet another surprise - a wonderful sight of the Tsin canyon and the Avdat highlands. Here again, I let the pictures speak for themselves. This is a view that is not really often visible in my native Hungary or Austria, where I reside. Quite breathtaking.

Indeed, it is so breathtaking that it was chosen as the final resting place of David Ben Gurion, the founding father is Israel and his wife.

I rode on and was amazed to see yet another highlight - that of the ruined Nabataean city of Avdat, a UNESCO World Heritage site. I had to make a decision that I was not too proud of - namely of not visiting it, as it was already 3 in the afternoon...even though I did have a special connection to it - on this site, Jesus Christ Superstar was filmed - and this musical had been a big favorite from my childhood. Oh well, one reason to return...At the foot of the city, I had some fast food for lunch - and met two Israeli long-range bikers, actually, the first ones on this trip doing a multiple-day ride with luggage - well, I did make a note to return one of these days.

It was just before sunset that I reached Mitzpe Ramon, a small city at the ridge of the largest erosion cirque (or crater), known as theMakhtesh Ramon, which really is large - it is a crater that is 38km long, 6km wide and 450 meters deep. Try digging that out by hand!

I checked in to a bed & breakfast called Spice Quarter Inn, I should have said "tent & no breakfast", as that is what it was - just a couple of canopies of quarters of 4 to 6 people - as it was not full, I had a tent of my own. The owner quickly sent me to the edge of the crater, which was a few kilometers away, to catch the last rays of the sun over the canyon. It was quite a view, somewhat reminiscent of the sight at the Grand Canyon.

The battery in my cell phone died when I started taking the pictures, so it was two young and friendly lady doctors on a road trip, Lali and Ronit, who made the shorts and they forwarded these to me by WhatsApp.

It was in complete darkness that I got back to the inn. On the way "home", I reached for my jumper; mind you, for the first time on this trip (and it is wintertime in Israel), it was stuffed somewhere in my bag. As I was searching for it, I reach a bank note €200 shekels, the largest Israeli denomination. At the beginning of the trip, I took out shekels from an ATM, but all of these were €100 denominations. Where does this bank note come from? Did the owner of the biking bag leave it there? Not possible, as I had wiped the bags clean at the start. Oh my, could it be....from Guy, the person who invited me for dinner two nights ago?

I had Guy's WhatsApp contact and texted him - asking him if he was "responsible" for "forgetting" this amount in my bag. The answer was something I will never forget:

"G-o-d gave it to you.Not anybody else!And you worthit❤‍🔥And you are the champion💪🏻"

Well, thanks very much, Guy - it was indeed really very nice of you! So my stay in the kibbutz was practically for free!

Back at the inn, I chit-chatted with some other travelers - then I rested for the night. From a biking point of view, I was slacking that day, it was only 80 kilometers. Oh well...