Well, actually i can say that the Israel National Trail was in my mind before the military service when i was 19 years old. In fact, i have always dreamed to do a big trip in South America after i finish my military service. However, i promised myself that i won’t fly anywhere till i’ll know my own little country. So as i promised, i finished the army service at the end of July and after less than a week, i started with the preparations. First i had to find good partners for this kind of trip. To be honest, that was the hardest part. I understood after two weeks that none of my friend was serious enough about these 1000 km of hiking. So, i started to looking for partners on the internet. At the same time i started to learn about the hike by reading on the web. After that i bought the equipment . I didn’t have a lot of experience in hiking before but for me it was clear that “it’s all in the mind ” so i didn’t felt necessary to practice before. One week before i started i finally found a partner. We started together on the 31 sep 2013 in the northmost point “Tel Dan”. The first few days weren’t so easy because the weather was really hot and we had some problems keeping up with the pace. But after a few days we got better, the temperatures dropped and another two girls joined us for a few days. Besides, all the time we met another people and it mad us feel better. After the girls returned back home another guy joined us. My partners have changed few times during the trail. The first partner retired after one month and i continued with the other guy that joined us. After almost two month of walking we finished the trail in the southmost point in “Almog Beach- Eilat”.
Certainly, the nature is a great part of the way. It’s amazing that in this very little country you can see such a variety of views. In the north all the green vegetation, rivers and of course nice weather, and in the south part a special vast expanses of desert . But, this trail is not only about the nature. The great part is the human beauty. First the people who also hike the trail . The nice conversations , the sharing and all the relationships that developed on the way. Also the special kind of people. In the way you pass through different places and meet the people who live there. In Israel we have an unique population range . Jews ,muslims, Christians, religious, seculars, people of the city people of the village or kibutts, vegans or hippie Communities and lots of colors… there are also a lot of people that saw us on the way and were so kind to us and even said that they are proud of us .
And the last and most important are the “angels”. These amazing people that hosted us all over the way, opened their homes and hearts and asked nothing in return. Most of them did the trail or big part of it and told us about their experiences. I have no words to describe how thankful i am for the opportunity to know these great “angels” that got this name for a reason.
At the end I can definitely say that now i know my country better. The trail taught me important things about the environment, about people and even about myself.
