Beach Beach

My alarm jolts me it of a sound, drunken sleep at 6:45. As usual, there's no hangover but I down a liter of water to be safe. I know I'm dehydrated and we have a hike today in the hot, Israeli sun. I walk over to the dining hall and help myself to eggs, bread and hummus. I make sure to grab a couple of the juicy kibbutz pears for later, it's going to be a long day.

We drive to Nahal Kziv and take in the view from the top of the mountain. The crusader's castle protrudes from the trees, looking oddly out of place amongst the greenery. I'm eager to climb down to the bottom, just so I can get back to the top. We go at a gentle pace and talk amongst each other, lamenting over the Leaf's game 1 loss last night.

We reach the bottom and stop at an unimpressive river, the Nahal Kziv. It looks more like a creek to me. Either way it gives us a chance to dip our heads and caps in the water. I feel magnificent as my soaked KNVB hat pours water on my head. I submerge my face in the river and come out wet and smiling. This is my idea of a vacation!

We cross the river, stepping on stones to keep our feet dry. Carrying on, we cross the river again. And again. And again. This is a poorly designed trail, but luckily my hiking boots keep my socks dry.  Finally it's time for what I've been waiting for, our ascent. We walk through the sun, taking shelter in any shade we can find. I offer water to people as I pass them by until I reach the front of the pack. I ask Eilam to teach me an Israeli hiking song. I don't know any of the words but I wiping them back to him as best I can. It's a wonderful tune, and brightens the hike.

When we finally reach the top I drink the last drops of now tepid water from my bottle and replenish my supply from the merchant at the top. I resist the urge for ice cream, the hike wasn't so bad. I take in the view, appreciating it more this time since I've now earned it. I sit under AC on the bus sipping ice cold water as the rest of the group reaches the summit and makes a beeline for the ice cream man. The swaying of the bus as it winds down the narrow mountain roads is soothing and I drift off to sleep.

We get to the beach in good time and the schedule allots us 2.5 hours to swim. I run for the dressing room, throw on my swim trunks and splash right into the Mediterranean. The water is colder than I expected but I hardly notice. We're all still covered in sweat and dirt from our hike and the salty sea feels like it washes everything away. We throw a frisbee, play soccer and splash each other. It feels great to completely unwind and wash away the strain of the hike.

Our time is up after what feels like a minute and we move on to our last stop of the day. The grottos are pools of bright blue water, created from dripping water and sea waves. It's easy to lose yourself in their hypnotic colour. We take the cable car back to the bus and drive to our next kibbutz.

The 7 shekel shots of arak are hard to resist and I wake up with the taste of licorice still in my mouth.

Hebrew word of the day, water: מים (ma-yeem)