Eilat, here we come!

By tripadmin | July 26th, 2011 | ICE: Italy & Israel | 24 Comments
We woke up bright and early in the Bedouin tents (since it started getting hot around 6 am) and after a Bedouin-style breakfast (including freshly made pita), we made our way to the bus. We stopped at the place we were jeeping for davening because there was a conveniently located shul about 20 meters away. Once we davened, then it was time to jeep! We split up into our Jeeps and started out on a normal road. Then, all the sudden, we veered off course into the vast dessert. We bumped around through the dessert until we reached an overpass. There, we got off and learned about the Ramon crater. We learned that the crater was formed, not by a meteorite, but by water flowing from the top of the mountain into the Dead Sea. We also learned that when it rains, sometimes the crater causes flash floods and the bridge we were standing under had, at one time, been suspended completely over water. Then, we got back into the jeeps and took a complicated and rocky course to the Ramon crater. At one point, we went completely vertically down a cliff! It was almost like a roller coaster except we didn't have the comfort of knowing we were attached to the track! Finally, we arrived at a point overlooking the Ramon crater. What a sight it was! It was so massive, it was almost hard to believe that water caused all of that to happen. After an extremely fun Jeeping adventure, we began our long drive to Eilat. After freshening up in Eilat, we got free time on the Tayelet (boardwalk) next to the Red Sea. Some of us hung out in the shopping mall, and some of us browsed the stores lining the beach. Others just sat and admired the water that we would be delving into the very next day...