I decided to change up my usual style of posts. When I travel I like to keep a journal so I can write down memories, names, places, emotions and anything else I want to document. I decided that since blogging is sort of like writing a journal, except you publish it for everyone to read, I should combine the two and see what happens.
Keep in mind that I have changed somethings for the sake of flow because I was writing this on a bumpy bus ride (which resulted in bad hand writing) and in extreme heat conditions (which caused some of my sentences to make no sense). They are still my thoughts of course and I hope you enjoy it.
May/June 2014,
I highly doubt I will ever be on a bus this hot again. If I am I will remember this moment and remind myself that I only passed out once, and I lived so I'll survive the next sweltering bus ride.
I am being serious, I'm pretty sure my friends and I just collectively passed out from the heat.
I can feel the sweat dripping down my back, and I am starting to get itchy...is that normal? I am thankful I wore my bikini top under my shirt today, as I had to take the shirt off an hour ago. I am usually a modest person but as mentioned I am with friends and we are in the middle of the Negev desert, there is no need for modesty.
I should be trying to keep as still as possible but it has been a few days since I wrote anything and I want to keep this journal updated. We are currently on our way back to Jerusalem after spending two days camping at the Dead Sea and near Eilat. Camping under the stars was incredible.
We also went on a hike at Wadi Boqeq, which is a beautiful little oasis. This desert is a unique beauty of its own. I know it can be strange to think of sand as beautiful unless it is in a beach, but this vast landscape of nothing but sand and dirt and hills/cliffs made from this sand and dirt is like nothing I've ever seen.
I swan in an ocean for the first time today! Okay, technically it was a Sea--The Red Sea--but it still counts right? What is the difference anyway?
The water was so refreshing and I did not freak out when I saw the fish swimming near my feet. #overcomingirrationalfears
We pass by these hills, which are home to caves from hundreds of years ago. As we travel along this bumpy, dusty road it is as though we are the only ones out here. Occasionally we pass by a Bedouin settlement, giving us a glimpse at another lifestyle we will see throughout the rest of our trip. Did I mention this was only Day 6 of a five and a half week trip? We also pass little towns which are, like us for the duration of the trip, surrounded by the desert and for them, this heat is something they endure everyday. Once we get to Jerusalem, the weather will be more tolerable, but for most of the people living out here, going to Jerusalem to escape the heat of the desert is not even a luxury, its an impossibility. I have written my thoughts about the current situation on previous journal entries and I know that there will be many more filled with the frustrations of trying to understand why things are this way.
Okay, I am now getting too hot to even write. It is hard to tell if having the windows open is helping or not as there is no breeze. I will stop for now and write more when we arrive home and I have washed the sweat and sand off.
Happy Travels!
Labels: 2014, Adventure, Camping, Dead Sea, Eilat, Israel, Middle East, Negev Desert, Operation Groundswell, Palestine, Red Sea, Road Trip, Travel
