Yariv dropped me off at the Ein Gedi hostel, next door to Kibbutz Ein Gedi. He was wowed with the set up. This was not “glamping” but more like “hostel in the desert with air conditioning”. Yes, the tents had air conditioning units in them. It is the only thing that made the living experience bearable. We said our goodbyes and Yariv really looked like he wanted to stay with me. The kids were sleeping in the back seat. Maya wasn’t feeling well. He had to take the family home. I had not realized how people were vicariously experiencing the joy of travel simply through knowing me.

The Ein Gedi Hostel had a bar that sold beer and food. They had excellent hummus and pita there, perfect for the desert scenery. And about that scenery, you couldn’t get closer to the desert mountains. The rest of the food options were chicken shnitzel and pizza, prepared just fine considering I was out in the middle of nowhere. The hostel is located on the bus route that takes you directly to the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve so you can get there nice and early for hiking. The hostel had bathroom and shower facilities and an outdoor prep kitchen with refrigerators and freezers. I would keep my water bottle in the freezer to have ice cold water for my morning hike.

The lounge area of the hostel had couches and hammocks and large fans to circulate air. Throughout the day there were people just hanging out there looking at the mountains, playing cards, drinking beers, playing pool or napping. There was one family from Europe who brought an infant and a toddler there. I thought this was inappropriate. There wasn’t enough for the toddler to do so he was misbehaving. The infant was crying frequently and you can hear the crying through the tents. Tents = no walls. The hum of the air conditioning helped drown out the sound at night though. It was a really confusing feeling and I was not sure how selfish I was being. There is no reality where hostels in the desert are appropriate places for children on vacation. I think the parents wanted to experience this and decided that the rest of us would have to put up with their children whether we like it or not. I was looking forward to being able to stare out into the distance in silence and feel and hear the desert breeze. Unfortunately, on this trip, I couldn’t do that because this family would spend all day in the lounge and take over the space as they let their toddler run around.

Inside the air conditioned tents were a set of padding mats for the 4-6 people who would be sharing a tent. Usually, you’d be sharing with strangers. The roommates in my tent the first night were lovely girls from Germany who had rented a car. Of course we chatted a bunch and I told them about my three months in Europe. The following morning, they gave me a ride to the nature reserve. We stopped at the “Kalbo” supermarket at Kibbutz Ein Gedi on the way there to get food for our hikes. I picked up hummus and freshly made pita and fruit. We hiked separately. They were not returning to the hostel so I figured I would take the bus back.

Ein Gedi is one of the places I had not visited before so I was really excited to do this hike. It was really spectacular. It just kept getting better and better. There’s not much vegetation. The views are endless. There are only a handful of main paths and a few short offshoots. I wanted to make my way to the top and find the natural spring. This time of year, there was not much spring there. There were a few scary, narrow edges but most of the path was safe. Getting to the top was rewarding but I was hoping to see a bunch of spring water to cool off. That started looking less and less likely.

On my way back down, I chose to take a detour on a marked path, not a circuitous one, so I’d have to turn around at some point to get back to the entrance. I stumbled upon a small swimming hole. There were two local Hebrew-speaking guys in there having fun and taking pictures. I thought this would be the perfect picnic spot. I pulled out my hummus and pita and found a shady spot under a rock. One of the local guys jumped into the water and relished in Yiddish, “michaya”. That’s the phrase when something tastes or feels reallllly good. Of course I freaked out immediately because people don’t really speak Yiddish in Israel. I asked him how he knows that phrase and he said his grandma says it. I took a few pictures of him and his friend and in return, he took a few pictures of me.

I made my way back to the entrance of the reserve where they had a concession store. This place also served very cold beer. I decided that even though I was a bit dehydrated, I deserved a cold one. I was glad to continue my tradition of cold beer on hot days from Europe. They made it very easy to do in Israel. Around the same time I was getting my drink order, my tentmates arrived. We talked about our hiking experiences together and they gave me a ride back to the hostel and they left on their merry way.

That night, I aimed to have a psychadelic experience. I really wanted to meet the famous desert hippies. I figured there must be some party or experience where I could watch the stars at night and find the true purpose to my life. Instead, I chilled at the bar and watched the new hot Australian girl who arrived flirt her brains out with a local Israeli guy who lives on the kibbutz. He told her that he would take her and some other people in the pitch black, to unmarked hot springs in the desert. They were so drunk and they got in the car together. I wondered if not joining them was an excellent decision or if this was the invitation to my psychadelic experience and I had missed the opportunity!

The next morning, I did not see the group of people. I never did find out what happened to them. I was certainly curious. They were really quite handsy the previous night.

In addition to my ice cold beer tradition, which I would partake in yet again on my second day, I have a tradition of crashing fancy hotel pools. Dear followers, you know this about me already. I’m a master at this. If the pool has a mountain view, well, I’m done for the day. And so I went to the Kibbutz Ein Gedi Hotel pool. I bought a cold beer and a microwave pizza. There was a small group of European tourists who had taken the seats with the best views. They only stayed for an hour. Once they left, I snatched a chair. I was in heaven.