Flooding? Only of experiences

Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein

• Tourism
• Trips in the country
• Trips in the South

While the entire country is flooded, ie the north and the center, the prairie is still dry, the sky is blue and the blossoms are blooming. We found a winter vacation that includes a hot-tab under the stars, an agricultural market, yoga that prepares you for the desert and the best pizza in the area

Ziv Reinstein

At evening, I arrived at the bed and removed my clothes in favor of the white robe that was waiting for me in the bathroom. For me, a hot tub is a "No Go" item with three exclamation points in every room in the world, but the desert chill also bends the principles of the strongest guest. I walked anxiously to the bubbling bath with sounds, bubbles, and lights, removing the robe that enveloped my body and made a return to the warm womb. I stretched in the pleasant water that made me think of other couples stretching in front of me, and imprinted my grief and principles that were washed away in the boutique capital of the Arava for a moment, waiting in the tiny fridge in the room. Yes, sometimes you can give up principles for the hat-tab under a canopy.

While the whole state was flooded, and "the whole state" meant north and center, it was a good time for me to excel. The middle prairie, which stretches between Moshav Idan in the north and Moshav Faran in the south, was set as a worthy destination for this season because it had rained in the past month, which could quickly disappear into the pavement of seething soil, and still managed to bloom something in the brown wasteland.

In general, the prairie is blooming these days, and not just botanical. Winter is the most beautiful time, and while the north and center are flooded with water, the south is flooded with events. From the "Arab Prairie" festival held last November, through the riding and running event "Spirit Reade Prairie" and "Arava Challenge" to be held in the last two weekends of January until the event "Open Homes", which will also take place as a pilot soon. Little to do in our nearly southern breeze.

"Drop your shoes and worries before entering the room"

On the stream of Meshus, Nah Tsofar, the observer of the settlement of Tzukim on its dozens of Zimmer. Northern couples fill and fill the huts of the next few months, at least until May, but it was refreshing to also see two tourist pairs, one German, and one Eastern European country that I did not find their language, sitting at the "Nof Zukim" Zimmer complex this week. .

Tomer Linzenberg and his wife, Dorit, who hosted me in one of their huts, opened the place just six years ago, in January 2014. Two landlords who were familiar with a study tour and also engaged in agriculture, decided that it was better to grow experiences than vegetables. "Not many tourists come to the Zimmer, something like 20 percent of all guests," explains Tomer at breakfast, "but it's starting to wake up," referring to Ramon Airport, which opened in the Arava a year ago.

Sleeping in the Zimmer is definitely nice, but what to do when getting up? So I went out at dawn, one of the younger family members, for a ride along the Zofar River. The desert column flowers are already blooming in purple-white, and the helical method has received a dark green shade of many waters it has been drinking. The views are breathtaking, enough to climb a hill for an impressive view and open heart and look. In addition to the trailers cabin he and his family set up for travelers on the trail that runs nearby, Dawn also developed a game called "Escape Desert" - a route that combines escape room and basic navigation with missions, with the "room" being nature and the Israelis, after all, die every escape room . Nice, but not for me. To me it was something else.

Sitting right on the Horn of Eshs-Horn. Zimmer in Cliff Landscape (Photo: Ziv Reinstein)

"View of Cliffs" in the Arava (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)

The farmer who decided to grow experiences. Tomer Linzenberg in "Cliff Landscape" (Photo: Ziv Reinstein)

Tomer Linzenberg Zimmer "Cliff Landscape" (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)

Desert Preparation Lesson

A minute's walk from the Zimmer, I met Noa Talashir, a Kundalini Yoga instructor, in the workshop complex the daughter built for the Lutzenberg family with her partner a year ago. "Drop your shoes and worries before entering the room," a small sign posted at the entrance, and I did. I sat down on a mattress in front of Noa, who began to conceptualize me, and I combined the mantras of "sat" (truth) and "nam" (identity). "It's difficult to make that transition between the jungle of the center and the desert frequency," says Noa, who helps guests experience the thing they actually came to - a quiet one.

Noa also offers pre-arranged classes (Nos. 054-6761695, NIS 50 per guest), but she also has her own cliff clinic, where she combines psychotherapy and Kundalini - a yoga that is about raising our energy and exercising it with breath, postures and mantras.

Help you move from the jungle to the desert. Noa Talashir practices Kundalini yoga (Photo: Ziv Reinstein)

Noa Talashir Kundalini Yoga instructor in the cliffs (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)

The rains went down leaving a green bloom. Bike tour in Nahal Zofar (Photo: Ziv Reinstein)

Bicycle excursion on the Tzofar River (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)

Israel's "Route 66"

With full energy and an empty stomach, I packed my small bag (surprisingly how little it should take for a night in the Zimmer, including in the winter), and drove minutes to the "deli" in the culinary complex next to the gas station at the cliff entrance. "Culinary compound"? Yes, when there are three places dealing with food in the Arava - "Ursula", "the deli" and "prairie beer" - it is considered one of the "compound".

The fact that "Ursula" is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, I used to relish some of the foods that have been preparing for a few years a strong rival, the one under whom Smilansky Tapas Bar in Beer Sheva. Two gemstones deposited on the premises fed a number of men sitting at a high table and an interesting sandwich lay on it. Delicacies in the delicatessen are locally sourced but imported here and there. The price is also high quality and not very expensive, and the menu on the wall says chalk that you can order an entrecote sandwich (45 NIS), roast beef (42 NIS), Balkan shakshuka (45 NIS) and a tortellini filled with pumpkin or mushroom and cheese (46 NIS) and more Stuff. I actually went for the market salad (40 sh) and zucchini soup (35 sh) for upholstery in advance. Delicious in the deli on Route 90 - Israel's "Route 66". The dishes are satisfying, the selection is great for the vegan and the meat lover, and don't have to travel too far.

For less pampered but no less delicious food, you have to go to Ein Yahav in the northern Arava. Half an hour drive from cliffs, but for Sagi Hermoni's pizza from the "Pizza Trailer" you should also come from the center. After years of working in the field of food and agriculture, Hermoni decided that a good slice also came to Arava. He first made pizzas at the Zimmer complex in the moshav, but over time moved to a more prominent place - near the "market warehouses" at the entrance to the moshav - the regional super. There, right in the driveway, stands the trailer where he makes one thing - pizza, and it's just delicious.

Everyday from noon to 8 pm, Hermony prepares pizza trays with toppings (NIS 75-50 per family tray), all from natural ingredients only. "The most popular dish is Greek pizza, which includes olives and onions," he explains. You can also find the pizza at the events and festivals that take place in the prairie, but don't worry - won't you come to the prairie? The pizza on the wheels will reach you for private events, and Hermoni will bring it even to the Hermon (when the road is closed, yes?). Book: 052-3666811.

Delicious, available and mostly open. "Route 90 deli" (Photo: Ziv Reinstein)

The deli Route 90 near the settlement of Cliffs (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)

Hermoni will come to Hermon with his pizza. The "Pizza Trailer" in Ein Yahav (Photo: Ziv Reinstein)

Pizza Trailer in Ein Yahav (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)

From the field to Poika

Still around for food, but more into his raw products, I jumped to experience the shitin next to the quarry seat. Established in 2017, the farm is the fruit of the "Beit Sheetin" association whose purpose is to educate, strengthen and expose the Arava in a Zionist, agricultural and colonial way, so that the farm is actually a bridge between Eilat to which Israel is free and the Middle Arava, and it is about 180 km. So long on the prairie products - served with love. So the farm grows everything that can be grown in the area (not just yellow peppers and dates), cabbage, green onions, cherry tomatoes of course and more, with the goal: let's be farmers for one day.

Even so, agriculture in Israel is dying and most unprofitable to be a farmer when today's greenhouses are mainly grown by high-techers, so here is the opportunity to understand what and how to get to your plate, and in the case of the farm - also to Fuika. Make no mistake, this is not a self-harvesting, but a two-three hour tour (25 NIS per person, with a 40 NIS meal from age 3) where you will plant the nurseries, make the dahlia pepper and all under the guidance of experienced farmers who will farm you as ever. "There is a micro cosmos here of the prairie crops," says Michal Meltzer who runs the farm, "and we connect the people to farming, tasting tomatoes or pulling carrots and then cooking poke casserole from vegetables that they collect or shake, and of course, eat." And if you come to stock the prairie vegetables, every Friday there is a farm market farm at 10am and 12am, then it's time to stock up on some sweet cherry tomatoes that parents distribute as "sweets". Schedule a visit: 052-2181665.

Connects travelers to agriculture. Michal Meltzer on the farm between the shittin (Photo: Ziv Reinstein)

Farms between the shiitin near Moshav Hatzeva (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)

Night patrol

It was already dusk in the evening, while it was always beautiful in the area, so I went back a little south to Moshav Zofar to meet Estee Hirsch, a guide who passes both jeep tours and mosaic workshops and how to do it without any hassle - a must-have item in every family night tour in recent years.

Settled inside her jeep, Estee made her way through the "Spice Road", which in the past also led to the Moa and short Nabatean fortresses, but we stopped on a small, deserted and unpowered sidewalk - from Rachel. The fort, which is about 2200 years old, was erected above Ein Rachel - a spring on the "axis of springs" long ago disrupted, while today only the water ponds of "Mekorot" drillings that rely on high, saline groundwater are visible. "In earthquakes that were here in the past, such as the 1990s, groundwater could be seen rising to the surface," Estee explains the interpretation of the name of the "axis of springs." On the other hand, there are still a number of rooms left on the floor, as well as an ancient sprouting hat-tab that still carries an old plaster layer, which is not even seen in the most well-kept baths in the country. It is a pity that it is crumbling and no one preserves this rare find. The prairie is also a periphery in archeology, apparently.

We continued to be accurate (a geological product of volcanic activity in the area) and looked east. Mountains of red were painted red, and it was Esti's time to take out the lamps. Less my section, but Estee also makes cute fun games and puzzles for families, with "Look for the cache" and more. Talk to her, she will upgrade your visit (052-4260586).

Explain the area with lamps and explanations. Esther Hirsch on Rachel's side (Photo: Ziv Reinstein)

Tour guide Estee Hirsch Middle Prairie (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)

For the center, I chose to repeat "The Road of Peace," not that of the Tessy Parr of the Ayalon route, but the one that leads a kind of Yahav south to the era along the Jordanian border. Darkness had already enveloped the never-ending sky of Highway 90 in recent twilight, but there was still a last light. Fun in January the sun begins to drop a little later - "Who would have thought that a summer clock was already approaching?" I thought to my self. Now you just have to wait for the rains to fill the many dunes in the prairie - because Cold-Tab is a must-have item for any summer hiker.

Something hot for the evening. Soup at the deli (Photo: Ziv Reinstein)

Soup Deli Road 90 near the settlement of Zukim (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)

You can also rest between activity and activity. View from Zimmer in "Cliff Landscape" (Photo: Ziv Reinstein)

"View of Cliffs" (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)

Is it cabbage or big flowers? Farms between the shiitin (Photo: Ziv Reinstein)

Cabbage farms between the shiitin (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)

NIS 50 to NIS 75 for Family Pizza in "Pizza Trailer" (Photo: Ziv Reinstein)

Pizza Trailer in Ein Yahav (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)

"Drop your shoes and worries before entering the room." Workshop complex in "Cliff Landscape" (Photo: Ziv Reinstein)

Noa Talashir Kundalini Yoga instructor in the cliffs (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)

Don't lock yourself in to the view. Lovers' bench over Nahal Zofar (Photo: Ziv Reinstein)

Bench over the Tzofar River in the middle Arava (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)