The Negev's Grand Arad

One of the oldest cities in the world, most have never heard of; Arad.

And it was our pleasure for Arad to host us;

we went on a wonderful tour of the city, starting with Thursday evening going to an up-scale boutique hotel.

I have to say, one gorgeous room.

Breakfast the next morning was even better; the food was fantastically made. I used to work at Starbucks, so I know how to make coffee. But the latte I received was probably the best I've had in my life. It's a toss up between it and latte I had in Hungary about a year ago, but my gut is telling me the one I had in the morning was better.

The eggs were well made, and the orange juice superb. I have to admit, I absolutely gorged myself on the tuna salad with bread. They made enough for us we actually made a few sandwiches with it. So no complaints there, they gave us so much breakfast we could make lunch.

After that we loaded up in the hotel owner's van, and were on our way for a 7 hour hike in the Negev.

It started off somewhat boringly, but this was a good thing; within fifteen minutes of starting we reached an ancient fortress, where a native archaeologist was surveying the ruins.

These ruins, as someone who is an aspiring archaeologist (its part of the reason I came to Israel, to finish my education in the field and then get digging) I was impressed. The ruins we visited were literally described as the edge of civilization from the time it dated back to, in the late 8th and 7th century B.C., and later was an outpost for later groups, which extended the fortress (which by that time had existed for a thousand years) including an outer wall for defense, while reducing the size of the barracks and interior earthworks.

We then continued our trek. Arad is very dry, it is in the middle of a long reaching desert that composes the rest of the middle east, but every now and again it receives a huge amount of water a few times during the year. When this happens, a flash flood occurs, winding its way through the desert and replenishing the water holes and inner cave system that spread across the area.

Our hike took us within one of the larger ravines that are carved by these flash floods, out of all the hikes I have done, this one was one of the most enjoyable, as difficult as it was in the dry heat. We each brought 2-3 liters of water, and were sharing water by the end because we still didn't bring enough between the five of us!

We took a break here. It was a natural forming crevice system in the ravine. In other words, a natural couch.

Here was the guard who accompanied us. A quiet fellow who took a nap whenever we rested. He is a bedouin and knows the area extremely well, as they all do. There waterholes are for the sheep and goat herds the Bedouin keep, and each family and tribe has their own. There are thousands that date back hundreds of years. He took the time to clear a few of the wells, and pulled water up for any passing camels or other animals to take.

We had dinner at Muza- one of the best restaurants in Arad; they have a burger as big as your face. And it is a good burger. I have had hamburgers all of Israel, from Jerusalem (where they barely bothered to cook the burger. Perhaps if you're French you like raw beef, but I like my burgers cooked) to Mcdonalds (have you seen such tiny portions for fifty shekels? American $13) See for yourself-

I mean, look a at that thing. It's not much smaller than the entire pizza next to it. And it's well cooked, delicious, and frankly better than any burger I've even had in the U.S.

The beer is sumptuous, and the owner knows what he is doing. He was visibly angry when we were served beer without a coaster that matched the brand we had bought.

There is also a rule at MUZA- smoking is allowed outside, but if you dare, DARE to bring an outside lighter, you will be given a MUZA lighter to keep. And you have to use it.

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That evening we mosied onto another place to stay the evenings; we stayed at a local bed and breakfast- Arad specializes in small hostels that are situated in homes.

Here is the one we visited, they have very nice accommodations;

We finished the day with a wonderful jeep tour of the area, where we traversed a huge amount of Arad;

That's the thing about Arad- most don't know about it. It's the closest city to the Dead Sea, a huge attraction for anyone visiting the Dead Sea, which is a must do if you are visiting Israel. You haven't really gone to Israel if you haven't.

But a lot of people don't realize there is much to do outside of visiting the Dead Sea and Masada- there are hikes to have, backpacking even, there are wonderful places to stay, from five star hotels to excellently accommodated smaller places where the home is made welcome. We ended up staying with some travelers from Tibet, from excellent dining to wonderful day trips through the desert visiting local fantastic locations, and even Bedouin.

You simply cannot appreciate Israel fully without coming to this place, remote as it is. The travel is more than worth what you can do here, and honestly, this is Israel at its fullest; life worth living.