Arrival in Israel

Today was extremely hot and jolly tough. The ride along the coast was, of course, profoundly flat. Of course it was not literally flat. The difference between the two consisted of rather a lot of killer hills executed with grace and aplomb beneath a blazing sun. In a glorious metaphorical moment Asaf took me by the hand and pulled me up the last part of the hardest hill. What can I say? It sums up so many things about this trip - help, companionship, encouragement, brotherhood....
We cycled around 65km - and of course for every up there is always a down, and the downs were as fabulous and fast as they always are.
Lunch was in Taba, on the Gulf of Aqaba, where we swam in the fabulous blue water and continued our ongoing pattern of eating enough to feed a camel for a week.
After lunch we cycled on another 5km to the Israeli border, passing camels wandering in the road.
Passport control was slow but fine, and then we were in Israel.
We understand that, from the blog and the photographs some people feel we may be on a bit of what my grandmother would call a jolly. In fact, despite the moments of levity, relaxation, over eating, laughter, swimming, sleeping, camel riding, star gazing, late-night chatting, monastery visiting and emailing, we are working incredibly hard covering vast mileage, with hills that turn your legs to jelly and free wheeling descents at excessive speeds that barely give time for recovery before the next one starts
We are thrilled to have crossed the border into the land of milk and honey. We will miss the vibrant and inspiring mountains of the Sinai, but we have more time in the desert (this time the Negev) to come.
Israel is for most of us a place of great significance. It is dark as I write and we are enjoying a brief bus respite as we move away from the border to tonight's Bedouin camp. The exhaustion of the hills is already behind us and we are looking forward to the challenges ahead
Highlights of today - going uphill and getting to the top, going downhill without knowing that a huge uphill lay round the corner, Victoria's rolos, Peter's dates, swimming in the Gulf of Aqaba, spectacular views - asp of Saladdin's crusader castle in the Gulf (fabulous and ancient), the security guard leaving Egypt who was texting as our bags went through, seeing the Welcome to Israel sign - MAKING IT as a group, all this way, intact and together and friends.
This is, in summary the most challenging, exhausting, hot, happy, companionable and moving trip you could imagine. We wish you were here.
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