Desert time

Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Eilat, Israel
I've been to a bunch of climate zones, but never in a desert. So this was a good chance to check it out, since Negev desert is right next to Eilat. Luckily there was Timna National park within a short driving distance from the hotel. The park has some historical artifacts from the time of ancient Egyptian copper mining operation as well as interesting geological formations like Mushroom, Arches and Solomon's pillars.

We wanted to get to the park in the early morning, but overslept and got there around 2 PM, a pretty bad time to be in the desert . We took 4 1.5-litre bottles of water with us, which should be a safe amount, but the car's gas tank was running a bit low. As we drove into the park, the car's thermometer read 39C. Combine this level of heat with lack of shade and inhumanely low humidity and you'll get a feeling you're inside a giant oven getting slowly roasted. At the entrance we paid the park's fee and got a brochure with a map. The first part of the tour was supposed to be a short film, but movie theatre didn't work due to the lack of electricity. So we simply started driving to the first landmark.

This park really did feel like a desert - bare, vast, empty, rocky, isolated and unbearably hot. It felt like that you could die there if you run out of water or gas (and the gas was running uncomfortably low). There were very few people around and nobody was hiking during that time of the day. We drove along a single-lane road from landmark to landmark, jumped out from the car for only as long as necessary to walk to the thing and take a couple of photos. We saw all the rock formations in the park, the ancient copper mining camp and copper mine shafts, remains of a small temple and several rock carvings.

At the end of the road we reached a small oasis with a lake, some trees and a restaurant. The restaurant had no food because Passover was coming up and they had to do some procedures related to that. Israel has some really strict rules about kosher food, especially for Passover . Instead of food we got a couple of ice creams and some free sweet tea. There was also a place to fill small bottles with coloured sand. There was a ton of children crowding the sand, but we managed to fill our bottles anyway. We also refilled one of the water bottles to avoid death from dehydration.

On the way back from the oasis we stopped at the last landmark: Solomon's pillars. Historians doubt that king Solomon was actually involved with copper mining in that region, so the name is probably false. In any case the pillars were 3 impressive rock structures formed from a sandstone cliff by erosion. I also climbed a path along the cliff's face to see ancient rock carving of Egyptian pharaoh Ramses III giving an offering to Hathor, goddess of mining.

We left the park exhausted from the heat and with low gas light on. The nearest gas station was near the kibbutz that I wanted to visit: Yotvata. They are famous for their dairy and ice cream . Luckily there was enough gas to get there. We checked out the kibbutz's shopping centre, got some lunch there (guy working there was really nice and kept insisting we get more food on the plate) and tried the ice cream (cherry was way too sweet). Filling up the car was also an adventure: the gas station was automated and you had to enter cell phone, car's license plate and the gas nozzle's number to pay.

After all that we drove back to Eilat and stopped at a large plaza on the way. It's interesting that they have a really good selection of perfume and bath supplies here.

Comments

Motherjulia
2016-04-22

I like oasis

2025-02-12

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