Reaching Eilat, Day 0 on Israel National Trail

Two hours late, l arrived at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport from London Heathrow at around 5.25 am, tired after not being able to sleep. Fortunately I was not held up too much at passport control and my rucksack was one of the earlier items sliding down onto the luggage belt with a thump. This left me two hours before the flight left for Eilat. While it should be plenty I first had to find where the shuttle bus from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 departed from. After reaching the right terminal the entrance marked "Domestic" was blocked. In response to my question "Eilat?" people indicated that I should join the queue to check in at the International departures end of the building. The queue moved extremely slowly as security questions were being asked. In addition to the usual, such as "Has anyone asked you to carry anything?", I was questioned by a stern looking lady in uniform as to where my surname originated from. Did she think it sounded Arabic? I explained it was from the south of England although the family moved to Wales a few generations ago. Thus satisfied a label was attached to my bag and I was able to check in. Soon I was looking down from the sky on the built up area of white tower blocks and houses around Tel Aviv (not ideal looking walking country) before climbing over sun lit cloud cover. 30 minutes or so later the cloud cleared and I was looking down at empty, brown desert with dry wadis and cliff lined ridges, something of a contrast.

View of Small Crater (Makhtesh Katan)

Having extracted a ticket from the machine in the entrance hall of the empty new Ramon airport I caught the number 50 bus, passing the road to nearby Be'er Ora, a settlement I hoped to visit for groceries in a few days time.

Eilat had a lot of modern looking hotels, touristy shops for clothes and cafes. I walked a little way on the pedestrian path behind the beach, stopping for a large freshly pressed orange. People were starting to arranging their places on the beach as the sun warmed us up, others walked up and down by the kiosk I was sitting at. A child picked out notes on an outdoor public piano. A man sat down with the lid of a cardboard box in front of him. A sign boasted of the many festivals taking place in Eilat this winter. I noticed all the trees had individual numbers, presumably tended on an individual basis. Various signs and monuments exhorted peace. 

Eilat seafront

I walked to my hotel (Hotel Prima Music) at Coral beach passing industrial ports where new cars from the Far East were being unloaded. Some of the industrial plant and walls were painted with sea scenes to brighten them up. After checking in I ordered a chicken souvlaki for lunch by the sea, it was a huge plate which I failed to clear, watched by three cats. It was a pleasant watching kite surfers speed across the sea. The waitress made it clear that service was not included as I paid the bill.

Tired through lack of sleep and full of food, I showered and dozed away the afternoon in my bed, eventually disturbed by one of the hotel staff knocking with a bottle of water and three Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Hope she did not realise I was hiding my naked body behind the door!

In the evening Coral beach reverberated to the sound of music from different venues. Across the water the lights of Eilat and maybe Aquba created a romantic backdrop for a couple on the small breakwater. I headed back for an early night.