Shaharut to Neot Smadar on Israel National Trail: Day 5

Some ancient remains, sand dunes and a long walk close to the road constituted today's endeavour.

Leaving the Camel Riders Camp early, before the others were up I followed the trail over some rocky hills to some archaeological remains. Heaps of stones marked the walls of ancient dwellings, protected by faded signs and a half-hearted string of old barbed wire. Later, a more modern enclosure with an explanation in Hebrew also included what looked like representations of animals marked by small stones. According to the guide the remains are up to 6000 years old.

Archaeological remains

The sand dune of Kasui, appeared to me more like sand that had accumulated on one side of a rocky hill rather than a true sand dune. The Negev is very much a rocky rather than a sandy desert.

Sand dunes of Kasui

The last, long section of trail today was within a few hundred metres of the road in a broad valley  below some electricity pylons. There was a little vegetation, some small flowers, bushes and a group of palms. 

A less exciting piece of the route

As it was flat I made fast progress reaching the restaurant at the road junction near the Neot Smadar kibbutz at noon. I had intended to camp here but outside the fence of the restaurant the area was not attractive. After lunch the staff at the restaurant encouraged me to call the kibbutz to see if a guest house was free. I had thought them closed at the weekend but it seems it was just that meals were not available, so I am now in a guest room. They were a little further away than I expected, about a kilometre east of the kibbutz with its unusual, "artistic" water cooling tower. Only difficulty is finding someone to pay.....

24.8 kilometres waked today with a 282 metre total ascent (pretty flat most of the way).