Manni's Shvil: Day 3: One surprise after the other

I got up at 6, organized my stuff, talked a bit to the lady the house and went to the supermarket. I bought among other items some cookies that I got to like. Being on a hike you start getting thankful for the little things in life. Ahead of me was a very nice part of the Shvil - the Wadi Kedesh. The Wadi was wonderful, but demanding and a little bit dangerous. It was not only slippery due to the rain but also my heavy backpack dragged me down. Then I walked to Yesha Fortress where you can visit a museum about the three battles that the Isrealis fought about this place. When you see the landscape and the dominating position of the Fort over the Hula valley, you understand that the Jews had to take it for the safety of the people in the Hula valley. It took three battles and 28 Jewish soldiers lost their lives. 28 means Yesha in Hebrew, that's where the name comes from. I felt that I was a bit under time pressure, because now it was already11 am and I had only started this 20 km long third part of the Shvil. My route offered a lot of nice views on the Hula valley and the Golan heights. I was praying while walking and especially one part of the Lord's prayer caught my attention: Jesus (Hebrew: Yeshua) taught us to pray "Heavenly father... These two words mean a lot, the almighty God calls us to be his children, and we can call him Father (Abba) - really a big thing!

I met a nice family from Arava (in the South) who are growing dates. I reached the highest point of the Naftali mountains where I had my lunch. I ate pita and tuna the Israel way - with my fingers.

Still I felt that I was too late and decided to take a shortcut along the street. I came to the Dishon stream which was another highlight. It's amazing how wonderful Israel is in spring. People told me that this year is special because of all the rain Israel had this winter. I enjoyed the stream that I had to cross very often (without a bridge of course). I felt that I needed to speed up, because I didn't want to disturb my Shvil angels in Kibbuz Yir'on on their Shabes (Sabbath). For the last 2-3 km I was nearly sprinting. I met a very nice couple at the end of the stream, hitchhiked to the Kibbuz and was quite exhausted. I used my remaining strength for this blog and intended to go to bed early. Suddenly I heard the voice in Hebrew. A man was knocking at my door and wanted to share the room for the night. His name was Boas - a very nice guy from Ramat Gan. We had a wonderful evening together and enjoyed our fellowship. We were talking about women (of course), God (very deeply) and had a great time together. Boas invited me to his Mana chama and it got later than planned.

What an intense adventurous day!