Yom Kippur report

Yesterday was Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. It apparently represents the beginning of the new year, and the day when the fate of the upcoming year is sealed. It is quite a national holiday here. Apparently, it is illegal to drive on Yom Kippur, except for emergency vehicles. That makes for a very quiet day. Even in this sleepy town, it was eerily quiet. No planes flying, no cars running, no engines at all anywhere. I rather enjoyed that.

I took advantage of the day off to go on a bit of a hike down into the valley below Sede Boqer (after doing some mundane things like cleaning and doing laundry). This time I went the other way up the valley (mostly west). It was quite beautiful. The floor of the wadi was a brilliant white, which apparently makes for a spectacular moonlight hike during the full moon. It is easy to see why - it would reflect just about all the incoming light. I'm sure you wouldn't need a flashlight at all during the full moon. The wadi went from a broad, flat dry stream bed, into a narrow, steep-sided canyon. Very cool, both literally and figuratively. It was several degrees cooler in the shade of the canyon walls, than out in the blasting sun on the white flats. I found a great little side canyon that was just wide enough to walk through, with walls maybe 10m high (photo below). Very cool area. The whole system is obviously popular - lots of candle remnants, and other spoor of late night hikes. Still, there was lots of evidence of nocturnal wildlife. Rodent burrows were everywhere, and I saw a few lizards around.

All in all, a good hike.