One scene

It was our first night on the Jesus Trail. We had run from Jaffa gate a mile to the Central Bus Station with 30lb packs on our backs. One person made the bus behind us and the rest were going to have to wait 2 hours for the next one. At our layover in Afula a problem in the scheduling forced us to wait 2 hours for a bus to Nazareth. By the time we stepped out, we were already a bit bus lagged. On the other hand, we were in Nazareth. Who gets to go to Nazareth every day? 64000 people according to google.

But as I said, the scene is a night one. We've been hiking 5 hours, 3 of which have been since after sundown. We actually spent the last hour down a rabbit trail that we finally re

alized was not the Jesus Trail. Renewed vigor comes as we hear a party going on near a big bunch of lights. As we get closer we hear "Hey Soul Sister" blaring, and soon realize that the lights are flooding 2 full basketball courts - an oasis in the wilderness.

What sounded like a party was indeed a happy gathering. The youth center had children of all ages preparing costumes and decorations for Purim. The two young men pictured were overjoyed to see us. Sports was the topic of conversation in addition to a bit of life backgrounds. They could hardly believe that we were going to press on tonight. "Aren't you scared of the lions out there?" As we were about to leave one wanted to get a picture with the three guys who had just walked out of the forest travelling all the way from the states. We headed into the darkness looking for the rocks with the postcard size trail marker.