Wandering Jericho Desert

Now, what do you do if you are lost in a desert and your guide cannot find the way? You keep on walking, of course!

In 2008, I went with the group for a walk in the desert of Jericho. It was the first time for me to see a desert and I expected piles and piles of sand. Jericho desert, however, is a rocky desert with steep, narrow paths that wind up around deep clefts. We went there in our minibus, passing camels and watching the landscape turning more and more dry and cracked. The minibus, though, was not quite built for such adventures and after a few nerve-racking attempts to go forward - with the result of the wheels spinning and the van sliding backwards down the steep hill - we decided to carry on by foot.

The view was spectacular. As far as your eyes could reach, the orange, dusty landscape transformed itself from hill top to hollow, then hill top again. We headed for a monastery built into the cliffs and when we arrived, we had a little rest.

When it was time to carry on, our guide steered us off the broad road we had walked so far and on to a narrow path. The path ran along the cliff and offered a breathtaking view over clefts at least 30 meters wide and God knows how deep. After a while, small holes started to appear in the path every now and again - not more than a proper stride would overcome easily, but it still allowed you a peep into the deep nothing beneath the very ground of your footsteps. It was a little scary - and amazing!

As we kept on walking, water supplies ran shorter. The sun felt hotter for every minute. Quiet murmurs of when we would reach the destination point started to occur. However, our little trip was no near to be over yet. Our path took us deeper into the rocky desert - and then it stopped! We reached a point where the path simply seemed to end, and we had to decide for ourselves if it would be best to carry on upwards or downwards. In such occations, it is a good and safe approach to have a guide with you. One, who knows his way around. Our guide, however, looked around, scratched the back of his very bald neck and exclaimed: "I do not understand this. It did not look lke this when I was last here - 22 years ago!" Apparently, rocks change too. Who would have imagined?

But we had to continue what was beginning to be an hour-long wander. So some started making their way downwards. The first, insecure steps were taken, and then there was a yelling from the other side of the cleft. A beduin was standing over there, yelling at us with one arm waving to catch our attention and the other arm pointing unmistakingly upwards. So we went up. And - maybe thanks to our new beduin friend - we eventually found our way back to the car that was waiting us with air condition and new water supplies.