David Sokol Photography: Day 16 - the tour concludes

Today was the last day of the tour and we all met in the lobby to get an update on the general airport strike that was planned to close Ben Gurion Airport this morning on top of the El Al strike that would effect most of the people on the tour. The great news is that the strike was called off at midnight so there was much relief at breakfast. The food manager looked after us and, even though we were rushing because of our 8:00am start, he still introduced us to "svinch" which is a Moroccan donut that swims in strawberry jam after being deep-cooked in hot oil. It's kinda like a Polish paczki so we're talking a massive cholesterol hit!! But we got stuck into the plate full of them before we rolled onto the mini-bus for our last day together.

So we waved goodbye to Eilat and headed to Tel Aviv. The first stop on the way was a visit to Mitzpeh Ramon to spend time at the Ramon Crater. It is 3,000 feet above sea level and, in the midst of the Negev Desert, it snowed on this place during this last winter. Snow in the desert - funny that.

Next stop is a visit to kibbutz Sde Boker where we saw David Ben Gurion's Hut and his grave. We looked out over the amazing Valley of Zin, where Ben Gurion spent many a reflective moment.

Then it was time for lunch which was spent at Mamshit Bedouin Camp. Some of us went for a quick camel ride (no, not me, they were butt ugly) before entering a Bedouin tent for a traditional meal.

The last stop of the day (& the tour) is the Air Force Museum at Hatzerim. We received a tour of the museum and gained an understanding of the machinery that Israel has put into the air since independence in 1948.

Then we fight peak hour traffic coming into Tel Aviv and get dropped off at our hotels, the same hotels from where we were picked up when the tour journey began two weeks ago.

Lots of goodbyes tonight as everyone else plans for their departure from Israel.It has been an amazing experience for me, to meet such wonderful travel buddies, to have a guide like Uri to introduce me to Israel, and for me to experience this great country. It has been a more emotional experience than I would have ever imagined and I will leave knowing more, understanding more and feeling more about Israel.

Since the next few days is about "me time" catching up with Nao, Debbie and Rosy this will be the last blog update, so I'll see you all in Sydney next week. In the meantime the weather will be warming up over here over the next day or two, before I have to face the impending Sydney winter.