Lying in the middle of a crater

I have just returned from a 2-day tiyul (trip/hike) in the Negev desert. As our "opening tiyul" for WUJS, we went to the large and small Makhtesh (crater - but a very specific kind of crater formed by geomorphological processes, not from a volcano or a meteor or comet impact). The first day we hiked down into, and across, the small makhtesh and camped in tents on the outer rim. Today we walked through a beautiful winding canyon to the Arava valley. I was a very happy camper (though it seems not all the WUJys are cut out for camping!).

The Negev is so beautiful, and our guide - another Rachel - had a gift for eloquently weaving together stories about the natural and cultural history of our surroundings and helping us to appreciate where we were at each moment.

At one point, after lunch, she had us lie down in the middle of the makhtesh just to listen to the sounds and the silence of the desert. Once everyone stopped shuffling their feet and zipping their bags, the silence was blissful. A few weeks ago in Welly, I think it would have been pretty hard for me to imagine myself lying in the middle of a crater in the Negev....