Above: sunrise and my view from the hotel
Diana with our guide, Jossef Idan, and Na'ama ElSana of the Women's Embroidery Project at Lakiya, featured in Art & Design.
At Wadi Attir, a project of the Sustainability Lab, outside Hura. We met the mayor of Hura! And learned about the labne, goat's milk and cheese they are producing (below).
Seventeen medicinal plants endemic to the region are being grown under the watchful eye of Sofia, who explained the traditional Bedouin uses for various herbs including hyssop, fennel, and thyme.
Sofia said she was more beautiful than the mayor of Hura, why did we put him in the book? I agreed. So I asked her to be photographed with me so it could be a part of our blog. She is also running her own business designing traditional clothing for modern life.
Remnants of a Nabatean lookout at Avdat. Jossef explained that there was access to a very deep acquafir here, and that ancient, skilled culture always guarded the most precious resource in the desert: water.
The design for the spacious all-view villas at the Beresheet Hotel is inspired by the Nabatean fortresses that appear throughout this region.
As carefully calculated by our friend Avital, and achieved by Jossef, we arrived to the breathtaking Maktesh Ramon just before sunset. Diana and Jane Wooldridge, a reporter traveling with us, take in the expanse in the fading light. I chose the privacy of my personal infinity pool to finish the sunset, where I hope to also greet the sunrise in a few hours.
It was a day celebrating the strength of women, creativity in the face of challenges, and cultural identities in swiftly changing times. All very present topics here and at home.
—Michelle Dunn Marsh