Here is part 2 of my trip report on tiyul #13 – to India and Nepal! You can find part 1 here.

Day 10, Sunday, April 10^th, trek day number 4, from Ghandruk to Deurali

today was one of our hardest days. As usual we woke up at 7:00 breakfast at 8:00 and were out by 9:00. We set off out of the village of Ghandruk and we climbed some stairs to the exit.

Breakfast in Ghandruk

For 2 and a half hours we were hiking in a beautiful forest with rodedendrum’s and so many different types of flowers and trees and it was just absolutely beautiful. After 2 and a half hours we got to a small village called Tadapani which we ate lunch at. Then we had a choice of or to go on or to sleep there. So we decided to go on but if i knew what was coming i might’ve considered that option again. We started to hike and we went down into a valley and climbed a big hill again. Then we got to a village and it started to rain so we had to stop there for about 3o minutes. Then we kept going after the rain got a little lighter and then we got to another village and we had a choice whether or not to sleep or to keep going but we still kept going. This is when it got rough. The next part we were warned that it was going to be tough but we weren’t expecting enough. We started climbing up a lot of stairs and then the rain came, and then the hail came, and it didn’t stop.

Rain cascading down the hill

The climb took about an hour and a half and over the coarse of the whole day we climbed about 1,000 meters in altitude. We finally got to Deurali and believe it or not, the rain stopped right when we got there. Not only that it was raining, we also had to climb about 600 meters at the end of the day when we were already tired. So we settled into our freezing cold room because believe it or not, we were already 3110 meters in altitude. So i took a very warm shower but freezing cold after effects. And then we all bundled up in our sleeping bags trying to get warm.

Day 11, Monday, April 11^th, trek day number 5, from Deurali to Ghorepani

today was a very short day but at the same time very tiring. We had to wake up at 5:30 to go up to a mountain called Gurung hill to see the sunrise. But our guide had to wake up half an hour earlier because he had to go up to the mountain and make sure it wasn’t cloudy. It took about 15 minutes to get up but it was so cold and everyone was half asleep. When we got to the top there was this little tower which gave us a better view.

Sunrise at Gurung Hill

Now i’m not going to lie, the view was pretty damn good but in my opinion, poon hill had a better view which we will get to later. So we hiked down and ate breakfast an hour and a half later and started the hike at 9:00. but the hike was only 2 and a half hours so we were lucky. The hike was mostly in a forest and it was also mostly flat. We saw many water buffalo’s but only 1 yak. When we were close to Ghorepani we saw poon hill and we thought that it wasn’t that much but we would have to see about that. We got to Ghorepani very early, like noon or 12:30. and then as usual, right after we came in the rain started to fall for about an hour. And it was hail for about an hour and it was the strongest hail i ever heard in my life. And after the sun came out we got to see a double rainbow.

Hanging clothes on the central heater in the dining room of Ghorepani

The best part about this hotel was that it had a big chimney type thing in the middle of the dining room and there was fire burning inside it and it heated up the whole room. After dinner we headed to bed early because we had to go to poon hill for sunrise again.

Day 12, Tuesday, April 12^th, trek day number 6, poon hill, from Ghorepani to Tatopani

it turned out that only me and my brother went up to poon hill. We woke up at 4:30 and we had to bring our headlights because it was still dark. Poon hill is basically a huge hill which you climb 400 meters in an hour and then there is supposed to be the most beautiful view and sunrise in the world. So we started to climb, and of coarse the whole thing was stairs. After climbing about 100 steps there was a sign saying welcome to the poon hill climb.

Welcome to Poon Hill

The climb was not as hard as the day before because maybe we weren’t as high in altitude. As i was saying, the whole thing was stairs. The climb wasn’t hard for my muscles but i had to stop a lot because i couldn’t breathe so well. We finally got to the top and let me tell you, this was the most spectacular, amazing view i have seen in my life. Especially because of the clouds, the sun rays poked right out of them and that part was awesome. So we enjoyed the view, took some pictures and headed back down for breakfast.

Sun peeking through the mountains at Poon Hill

Then at 9:00 we set off on the longest day of the trek. There is not much to say about it except 7 hours of going downhill. My knees hurt so much after this day i could barely stand it. Then we got to Tatopani, which was where the famous hot springs were which was basically relaxing in an outdoor Jacuzzi. Then we settled in to our hotel.

Jacuzzi! Well deserved after a long day

Day 13, Wednesday, April 13^th, trek day number 7, from Tatopani to Jomsom to Kagbeni

today wasn’t as hard of a day then the day before. We had to take a 6 hour jeep or bus ride which turned out to be a jeep in the end and the ride was 4 hours because we took a shortcut.

Our jeep (with Santos, Kaldan and Krishna, our porters)

We left Tatopani on the jeep at 8ish and we set off on the bumpiest rode in the world and i’m not just saying that. I wouldn’t be surprised if the driver would fly off a cliff at any second. On the way we stopped at a place called Marpha which had the best apple pie in the world, actually, i would die for another one of those.

Best apple pie in the world (really)

We finally got to Jomsom after the worst jeep ride of my life. Jomsom was the village which we would fly back to Pokhara from. Then we walked from Jomsom to Kagbeni. The walk was very flat on the same jeep road that we took to get there. The walk was about 2 and a half hours long and it wasn’t very interesting either because once we left Tatopani we reached a desert terrain for the rest of the trek. So it was basically a lot like israel just with snowy mountains in the background. We got to Kagbeni and it was quite cold so we went into our rooms and then we ate dinner and then we went back into our rooms.

Day 14, Thursday, April 14^th, trek day number 8, from Kagbeni to Mukhtinath

today was our last day of trekking but we were not aware of that because we were meant to hike another day but in the end we decided to take a jeep so we could tour. We woke up at our normal times and after breakfast we went for a little tour of Kagbeni which was quite interesting.

Ancient Kabeni

Then we started on the biggest ascent of the whole trip. Over the course of the whole day we climbed around a kilometer which is 1,000 meters! The whole day was on a jeep road but luckily we had an amazing view of the mountains in front and in back of us. The road gradually went up and it wasn’t as hard as most days because it wasn’t stairs and when your walking on a wide jeep road you don’t have to concentrate on what your doing as much as you do with stairs.

The jeep road to Muktinath

The trail gradually went up and after about 2 and a half hours of walking we got to a place called Jarkhot which we ate lunch at. Then around an hour and a half later we set off for a more steep climb. It wasn’t that much steeper until the end but even on the non steep parts i was suffering because i couldn’t breath so well, by then we were already 3,700 meters in altitude. We walked up and up until we got to our final trek destination which was Mukhtinath. We settled in and froze up that night.

The gate to Muktinath

Day 15, Friday, April 15^th, touring in old Mukhtinath and jeep ride to Jomsom

today we got to get a tour of old Mukhtinath. We first had to walk up about 100 meters to old Mukhtinath and i was amazed when we got there because the whole place was surrounded by a white wall and it was very cool. We went up the stairs a bit more and we got to a very cool spot which was basically 108 water fountains with animal heads and water coming out of their mouths.

In front of the 108 fountains

Then since my mom and sister were very tired and they wanted to shop a little bit. me, my dad and brother parted them and went up 200 meters to a bridge which leads up to the pass which is basically 2 huge mountains which come together. And the bridge was huge, i threw a rock off it and i could’ve sworn i saw it splatter into 1,000 little pieces. And then me and my brother thought it would’ve been really cool to go up to a patch of snow about 50 meters off the trail and we got so excited because there is never snow in israel. I even carried some back in my hat for my mom and sister to see.

I finally got to the snow

Then we packed our suitcases and walked over to where our jeep was waiting for us to take us to Jomsom. The jeep had room for about 12 people or so and we had to sit in the back sideways which was terrible.

In the dusty jeep

At one point i felt too nauseous so i had to move up to the front. The ride was about 1 hour or so and when we got to Jomsom it was so windy, we couldn’t believe it. The planes from Jomsom only take off in the morning because it’s so windy. So we got to our hotel, the Trekkers Inn. And we settled in and had a very tasty Shabbat dinner and then we got into our sleeping bags for one of the last times.

Day 16, Saturday, April 16^th, Shabbat in Jomsom

today we all got to sleep in. Me my brother my mom and my dad had a late breakfast and then we had lunch at around 12:45 or so. After lunch we decided to go on a little day hike which was a bit out of Jomsom. We started walking but my mom sister and brother had to turn back because it was too windy for them but me and my dad pushed on. There was one point on the hike where we had to cross a cliff on the side of the cliff and we knew that at any second the wind could’ve blown us off. The walk in total took us about 2 and a half hours and then we went back to the hotel and had a nice dinner and we got into our sleeping bags for the very last time that trip.

Day 17, Sunday, April 17^th, flight back to Pokhara and drive back to Kathmandu

today we woke up very early to catch the 7 o’clock flight to Pokhara. The flight was absolutely beautiful. Everywhere you look you were really close to land or on the same level of snow and stuff like that. When we got to pokhara we had to take a six hour car ride to Kathmandu which was the most hottest most boring ride in my life. The roads were all paved so that wasn’t a problem. But the air conditioning did not work in the van and my earphones broke so when i tried to sleep i would just be too hot. When we finally got back to Kathmandu we were back at the Tibet Guest House which was the same hotel we stayed at before the trek. But we did get upgraded to a presidential sweet which was pretty nice even though it was a 2 star hotel.

The Presidential Suite at the Tibet Guest House

Later that night we went out to this nice green organic place which had very delicious food.

The sign doesn't look like much but the food was amazing

Then we went back to our hotels and got into cleaner blankets then on the trek.

Day 18, Monday, April 18^th, touring and Kathmandu and the passover seder in the Yak and Yeti hotel

today was a touring day and the famous passover with 1,000 israelis sitting in a big hall. We went outside and we had to find 2 taxis, 1 holding 3 people and 1 holding 2 people. We drove to a place called Patan which one of the 3 kingdoms in Kathmandu. It was basically the same thing as Bakhtapur so it wasn’t so interesting to me.

A day in Patan

Then we had had lunch and went back to our hotel to shower and get ready for the passover. We first walked over to the chabad house but then we found out that everyone would be at this hotel called the Yak and Yeti. So we had to walk another 20 minutes to the Yak and Yeti. When we finally got there i was amazed at how huge the hotel was. Everything in it was fancy. We got ourselves into the big hall which was huge! It fit about 500 round tables with 6-10 people in each table and the chandeliers were amazing, especially when they turned the lights on in them. But the seder was the fastest seder in my life. They got from the beginning to the main meal in 50 minutes. After the meal we left. It was defiantly an experience but not one i would do again.

Day 19, Tuesday, April 19^th, chag in Kathmandu, Nepal

today we finally got to sleep in. Unfortunately we didn’t get to sleep in that much because we were awoken by the hot water generator which was right above our celling which, later on, we found out it’s piece fell off and it was bouncing around in the tank. We had a little breakfast of fruit and matza and at 12 we head off to the Chabad house where we would be eating lunch. We got there about half way through dovening and within an hour or so we were all seated on 3 big tables. The meal wasn’t much. The main meal was maybe 2 dishes or less, the Matza was still plain old Matza. We got through the meal in about 3 hours and then we headed back to our hotel and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Day 20, Wednesday, April 20^th, touring day in Kathmandu, Nepal

today was a very interesting day. First we took a half hour walk to a place which is nicknamed the monkey temple. You first have to climb exactly 365 steps to the top and along the way there are monkeys everywhere. When you get to the top there is a fantastic view of all of Kathmandu which is also the highest place in Kathmandu there are also a bunch of ruins as usual.

They don't call it the "monkey temple" for nothing

Then we walked down a different way from where we came and then we walked another half hour to our lunch stop and then i decided to rest in the hotel because i had a terrible rash and could not walk so i could not tell you what was on the rest of the day.

Day 21, Thursday, April 21^st, flight to Mumbai, India and Tel aviv, Israel

we finally reached the end of our trip. We left the hotel to get to the airport at around 9:00. our flight was at 12:00. we safely landed in Mumbai, India. Then we had a 8 hour layover in Mumbai! So we watched some movies bought some food and before we knew it (just kidding!) we were getting on the plane to Tel Aviv. And of course, how would i be writing this if we didn’t land home safely.

The end.

Here it is – my complete trip report on tiyul #13 – to India and Nepal – divided into 2 parts! This is part 1

Day 1, Friday, April 1^st, arrival at Mumbai, India

after about 1 and a half years of planning, we finally set off to our amazing trip to nepal. We left our home in jerusalem at 2:15 in the morning to catch the 7:05 flight to Mumbai, India. We got to the airport and slowly made our way to the plane. The flight was approximately 8 hours long, it was also an el al flight. We got to india at about 4:40 p.m and just as we were standing outside the entrance we understood how hot and miserable India was. Then we had to take an unbearable taxi ride from the airport to the hotel and it took us 2 hours because of the traffic!

Inside the taxi from the airport

We finally got to the y.w.c.a (like the y.m.c.a just with women instead). We settled in for a short and late friday night dinner at the hotel which was basically just spicy food and soup. Then we were very exhausted so we got our rooms and crashed.

Day 2, Saturday, April 2^nd, shabbat in Mumbai, India

even though it was Shabbat we woke up fairly early because we had to get to the chabad synagogue. we first walked walked to the chabad house which was where we were eating lunch and which was where we thought we were dovening but then this guy in there told us we had to walk 15 minutes away from there to get to the synagogue where everyone was praying at. Luckily, because it was so hot the day before it was not hot at all that day so even though we were in the sun a lot it wasn’t hot at all. So we took that walk and we got to the synagogue and the dovening was about 1 hour and then all of us walked to the chabad house where we came in the beginning and then we ate a very delicious lunch. It was a house and we all sat around a table, it was about 15- 16 people. We made some friends but soon after lunch we went back to the hotel because some of us were really tired. At about 4 we all took a really nice walk which ended up on the beach and the cool thing was is that they had man made rocks all across the shore which look like a plus sign and there’s probably like 1,000 of them and they are pretty big. Then we went back to the hotel and settled in for the night.

Day 3, Sunday, april 3^rd, touring day in Mumbai, India

today was our first actual touring day in Mumbai. Unlike yesterday, today was really hot, probably about 35 degrees. We were supposed to go on a boat ride to an island with cool paintings but because of the cricket game the night before it was closed. So we luckily found a guide who arranged a tour around Mumbai for us.

The largest hand washing laundry in the world

Our first stop was the biggest hand washing laundry place in the world where it’s basically tens of people washing other peoples clothes by hand and it was pretty cool. Our next stop was a museum all about gandhi which was pretty interesting, we stayed there for about 45 minutes. Then we went to this really cool temple where there are Monk’s and Buddhists praying and bowing in front of candles. Then we went to what was supposed to be the boat ride to that island but then we decided not to go because we didn’t know when the boat ride would’ve gone and and come back.

The train station where we ate lunch (it wasn't very clean)

So instead we ate lunch at the station where the boat was supposed to come to and then we went to this old city type of thing with tons shops everywhere and people calling to you every second “halo i give you good price, just have a look in my store.” That part really annoyed me about India and Kathmandu, but what annoyed me even more was the honking, i don’t know why they would put signs on the back of cars saying “honk ok please” but it bugs the hell out of me.

Horn OK Please

Then we went back to the hotel and amir and merav went out alone to buy some stuff and then we all settled in for our last night in the y.w.c.a.

Day 4, Monday, April 4^th, arrival in Kathmandu

today we had to wake up at 4 in the morning to catch the flight from Mumbai India to Kathmandu Nepal. The drive to the airport was much faster because it was earlier in the morning. We made it safely to Kathmandu and met our our guide who was called pasang temba sherpa who i loved as a guide. Then we settled in to our hotel and then we had quite a lot of shopping to do. I bought juggling balls and a coat. We also bought a sleeping bag and scarfs and we found this Tibetan food called mo mo which was amazing. Then we went back to the hotel and were done for the night.

You can buy anything in Kathmandu

Day 5, Tuesday, April 5^th, touring day in Kathmandu

today was basically a temple day. Because all kathmandu has for touring is temples and these other types of temples called stupa’s. Our first stop was this huge white solid rock dome with some type of holly golden thing with a face drawn on it. But the dome was huge, it was about 59 meters up i’d say. That was a really cool part of the day in my opinion. The dome was also built in the 4^th century. Which is awesome.

The "stupa" at Boudha

Then we went to a place where a lot of dead people get burnt. I know you think i’m crazy but all of the people in nepal get burnt when they die. We also saw them burning actual dead people when we were there which was pretty disgusting.

Burning the dead in Pashupatinath

After that we took a 45 minute drive to a city outside of Kathmandu called Bakhtapur which is basically the coolest old stuff i ever saw. There were a lot of towers with levels of squares going up. There were also lots of statues and birds. We also ate lunch there.

Me and Merav in Bahktapur

Then we drove back to Kathmandu which took us over an hour and then we we went out to eat mo mo’s in a mo mo restaurant then we went back to our hotel, the tibet guest house and we settled in for the night.

Day 6, Wednesday, April 6^th, flight to Pokhara and start of trek, from Phedi to Pothana

today we woke up at 5:30 again to catch the 8 o’clock flight to Pokhara. Luckily, breakfast at our hotel opened at six so we got to eat breakfast before we left. Once again there wasn’t that much traffic because it was pretty early. We got on a teeny tiny plane which can hold 20 people but the flight was amazing. Everywhere you looked there were mountains and when you looked down you could be so close to the ground you’d think the plane would crash, but after all the flight was awesome.

Getting off the plane in Pokhara

We got to a main city in Nepal called Pokhara which had a huge lake, unfortunately, we were not going to stay in pokhara, instead we drove 45 minutes away from there to a place called phedi. We saw a huge mountain while we were driving and i was praying that, that wouldn’t be the mountain we were climbing but sure enough we stopped on the side of the road and facing us were stairs leading up the mountain. But before i go any further, i just want to say that if you go trekking in nepal 70% of the trek will be downhill or uphill but mostly it will be stairs. In fact i can’t even remember a flat path or a path at all.

Steps everywhere!

So as i was saying, we started climbing, and this is not like one of the hikes in israel where you climb for like 20 minutes and then you’re flat for the rest of the hike. This was a staircase which you think you see the ending but then there is another hill of 200 steps.

Resting on a particularly steep staircase

We climbed for about 2 and a half hours and gained about 300 meters in altitude but then we got to a part where the forest cleared up and boy was it a view. And it was basically like that the whole trip on every corner we turned. we got to a less steep part for about 20 minutes and then it went up again, we finally got to damphus which was where we ate lunch. After that we kept walking uphill for about an hour and a half but this part was more gradual. We got in to our hotel just before the rain started to fall, or should i say the hardest hail i’ve seen in 5 years! We literally got in and five seconds later it started to hail for about half an hour.

View from our tea house in Pothana

We ate dinner a couple hours later and they also made us a fire to sit around. Then we settled in for the night and got into our sleeping bags knowing we would have to do this every night for the next 11 days.

Day 7, Thursday, April 7^th, trek day number 2, from Pothana to Landrung

today was probably the easiest day we had on the whole trek. Every day we woke up at 7:15 and were at breakfast by 8:00 and out on the hike by 9:00. that was the schedule for most days. We started hiking and we went up a hill with lots of stairs (why would we expect otherwise?) It was a little tough for me because my feet were still aching from all the stairs from the day before but i was o.k overall. We climbed for about 500 meters but then we went down for 800 meters! The whole first part of the day before lunch was with stairs.

Welcome to the Namaste Tea House

We got to our lunch spot and ate at a tea house called namaste which is also the welcoming word for the nepalese people to each other. After lunch it was a relatively flat trail all the way to landrung which was our second night on the trail. We settled in and after dinner we were invited to this festival there right outside our room with dancing and booming music, so we decided because there was no way that we could could sleep we might as well just watch this.

Merav and Imma dancing

It finally finished 3 and a half hours after it started, i was asleep but my sister told me that they played Shakira and Green Day in the end.

Day 8, Friday, April 8^th, trek day number 3, from Landrung to Ghandruk

today was a tough day in my opinion. Ever since we got to Landrung we saw a view of a huge hill facing us and a tiny little village twice as tall as we were, and this whole time we knew we were going to have to climb it.

Looking back at Landrung from Gandruk (see the red arrow pointing down) - we had to climb down to the river from there and all the way back up! Merav seems happy.

As usual, at 9:00 o’clock we set off down into the valley below to climb 500 meters of a steep stair mountain. The trail down to the valley was steep and hurt my knees a little bit. It took us 45 minutes or an hour to get down to the river where we had to cross a average size metal suspension bridge.

From the bridge it was straight up!

After we crossed it we rested a bit, looked at what we climbed down and at some cool bee hives and then we started our 3 hour climb up the big mountain we’ve been waiting for. The first half an hour was easy for me but as the trail went on and seemed never ending as it did i started to lose energy and the trail began to take it’s toll. We climbed for about 2 and a half hours and we stopped at a little house knowing we only had 30 minutes left. So we rested for 15 minutes and kept climbing the long climb. We finally reached a part where the trail flattened a bit and we knew we were almost there. And then, there it was, the wooden arch with a sign on it saying Ghandruk! We climbed for another 5 minutes and we got to our lunch stop and ate. After lunch we climbed for another 10 minutes in the village of Ghandruk and we got to our hotel. We had to wash clothes too which was unusual for me because i’ve never washed my clothes by hand before.

Washing my socks

Then we rested in our room until dinner and then we had a very nice friday night dinner and then we settled into our rooms for the night.

Day 9, Saturday, April 9^th, resting day in Ghandruk

today was a very restful and relaxing day. We slept in, had a nice lunch at 12:30 as we usually do on normal Shabbats back at home. Then after lunch we took a nice little walk a bit out of Ghandruk. We crossed a cool bridge, got to a very pretty view point of Ghandruk, and then we headed back. At that point of the trek we were already like 2000 meters above sea level. We got back to our hotel and enjoyed the rest of our evening.

Part 2 of my report will appear next week. Stay tuned!

Abba made this video with “highlights” from my bar mitzvah. You can see some of the people who came, the music and megilla readings from me, Merav and Amir. Click here to watch it on YouTube in HD.

The music, by the way, is from the Nava Tehila “band” who led a rock and roll Maariv service set to tunes from the Beatles and even the Bee Gees.

Abba made a video for my bar mitzvah with all my friends and family. Click here to watch it on YouTube in HD.

Here is video of the speech I gave during my bar mitzvah – it’s a “travel guide” to my year of tiyulim. Click here to watch it on YouTube in HD.

Click the link below and you can download a PDF with a summary of my 12 hikes.
12 great bar mitzvah hikes. Here’s the text of my drash:

As many of you know, over the past year we have done 12 hikes in our beautiful land in honor of my bar mitzvah. And in two weeks, we will be going to Nepal for hike #13.

Why did we do this? First, because I love hiking. I love getting out into nature. Second, because it gave me time to spend with my family away from the house.

I want to tell you about some of the highlights from my hikes and which ones I would recommend.

The first hike I want to recommend is Nahal Katlav. It’s close to Jerusalem, it’s beautiful and it’s relatively short – half a day. And you can do it over and over again. At one point it goes along the train tracks.

The most exciting hike we did was Nahal Og because there are three sets of ladders you have to climb down. That was very fun for me and Merav too, unlike my Dad who was terrified.

The hottest hike we did was the Burma Road, which is very beautiful but has no shade. There are great views of the Jerusalem Tel Aviv highway.

The Burma Road also goes through Park Rabin, which was another one of our hikes.

We had two very painful hikes. In Nahal Galim near Haifa, there are thorns everywhere in the summer. Although the views of the sea are spectacular.

And in our hike near Mitzpeh Misua, we stopped to pick and eat some Sabra fruit, which we discovered was a very bad idea because it is filled with tiny thorns.

When we went to Har Amram near Eilat, my Dad, my sister and her friend Michelle got separated from the rest of us on the Israel Trail and we weren’t sure if they were in front of us or in back, so we just kept going.

The saddest hike was Har Shokef in the Carmel Mountains because it was one of the places that was burned down. It was so beautiful and now we’ll never get to do it again in the same way.

And the best hike of all was our last one, to Upper Nahal David at Ein Gedi where we hiked to the “chalon” which has an awesome view of the whole Dead Sea.

Now you have an idea of what I’ve done this past year. I want to thank my parents for making all of these hikes possible, as well as the whole bar mitzvah. I also want to thank some other people who are important to me.

My sister Merav, for teaching me all kinds of things about what it means to be a teenager and for being an awesome big sister.

My brother Amir, for spending all this time with me watching Chuck and the Big Bang Theory, and of course for being a great brother

Chava who has helped me so much with my studying.

Shalev who taught me all about sports.

Matan who taught me the Megillah trope.

Nomi who gave me my first job walking Tooti.

Asher who helped us plan our hikes.

And of course Safta and Papa Mike, Saba and Grandma Carol and my Uncle Dave and Aunt Jen for coming all the way from California to Israel to celebrate my bar mitzvah with me.

I’m sorry that not all of my family could make it – my Grandma Shirley, all my cousins from Toronto, my Uncle Steve and Aunt Susan, Aunt Marlene and Uncle Richard, and last but not least Nana – I hope to see you all very soon!

For everyone here, I hope that some of you will try the hikes I’ve told you about tonight. Thank you all for coming.

Imma and me after the speech

Aviv – Yasher Koach – good job on your reading tonight, on learning the megilla so well, and on your drash. You made Imma and Abba proud. Now I have a few things I wanted to say to you.

First of all, it is most appropriate that you are reading Megillat Esther on Purim for your bar mitzvah. You were born Yud Aleph Adar, a few days before Purim. You have been to Megillat Esther every year since then. You have fun with the Purim holiday, dressing up, going to hear Megillah, shaking your grogger, making mishloach manot and driving around town to give them out to all of our friends with Abba and Merav every year. It’s not a surprise you would choose the MOST FUN holiday to have your Bar Mitzvah because you LOVE to have FUN. I bet this is your favorite holiday, right Aviv?

Even though you love to have fun, the word that comes most to mind when I think of you is LOVE and that love has been unconditional. There has been such an expression of love between the two of us these past 13 years.”

A second reason that Purim is appropriate is that the story of Esther is one of overcoming difficulties and succeeding. Just as Queen Vashti said no to King Ahashverus and Esther showed courage by entering the King’s court uninvited, you too did a very brave thing by moving schools for 6th grade after being with the same kids for 5 years.

Aviv, you’ve always done things at your own rhythm and pace. When other babies were crawling, you scooted across the floor and only started taking your first steps when you were almost 20 months old – when YOU were ready! Our rhythms were different but you have taught me to accept people where they are. This was just what I needed to learn.

But after that, you have loved anything athletic, from your weekly sports date with Shalev to working out, doing judo and swimming. Lately you’ve even taught yourself parkour – jumping, climbing, vaulting and scaling walls. It takes a lot of courage and discipline to do all that.

There are many things you and I have enjoyed doing together since the scooting days: bowling, mini-golf, bike riding, taking walks, watching the changing sky and clouds. Even with all this activity you have a quiet about you, an ability to be introspective and you can admit wrongdoing in yourself and call it in others. I respect both those special traits you have. You have grown tall in height, but also big in your heart.

As many of you know, this last year we began a program of monthly hikes around Israel – 13 hikes for Aviv’s 13^th year. Your hikes taught you so many things. 1) that you love hiking, being in nature, climbing rocks, and taking on physical challenges – and our beautiful country sure offers plenty of those; 2) you learned how to create a blog and gain public writing experience; 3) you got more in touch with your masculinity; and 4) you discovered that the best quality time and quality experiences with people you love can be free. All you need is a great attitude, which you have, and good physical health. You pushed us into making sure the hikes happened Aviv, we didn’t have to push you. We all really found something wonderful to do together.

Every human being is unique and different. I hope imma and abba have done everything we can to help you become independent and to celebrate who you are, because those differences are what make you uniquely you. We are so proud of all your accomplishments. I wish for you the courage to become your own best self. Mazal tov on this very special day.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and my parents for not only traveling 10K miles to celebrate with us, but for your constant love and support. It wouldn’t have been the same without you here and I thank God for your youth and good health to be able to come.

Thank you to Matan Gold for helping Aviv, Merav, and Amir learn Megillat Esther

Thank you to Asher Arbit for the hours you volunteered to mentor and teach Brian about reading maps and planning tiyulim. Without your guidance, this incredible journey we’ve been on with Aviv would not have been possible.

Thank you to all my friends who turned this event into a community celebration rather than a personal one by offering to help in so many varied ways. I couldn’t of done it without you.

Thank you to Reb Ruth and the Leviim for a gorgeous service tonight!

And finally, to you Brian, my life partner and friend whose skills compliment mine so much that traveling this journey called life together makes me whole. Mazal tov to us!

Eliot and David

Our friends Shelley and David Brinn, Debbie and Eliot Zimulmen, and Lori and Yitzhak Ben-Dayan wrote and performed a song at my bar mitzvah. Click here to watch it on YouTube in HD. Or watch it below. Lyrics included.

WALK LIKE AVIV
(Guys) Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo
(Girls) Walk Walk       Walk Walk
(Guys) Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo
(Girls) Walk Walk       Walk Walk

The Blums had a plan
To hike across the land
And show Aviv the country that they love (oowa oowa oowa)

They went to depths and heights
Gave Brian lots of frights
But now their boots just fit them  like a glove

CHORUS

So Why don’t you…
Hike like Aviv
Wear it on your sleeve
Hike Like Aviv my frie-ie –ie-ends

He’s now a man
He’ll take you by the hand
He’s hitting the trail again..

(Guys) Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo
(Girls) Walk Walk       Walk Walk
(Guys) Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo
(Girls) Walk Walk       Walk Walk

From Nahal David to Nahal Galim
They faced every challenge with good grace (oowa oowa oowa)
Aviv had a ball
Now it’s off to Nepal
Hope they find falafel in that place

CHORUS

He’s the kind of guy
Who looks you in the eye
And tells you what he thinks of you
Now he’s at the age
About to turn the page
Now he’s a legal Jew

CHORUS

Tiyul #12

February 25, 2011. well, as far as our family bar mitzvah hikes, this was our last one except for Nepal. in my opinion, it was the greatest hike of them all, you could say that that’s why we saved it for last. Although it was exceedingly hot it was still very amazing. we woke up at 6 and were out of the house by 7:00- 7:15. we got there at about 8:30 and we parked on the bottom of the hill before the entrance of the field school because at the end of the hike we would’ve had to walk all the way up a big hill to the car after we were all tired and sweaty which we were. we started the hike at 5 to nine and it was quite warm for me, but i usually burn more easily and get more hot then most people. we started hiking up on a road until we got to the ein gedi field school, and from there we went to the top of the field school and we got to a little amphitheater and then we exited a gate and started our ascent up the big hill awaiting us. as we were climbing the view of the field school got better and better. we could see our tiny black car and the dead sea which was the most spectacular. but we could not see till Jordan because it was not such a clear day. on the way up we had to wait before making a climb up a steep part of a mountain because here was another school there with about 40 children and i think we all know how long that would take to go up a short steep climb with no rails. so we finally made it up and started walking. the path went on for about a half a kilometer and then we ran into the school again and luckily they were sitting down for a lunch break so we got to pass them. our next part was a climb down into a canyon which was very cool because every few steps we met a pool which we had to somehow climb over which was very fun. then we got to a split point where we could or take a detour or go up and finish the hike up. I’ve been on this hike and was very excited to go on the detour again. so we went in and there were many rungs for us to hang on to. at one point my dad actually had to get in the water. finally we got to our destination which is an opening point where the 2 canyon walls open up and a window shape form appears and you find yourself looking at an amazing view at the dead sea and it is a fantastic view. this is why if you are an experienced hiker i definitively recommend this hike as the first one to do if you are in the ein gedi area. after that we went back the way we came and we climbed up out of the canyon a different way then we walked a bit more and then we got to some ruins after walking down for about 10 minutes and then we walked exactly 4 minutes down to a beautiful spring with clean water. we refreshed ourselves and then started on our descent down to nahal David. we went down a long way, about 30 minutes and then we stopped for a bit in the famous ein gedi waterfall better known as Mapal David.  then we headed down more and more, passed pools and pools and finally we got to our ending spot, enjoyed some pleasurable ice cream and headed home.

Me, Amir and Merav at the start of the hike

Mountain cliffs

Chocolate keeps anyone going

Merav found a cactus

Heading into the canyon

How are they going to get across that pool?

No way around, so she's going through...

We made it to the "chalon!"

Abba on the way back

Merav and Abba at David's Waterfall

Amir, Abba and Merav

Tiyul #11

January 28th 2011. well we are now only one hike away from finishing my 12 bar mitzvah hikes, it’s really amazing that we have managed to accomplish so much. well, at the end of the January we set off to our eleventh hike in park Rabin. it was a very good hike, and my first with hiking boots. so at 9:15 in the morning we drove off to the Burma Road. we go there and we saw a big group of people about to go on a bike ride and we were very jealous but unfortunately, we came to hike, not to bike. so we started our hike and it was a nice smooth path on a beautiful morning. we started walking a bit and on the way we passed a lot of little playgrounds. the first part was very pleasant, some ups some downs and some statues. then we got to a nice little picnic spot which we stopped at for about 45 minutes after about an hour of walking. then we set to a short climb for about 15 minutes. after the climb we ran into a strangely fast turtle crossing the path in front of us, it was a nice surprise. then we kept walking for about an hourish, until we got to a little hill for about 15 minutes. then we took a rest and let about 100 bikers pass by us and then we set up to a long steep climb, strangely, for me, my hiking boots made my climb much easier. when we were done climbing we took a little break and then set down on our climb down which was hot and long, and believe me, by that point, everyone wanted to finish the hike because of the heat (and it was January!) so we found our way down and we walked down for about fifteen minutes after that and in that whole time we had eyesight of our finishing destination, so we finally got to our car, hot and tired, we all went home. and personally, after this hike i am never going to trust that Israel will be cold ever again.

View of the forest we're about to walk through

Imma and me in front of the forest

The path into the forest

Merav strutting her stuff

Abba found a turtle!

Merav, me and Amir at a memorial

Imma and Abba look happy on this tiyul

The road home

Me in the forest - goodbye great tiyul!

Tiyul #10

December 8, 2010. tiyul number ten was good. we spent 3 nights and 4 days in Eilat. 3 out of 4 days we were hiking there. in our day off we went snorkeling. tiyul number ten was on our last day on our way out. we drove up to the starting point and we were ten people. when we got out of the car, it was surprisingly very cold out, so a lot of us took sweatshirts for the hike. the hike started like a nice walk in the park until we reached the actual canyon. it was pretty amazing, there were several ladders we had to go down and it was very narrow, and of coarse, red. the bad part was that we got stuck in people traffic because there were so many people on the trail. after about an hour where we were all stuck in a tight place with like a hundred people we got out of the canyon and stepped into the wide open space. THEN, FINALLY we were alone. we got on a very wide and slippery type trail. i was having a little trouble because I do not have hiking boots yet and if I did my foot would not be slipping on the ground. we walked about a kilometer or so until we got to a narrower trail, which led us, uphill up a steep mountain. we climbed until the top, but it did not take so long. but at the top we had amazing views. then we kept walking on a wide trail again, by that point we didn’t need our sweatshirts anymore, it was beginning to get a little hot. then we walked a little bit more and climbed two more little climbs and then we found a shady spot for lunch. after we ate we continued on the same wide trail, there was no shade at all. we continued until we saw a small uphill trail which led us to a plateau which we already got to in our car, so we had to walk 15 minutes to our cars on a jeep road which wasn’t so pleasant when a car passed by because it just threw a ton of dust on us. then we reached the car, some of us got ice cream and we headed home.

Gathered for another great tiyul

Plunging into the canyon

Here comes Abba!

Brothers and sister

The view from above

I'm on the top of the world

I love clouds!