Hiking in Palestine

My wife, Joan, and I (ages 74 and 76) took a 125-mile hike in Palestine with the nonprofit organization Masar Ibrahim al-Khalil, or MIAK  (Old City of Beit Sahour, Palestine; phone +970 [0] 2 2749264, www.masaribrahim.ps), Nov. 2-16, 2019. Masar Ibrahim al-Khalil is also the name of the trail we hiked through the West Bank. We’ve done many long-distance solo hikes in Peru, Spain, France, Italy and the UK, but this one had an added incentive for us.

Each segment of the hike was led by a local Palestinian guide, and our accommodations included homestays, where we were able to speak with local families and join them for meals.

Our hike included the Jenin, Nablus, Jericho and Bethlehem regions, and daily hikes were 9 to 12 miles long. Our group started out with 12 members, but two more hikers joined us for a couple of days.

As we walked, we were frequently greeted by honking cars, with passengers yelling, “Welcome to Palestine.” The guides were known by everyone in the villages and towns we hiked through, and municipal authorities welcomed us with small cups of coffee and sweets, treating us as special guests.

We were frequently stopped by villagers, who also greeted us with coffee — a Palestinian sign of hospitality. Our high count was five stops and cups of coffee in one day. One family invited us to help with the olive harvest.

The through hike happens twice a year. You can walk for a day, a week, two weeks or three weeks. Our 2-week hike cost $890 per person and included accommodations, all meals and transportation within Palestine. I made our reservations about four months in advance of the trip.

BOB CONE
Richmond, CA