On Friday at 10:00 am I already had a whole plan for the weekend, Tal was on a business trip to Amsterdam and I had very ambitious plans for weekends with the kids:
Lunch at home,
Take the kids to a water park near by,
A short nape time for us all,
Dinner with the whole family at my mom’s house
…
you know… just an ordinary day with the kids
…
At 10:05 am – my plans have been completely changed thanks to a phone call with a surprising offer from my friend Gil.
“wish to be spontaneous and join me with the kids for a weekend in the desert?”

This spontaneous trip was such a great experience for me, it’s usually me who is running around planning trips and finding cool places to stay in, but now… it was all about joining Gil’s plans.
I jumped at the opportunity to be a “tourist” for the weekend, and let Gil lead me wherever she wanted.
And it seems so – she wanted to go to the desert and stay in Khan Be’erotayim.
I did not ask many questions. She mentioned that she had been there several times before, that the price includes dinner and breakfast for us all, and that blankets and bedding should be brought. we agreed that each would pack some snacks, fruit, vegetables and snacks.
At 14:30 we were all set to go and start our two and a half hour drive south according to the WAZE.


I love to visit the desert at least once a year.
This was the first time I had heard the name “Azuz” in the context of a place where you can lodge and travel.
Gil explained to me that it was on the Egyptian border, “but you have nothing to worry about, everything is quiet there!”
I must admit that the place I came to after two and a half hours of driving had surprised me.



Khan Be’erotayim is located only a few minutes drive from the main road of Nitzana, on a path that allows only a slow drive.
The weekend we visited in Khan was just between Rosh Hashanah holiday and Yom Kippur, it was in our favor, the Khan was almost completely empty.
Apart from us there were two other families and a group of about 15 men who went to the desert for some quiet time from wifes and kids …. But they were a bit surprised by the two neighbours with six noisy little children.




In the Khan we stayed in a basic cabin with mattresses, shared bathrooms and lots of sitting areas, there was a bonfire that burned all the time with hot teapots 24/7.
At 19:00 we gathered together with the guests of the Khan in the central tent, sitting on cushions, We were served a rich, satisfying, delicious meal by our hosts.
As usual on these trips … I was the first to crash with the children and fall asleep at night.



In the morning, we woke up to a fresh desert breeze. We went out to the fire, had some hot tea, and spent the first few hours with an excellent breakfast, games, conversations, and camel riding with the children.
Not something special, not something planned, not something with pre-set rules – just desert time as I like to call it.





In the late afternoon of Saturday we began to head back home, we had a quick stop at a restaurant in Azuz village, and ate a little before our long drive back home. It always surprises me that in such remote settlements, with a small number of residents, there is a nice place to sit and enjoy great food that someone prepares with great love. A little after we finished all that was served to us to eat – the children ran freely in the spaces that this small village has to offer. Soon they found the playground and spent another half an hour. From there we all went into the cars – and we started driving toward “home”. Now it’s time to start planning the next trip.