Last week began with a drive down to Ashkelon where I spent four days in an FIDF-sponsored army resort with a handful of fellows from my base and a whole mob of Border Policemen, Armoured Corp and Intelligence soldiers and some from the Navy as well (blog post here). The resort is located at the southern end of Ashkelon, kind of close to the Gaza border, and pretty much borders the Ashkelon National Park (the subject of this blog post). Due to the fact that this R&R (Rest and Recreation) was held on an army-operated site, we weren’t allowed to wander off and explore. While waiting for the bus back home Thursday morning I recalled seeing the proximity of the park on a map and decided that, since I am so close, it would be a waste not to have a little adventure. And so I walked on over in my dress uniform and carrying my heavy backpack, bought a special soldier year-pass to all national parks and reserves for a nominal ₪50 (~$14) and headed on into the park.

Modern Ashkelon through the ruins of ancient Ashkelon

An interesting piece of trivia I read was that scallions, cousins of the onions, were named after Ashkelon, perhaps they were initially farmed here. Back to the park, the first historical segment I came across was the Crusader moat wall built right next to the Canaanite gate, said to be the oldest gate in existence.

Crusader moat wall

From along that wall, through the gate and onto the large sandy hill that was the northernmost section of ancient Ashkelon, a great view of the sea and modern Ashkelon – including the R&R centre – was to be seen:

Panoramic view of the sea and modern Ashkelon

Heading south to the main parking lot, I made my way by numerous outdoor water faucets which I presume are linked to the many natural wells located on-site. From the wells I descended to the beach and seeing that the real sites were further south, looped back and swung by the Basilica, built by the Romans.

Basilica pillars

And nearby the pillars of the Basilica further excavations have been done, revealing more as to the nature of the Roman site. The excavations were originally started in 1815 by Lady Hester Stanhope in search for an alleged gold hoard buried under a mosque but when their efforts bore no golden fruit they abandoned the site. Later, in 1921, real archaeology came to the area and the British made headway into ancient Ashkelon’s past – the Canaanites, the Phoenicians, the Persians, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Muslims, the Crusaders and, of course, the Jews, all living in Ashkelon at one point or another.

Basilica excavations

After the Basilica I headed to the outer edge of the park to walk the aptly named “Wall Walk” – a trail along the old wall winding around towards the sea. The wall in question was built by the Fatimid Caliphate and only scattered pieces are intact today. Built on a natural sandy ridge, the wall walk is elevated over the park, providing excellent views. However, the walk itself was sun-baked and slow, each step in the thick sand a burden with my boots and heavy backpack on my shoulders.

Section of the outer wall

At one point I stopped in the shade of a wall segment and watched some crows fight each other mid-air over scraps of food. With the lush park and the gentle sea as a backdrop, the aerial dogfights happening nearly eye-level yet so close. I imagined Leonardo Da Vinci would have greatly appreciated watching nature’s testament to the power of flight with me, had he been present. Towards the end of the walk, I photographed myself being your tour guide… showing you where north is:

At Ashkelon National Park

Looking down at the sea, I spotted some people swimming down below frolicking amongst the ruins of ancient Ashkelon. As I took one of the photos a kestrel happened to have flown by, within the camera’s sights, but the bird was blurred so here is a regular photo:

The coast where chunks of ruins still lay today

I then made my way down to the water, where I was told one can see the ruins quite well. I was told correctly, ruins greeted me with every turn. How this park is not more famous beats me, one can even swim among the Roman ruins (similar to the famous underwater Greek ruins in Greece). Here a column and wall chunk have been partially buried in the sand:

A pillar and building chunk partially buried in the sand

Photos do not do this place justice, the ruins on the brink of the water, the ruins within the water, all is too much to be captured on film. Perhaps an aerial shot taken from a helicopter might better illustrate the true magnificence. The ruined city must be seen in person.

City ruins on the beach

As I walked along the water, keeping close to the lapping waves where the sand is firmest, I found myself mesmerised by a tinkling sound. It was the sound of gentle waves nudging the mounds of pastel seashells, each shell softly clinking against the next.

The beach

Then I noticed a little crab scuttling about and seeing that he had small pinchers, too small to ward me off, I tried to catch him. I was unsuccessful in my attempts.

Feisty little crab

I climbed the stairs out of the beach and headed for the exit, filling up my water bottle and drinking heavily. As I neared the gate a park worker asked me if I’ve been drinking enough water. I replied in the affirmative and he correctly guessed which base I hailed from. Continuing further, I exchanged some words at the park entrance (including my water consumption) and witnessed something unusual. A man in a small pickup approached and said he has a delivery, some eagles. I peered into the truck and saw some vicious talons and some patterned wing feathers emerging from a sack – interesting cargo, to say the least. With that I bid them farewell and headed off to the bus where I was to begin my 5+ hour journey back home.

This double-event blog post covers two separate trips taken one week after the next to the FIDF’s Rest and Recreation Centre in Ashkelon. The FIDF, which stands for Friends of the IDF (Israel Defence Force), is an organisation that pools donations together for the benefit of the Israeli soldiers. On every military base, and in every remote outpost, there are signs of the FIDF – be it a gym, mobile synagogue or “wellbeing centre.” That being said, this R&R centre in Ashkelon is another of FIDF’s endeavours to pad the rough edges of soldiering and I fully approve.

FIDF logo

Part I – four days of R&R in the beach-side resort:

It started Sunday morning, a few weeks back, when a small group of eleven soldiers from my base gathered together and drove down to Ashkelon. Our group comprised of truck drivers like myself, a commander and an officer. We disembarked at the centre, ate lunch and settled into our rooms in the Jasmine bungalow.

Our Jasmine bungalow

Nestled between modern-day Ashkelon and the ruined ancient Ashkelon, a national park, the R&R centre hosts hundreds of soldiers every week (usually combat or combat-support soldiers, like my friends and I). We walked along the sun-baked paths and explored our new digs, marking out activities that we’d like to do throughout the week.

Off to the pool!

After dinner the fellas went to watch a movie in the auditorium while I, uncermoniously, went to bed early. The following day took us to the sauna and pool where we took turns roasting and drowning ourselves. There was an organised race set up and, not surprisingly, the winner was from Shayetet 3 (Flotilla 3) of the Israel Navy.

Swimming contest at the pool

That night we found ourselves in the local “club” – an alcohol-free dance club with ear-piercing music thumping till 3am. There too an organised contest was held, this time dancing instead of swimming. A friend of mine participated, and while the judging was hotly contested, he was not deemed winner.

Dance contest

The next day some of the fellas went off to play tennis and I went off to find fellow Americans – of which there were a handful, mostly in some Foreign Affairs unit down south. As the Jewish world is incredibly small and interconnected I succeeded in finding someone who knew someone I did. Later that afternoon I sat on a sandy bench and watched the sun set over the warm Mediterranean Sea, a ship chugging away nearby.

Of ship and setting sun…

Resting up well in the nights with the window open to the pleasant sea breeze and spending the days eating well, swimming, sauna-ing and enjoying the other activities on-site we burned up the week pretty quickly. The last night of R&R we all headed into the auditorium to enjoy a performance from one of Israel’s stand-up comedians, Kobi Maimon. There were some pretty funny jokes, to say the least.

Lunch with the fellas

The following morning, Thursday it was, we packed up our things, tidied up, had a nice breakfast and headed out. While waiting for the bus to the train, I recalled that the Ashkelon National Park was just a few minutes away. I hastily bid farewell to my friends and headed to the park, the subject of my next blog post.

Part II – Yom Sport for all three “Hovala” battalions:

After positive feedback from our small hand-picked group that enjoyed the week of R&R at the Ashkelon centre, it was decided to host the truck driving brigade’s Yom Sport (Sport Day) at the centre as well. The purpose of the day is to break the daily grind and to offer the soldiers a chance to bond and to catch up, as we don’t see much of each other in our job. The three bases, Knights of the North, Centre and South, were present, each wearing a different coloured t-shirt.

Knights of the Centre celebrating

Sadly, I had forgotten my camera and so had to photo-document with my cell phone’s camera. From the over-bounding quantities of food to the noise of over a thousand happy people, mostly soldiers in active service, we got the day started with some opening words from the brigade commander, Colonel Gil Galron – a nice chap who originally was a naval officer. With that the day was launched into high gear, with numerous games to compete in and watch. One game that I observed was the Israeli-style dodge-ball competition between our base and the southern base. My captain participated and was, in fact, the last one standing from our team – we lost.

Dodge-ball

Later, there was enthusiastic self-propagated singing and dancing from some of my base’s ethnic groups and as the sun went down, two small concerts out on the main soccer field. The first was a finalist in a singing reality show, and I got a free CD, and the second was a heavy metal band who didn’t have quite the right crowd at hand. After belting out AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” to the joy of a select handful, they packed up their musical equipment and we all headed down to the buses, tired but grateful from a long Yom Sport at the Ashkelon R&R centre.

Note: the FIDF is a wonderful organisation doing wonders for the IDF, if you’d care to become a part and donate, details can be found on their website HERE. For more information on FIDF’s SPIRIT R&R Program, click HERE.