Throughout the years, I added rooms and halls myself. Web technologies developed, but I kept maintaining my home with HTML cement, mMaking it solid, but limited with services and modularity. It may looked clean, but in fact, my guests got lost, they didn’t even find the rest rooms! not to mention missing some attractive rooms hidden inside.

I therefore decided to start all over again, professionally. Hired an architect and a builder to plan and construct the new home. As the building took form, I kinda felt embarrassed… I am used to a small house with a nice courtyard… But soon I learned to enjoy the benefits of a centrally-controlled flexible modular building, that can grow without turning into a Tower of Babel. I hope not to feel too comfortable, cause I might end up spending too much time at home, instead of going out to the real world, the cause of building this home…

So welcome to the new home.
Feel free to roam around, check the rooms and halls, and comment.
The builders are still around to make corrections.

Yours,

Guy

To download the presentation click here. It is recommended to save the file before opening it
(Note: file size is 5.6MB).

Excerpts from the presentation

Osem storage house Petah Tikva

The huge Osem storage house in Petah Tikva that was built in the late 1970s is being disintegrated.
Another piece of Petah-Tikva industrial heritage is vanishing.

"Well – with an airplane…” I responded.

"Yes… but – you travel here all by yourself ???” she asked, totally shocked.

Well – being a backpacker in Bulgaria in 2002 was not a common phenomenon. I did met a German cyclist though. But other than that -  independent tourism was not a big deal there. Making things more difficult logistically, but the reward was amazing. Meeting locals, being invited by locals to sleep and eat, seeing nature at its best, and enjoying very cheap prices. Two weeks of trip cost only 250US$…

It was the end of the summer, and my last chance to visit the mountains of Bulgaria before winter starts. Weather was great, and hiking in the Rila, Pirin and Rodopi ranges was one of the best mountain experiences I’ve had. Add the great local hospitality and the tasty Shopska salad, and you get a recipe for a great trip. In this photo journal we shall also climb to Vihren Peak, at 2914 meters, visit the wonderful village of Shiroka Loka, the cities Plovdiv and Sofia, Trigrad Canyon, Eco Park, Bansko (before it became a major ski resort) and more…

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After coming back "enlightened” from my first long trip to East Asia, I decided to bring the "Far East” to everyone – online. It was back in 1997, when the WEB only started to develop, when I built the first Hebrew site for travel advise. The site, "Libi Bamizrah” (”My heart is in the east” – a spin-off of a poem title by the Hebrew poet Rabi Yehuda Halevi), is a step-by-step guide to people who plan a trip to East Asis.

Since 1997, many other travel related sites were founded, but "Libi Bamizrah” still draws thousands of hits every month. The site is maintained for no reward but a spiritual one. For a long time, people could access a "personal advise form”, which was answered by myself. Understanding travelers’ needs for information prior to a trip was one of the triggers for writing the "India and Nepal” travel guidebook.

As part of the new look of the Guy Shachar website, "Libi Bamizrah” is now an attractive sub-site.

Enter "Libibamizrah”  Website (Hebrew)

Watch a magnificent starling aerobatics show, as thousands of these birds gather for night sleep near Beer Sheva municipality building.

Excerpts from the video:

Watch a rare documentation of a flash flood in Wadi (Nahal) David in Ein Gedi Reserve, The Judean Desert, Israel.
From the rain dropping on the area and the beginning of the flash flood, we shall follow the water current as it flows through the Nahal David canyon and pours to the Dead Sea creating a magnificent "mushroom”.

Excerpts from the video:

The Arava Rift Valley, on the eastern part of the Negev Desert, is not just a 180 kilometers road to Eilat. Rich with magical rock and mountainous formations, hiking opportunities, agricultural settlements and surprising amount of fresh water, this area is a destination !

To download the presentation click here. It is recommended to save the file before opening it.

Excerpts from the presentation

Download a presentation by clicking here

or watch the gallery:

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Most common: 3-6 days

The most common trekking route in the Simien Mountains goes along the northern escarpment, in order to enjoy the best of the dramatic Simiens scenery. Since most of the camps along this route are accessible by motor vehicles, it is quite easy to reach various points along this route (The "V” mark means that a spot is accessible by maximum 15 minutes of walking from the road).

The best sights along this route are: The escarpment around Buit Ras (V); The viewpoint of the waterfall at Deche Nedala – East of Sankaber(V) ; Village of Geech; Imet Gogo Peak (3925m); The whole trekking route from Imet Gogo to Chenek; the view from Chenek camp (V) "Paradise Benches”; the view from Bwahit Pass.

6 days itinerary may look like this: 1) Debark -> Buit Ras ; 2) Buit Ras -> Sankaber ; 3) Sankaber -> Geech ; 4) Geech -> Imet Gogo -> Chenek ; 5) Chenek -> Bwahit Pass / Bwahit Ras -> Chenek ; 6) Chenek – Debark (by vehicle)

Variations:

• Days 1-2 can be done in one long and strenuous walk day from Debark to Sankaber (no time to admire the view).
• Days 1-3 can be squeezed into one day: two hours drive by vehicle from Debark to Sankaber (make it at least three hours including photo stops…) and a fast walk from Sankaber to Geech.
• Day 4 can be broken into two days – visit Imet Gogo as an acclimatization day trip from Geech.

Short in time: 1-2 days

Use a vehicle to take you to the best spots described above.
In one day you can even visit Bwahit Pass or Chenek camp for superb views.
But – The Simien Mountains experience is not complete without a decent walk or a sunrise view.
Recommended camp for sleeping and wathcing sunrise/sunset is Chenek. If you want to skip camping, Simien Lodge (located at Buit Ras) is your (only) cushy choice.
For walking, it is recommended to trek from Buit Ras East bound, Around Deche Nedala waterfall viewpoint, and around Chenek camp.

All the way to the top: 8-11days

Many trekkers do not skip the ascent to the highest peak in Ethiopia – Ras Dashen (4550m).
The common Ras Dashen section takes 3 extra days from Chenek:

1) Chenek to Ambiquo 2) ; Ambiquo -> Ras Dashen Summit -> Ambiquo ; 3) Ambiquo -> Chenek

Variations:

• Instead of returning to Chenek, it is possible to extend the trek to the less visited section to the north west and finish it in the town of Adi Arkay, which is on the main Goner-Axum road. Such route takes you through Arkwasie pass and views of the Imet Gogo escarpment, including a remarkable descent from the highlands to the lowlands.

Itinerary from Ambiquo may look like this:
1) Ambiquo -> Arkwasie ; 2) Arkwasie -> Makarabia ; 3) Makarabia -> Hawaza ; 4) Hawaza -> Adi Arkay

• It is also possible to walk in one day from Arkwasie to Chenek.

For those who really like to walk: 20 days

• Add 15 days of walking north to Axum
• Add 15 days of walking south to Lalibela