The Exotic ,East
Lures Backpackers

"I know that there are about five and a
half million people in Israel. Are there
any left in the country? It seems that
they are all traveling."
The comment comes from a young
Australian backpacker, and refers not to
the tourists, who seem to swarm all
over Europe and America, but to his
young colleagues, the Israeli youth who
seek out the hidden places of the
world, the mountains and the jungles,
the exotic and far-off sites.
We had heard and read about this
mass exodus of Israeli youth, particular-
ly upon completion, of their military
duties. After two or three years of disci-
pline and constraints, they seek to
spread their wings and see the world.
American's can satisfy their -urge for
travel on their own huge continent. _
While little Israel has its own places of
interest, our young people have been
there already. They want to see some-
thing new
They want to see a different world
— not just London, Paris, Rome or
New York, where the more mature
tourist go. And so, our sabra hikers
have made the sound of the Hebrew
language familiar in the strangest of
places.
All of this suddenly be'came very
close to us when our granddaughter,
Tali, in her early 20s, announced she
was going out to explore the world.
And so she did. For almost five
months, with her girlfriend, Ganiella,
she tramped and bussed through India,
Thailand, Vietnam and Nepal. And
everywhere, among the Australian,
Swiss, Dutch, German, and other
young people they kept running into
Israelis. Bankok even has a special guest
house for Israelis. In Katmandu, Nepal,
observance of a Jewish holiday like
Passover, for example, can draw a thou-
sand or more young Israelis from the
countryside all around.
Now that Tali is back home she tells
what a wonderful feeling it is to open a
fridge and help herself to food; to eat
without examining the sanitary condi-
tions in which the meal was prepared;
to be able to brush her teeth using
water from the tap instead of from a
bottle of mineral water; to be able to
use a toilet seat again.
-Yet her mind wanders back to the
charm of the far east. Some Israelis
explore the mysticism of Buddhism,
perhaps unaware of the mysteries of the

BACKPACKERS

on page R40

9/26
1997

R39