From the village, we had to hike across a small creek and then up the other side of the mountain to get to our home. It was very steep going down the hillside to the creek and both our travel companions fell down on that stretch of hike. Vicky and I managed to stay upright but it was steep. At the creek edge, we were supposed to cross the creek on a bridge. The bridge, however, was closed for repairs when we arrived. I checked it out but it was boarded off and they were working on it. So we had to hike down the creek and find another place to cross.

Our host was named Hassan and his family included his wife and two daughters. The area included some terraced hillsides, olives and other trees, and various small-scale agriculture. It was a steep mountainside where they lived.

These are photos of our home-hosted lunch visit.

We hiked down river until we found this small bridge and a narrow stream to cross. I had been advocating to cross on the rocks up river but Vicky seemed very happy to have reached another bridge.

The next photo is Hassan’s home. It’s mostly made of cement bricks. There is some garden to the right and the vines hanging and hiding the house are grape vines. Things were a bit overgrown at this point in time.

The third photo is behind the second photo. It’s a terrace or gazebo of sorts. We were served tea, nuts, and dates for snacks. It was a very pleasant place to sit and we exchanged phone photos to make up for our language barriers.

This daughter was baking the bread for lunch. You can see two of the pots for lunch on the left but there were more than what you see in this picture.

The last photo was taken from near the cooking area or outdoor kitchen. The house was two stories. On the first story were cows, four of them. Outside to the right were ten sheep and many chickens. The garden had fruit trees, grapes, and many other vegetables. Hassan is on the right in the yellow shirt. We went up and down the stairway and while it was very solid, I sure would have liked there to be a handrail. It was steep with narrow steps.