Fax: 972-8-6554369

Fone: 972-8-6555788

In the shadow of an ancient acacia tree, growing in the heart of the desert, there is a desert inn (khan) built of mud and date palms and decorated with carpets and recycled items—all natural.
The variety of natural colors, shapes and textures and the peaceful environment produce a charming, soothing sensation and a sense of complete detachment from the hubbub of everyday life.
These lodgings blend in harmoniously with their natural surroundings.
 There is no raucous entertainment that will ruin the quiet tranquility, allowing the visitors to experience the expansive desert vistas, taking in the slowly, ever-changing natural panoramas over the days and seasons - the colors and landscapes, the play of light and shadows,
 the spectacular desert sunrises and sunsets…

Khan Be'erotayim has guest houses in several sizes, suited to couples, families and groups.
Each guest house has a covered porch and a corner with seats and hammocks. There is also a large, central, communal guest hut in which meals are served and sweet herbal tea or coffee can be enjoyed around a bonfire. Here a variety of guests and desert dwellers meet:
dreamers, nomads, researchers and travelers.
At night, the place is lit by means of lanterns and solar-powered lighting.
 The greatest treasure Khan Be'erotayim offers is the scenery, the expanse and the quiet.
We invite you to share this with us.

to view The Khan (desert lodgings)

The madfunah process chicken or lamb charcoal-grilled in an earthen pit
The meals are served in the communal guest hut, lit by lanterns, with everyone seated on padded carpets and cushions around low tables.
The Khan's cuisine emphasizes high-quality, locally-grown fresh and raw produce, e.g. olive oil from Halutzah; boutique wines and honey from the vineyards and beehives at Kadesh Barne`a; and fresh vegetables and choice goat cheeses from local farms.

Khan hospitality includes a meat supper (mansaf) and a rich buffet breakfast.
 Specialties are: chicken madfunah, lamb madfunah, or the dairy "shepherd's celebration", consisting of quiches, goat cheeses, breads and a variety of salads.
Specialties must be ordered in advance.

to view meals gallery klik here

The camel was domesticated some 4,500 years ago and thanks to its unique qualities and perfect suitability to desert conditions, it served the nomadic desert dwellers.
The Be'erotayim Khan has a herd of 25 well-kept, friendly camels for our guests to ride on hidden desert paths found in gullies - those same paths taken by the ancient camel caravans.

Camel-caravan tours
are led by the staff of Khan Be'erotayim, people who have chosen a desert life-style, who are familiar with these gullies, the caravan routes and the desert lore. During the camel-ride, visitors learn about the ancient settlements and agriculture; the adaptation of flora and fauna to the desert climate; survival in the desert; the vital need for water; the spice-route caravans and other fascinating stories about the people of the desert: nomads, researchers, travelers and dreamers…

 A taste of the desert (about an hour and a half)
This is a camel-caravan tour that leaves from Khan Be'erotayim, offering an experience of the immediate surroundings. Thanks to the superficial aquifers, the region is unusually blessed with natural features and archaeological sites: ancient farms, the largest
Byzantine water-catchment basin, etc. - all seen during the short tour.
The tour includes some walking.

In the footsteps of the hunters and gatherers (4-5 hours)
This is a camel-caravan tour that starts at the Khan Be'erotayim and goes to the "Painted Hill",
where there are 55,000 year old rock drawings, unique flora, ancient agriculture and more, fascinating caravan tales… During this tour, there is a rest-stop in the shade of the acacia trees, where desert cookery is taught, including the preparation of libah (bread charcoal-baked in an earthen pit)
and other desert delicacies. The tourists both learn and participate in desert ways.

To the water-holes (7-8 hours)
This is a whole-day camel-caravan tour that goes to Nahal `Azuz (the `Azuz seasonal watercourse),
following the Kadesh Barne`a-Be'er Mosheh-Be'er Aharon rivulet.
 It reaches the "Screaming Hole" - an active bell-shaped water-hole Nabataean, in which
the tourists can swim in cool waters during the summer.
The caravan passes through primordial landscapes with spectacular views of the Sinai Desert and the
Negev Highlands. During the camel-ride, visitors learn about the ancient settlements and agriculture;
 the adaptation of flora and fauna to the desert climate; survival in the desert; the vital need for water;
the spice-route caravans and other fascinating stories about the people of the desert: nomads, researchers, travelers and dreamers…

During this tour, there is a rest-stop in the shade of the acacia trees, where desert cookery is taught, including the preparation of libah (bread charcoal-baked in an earthen pit) and other desert delicacies. The tourists both learn and participate in desert ways.

Preparing libah

Following the caravan routes
These are tours deep into the desert on natural paths, passing through wadis
(dry seasonal watercourses) and unspoiled ecospheres, where plants, trees and creatures thrive in complete harmony. The camel-caravan routes pass through ancient natural gullies that served the
desert folk hundreds and thousands of years ago.

The necessary equipment and provisions for this tour are loaded on camels, so the pace is slow,
but steady - the pace of the desert. Some tourists may share in leading the caravan.
All the meals are made outdoors, as the tourists learn and participate in their preparation,
using traditional desert herbs and methods.
 There is a special taste to the long-cooked food with desert spices made over the open bonfire.

Bike routes

Khan Be'erotayim also serves as a base for bicycle tours in the western Negev Highlands,
facing the magical Sinai landscape. A number of well-marked biking routes,
with various degrees of difficulty, start out from the Khan.
The process of marking these paths was complex and often required camels to carry the necessary
heavy equipment to the spots to be marked, so that the natural habitats and
 primordial scenery would not be spoiled.



A family biking route (5 km.) – an easy path
This is a circular path passing through Nahal Be'erotayim (the Be'erotayim seasonal watercourse),
ancient agricultural settlements, the large Byzantine water-catchment basin, the "Painted Hill"
(ancient rock drawings), Nahal `Azuz, and the Be'erotayim woods - a woods of tamarisk trees planted
by the graduates of Mikveh Yisra'el, who were drafted by the Ottoman Turkish Army during WWI,
and then back to the Khan.

A family biking route around `Azuz (12 km.) – an easy, but slightly harder path
This is a circular path passing through Nahal Be'erotayim (the Be'erotayim seasonal watercourse),
the "Painted Hill", and Nahal `Azuz via the olive orchards and the citrus groves.
Then on to an ancient Bedouin cemetery, the Be'erotayim woods, Be'er Aharon and the Ottoman
Turkish train bridge from 1914, and then back to the Khan.

A route to the Kadesh Barne`a rivulet (27 km.) - medium to very difficult
This is a challenging ride from the Khan through stunning desert landscapes, facing the remarkable scenery of the Negev Highlands and reaching the biblical Kadesh Barne`a rivulet by way of the old patrol route, going down into Nahal Hurshah, on to upper Nahal `Azuz, and then back to the Khan.

Additional services
"Shvil net" biking maps.
Bike rentals
Instruction of biker groups
Accompanying vehicles, transport and logistics

Events at Khan Be'erotayim
Khan Be'erotayim offers a variety of possible ways to celebrate private events, e.g. weddings,
bar-mitsvahs, bachelor parties, baby showers, etc. in the hypnotic desert setting with its open expanses.
 At Khan Be'erotayim, when it is booked for a private event, the whole place is bathed in soft lantern-light;
a large dance-floor is prepared; Orly, the house DJ, plays music from the large overhead balcony;
and tens of tables and chairs are set out.
 The hosts of the event choose their preferred menu from the Khan's catering service; the Khan uses only the freshest, local ingredients in its quality cuisine - all the food is native to the Negev Desert.
These events can also include exciting camel rides, workshops, walking tours, etc.

Parties at Khan Be'erotayim
Twice a year, Khan Be'erotayim invites tourists to a 24-hour party conducted by
DJ Orly - two days of sensual saturation.

To the party site

to view events gallery klik here

Khan Be'erotayim is an oasis in the western Negev Highlands, on the Sinai coastal plain, with a grove of giant tamarisk trees and two ancient wells - which gave the place its Arabic name,
Birayn or in Hebrew, Be'erotayim (i.e., two wells): Moses' well and Aharon's well.
The trees and the wells are fed by a superficial layer of groundwater, one that had served the prehistoric hunters and gatherers some 55,000 years ago.

The superficial aquifer and its proximity to the Shur road (Genesis 26:18) enabled many archaeological artifacts to be left behind, attesting to human settlement throughout the course of history:
 flint manufacturing, inscriptions and drawings on rocks, various ceramic shards, agricultural terraces, and a large Byzantine water-catchment basin, one of the largest in the Negev.

The region is rife with the remains of many cultures, having had wave after wave of settlement and destruction from the dawn of history and to this very day.
From the days of `Uziyahu, King of Judaea, through the Nabatean and Byzantine eras and until to the start of the 20th century - when this area gained new strategic significance during the struggle between the Commonwealth forces and the Ottoman Empire.
 Later, at the beginning of the 21st century, it became the location of modern forms of settlement.
This region has unique and interesting flora, such as: Atlantic terebinths (oaks) - powerful, ancient giants, almonds, buckthorns, sumachs and carpets of amazing flowering plants after each rainy season. There is also a stable population of animals, some of which are unique to the Negev Region.

to view the area gallery klik here

Khan Be'erotayim – Nitsanah, Mitzpe Ramon
tours@beerotayim.co.il
Fone: 972-8-6555788
 Fax: 972-8-6554369

(Click on the map to enlarge)

Directions for drivers: Take the Be'er-Sheva by-pass road (Route 40), south to the Mash'abim intersection
and drive straight until the Telalim intersection.
Continue on straight until Route 211,until Nitsanah junction, then turn left
and follow the signs to `Azuz. Then drive on the winding road until you reach Khan Be'erotayim
.
** Note: The only open gas station before `Azuz is located at Mash'abe Sadeh.