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Today's freeway (Highway 1) to Jerusalem follows the historical road to
Jerusalem. In the 1948, in the midst of Israel's war of independence,
that road was blocked by the Arab Legion, preventing food, ammunition, and
re-enforcements from reaching Jerusalem. Just as Israel was close to
loosing Jerusalem a plan emerged to bypass the blocked road with a new road.
It was nicknamed the Burma Road and today it is a hiking trail with makers
and plaques .
It's a hike through some of the most beautiful scenery in the Judean hills.
That and the historical significance of the road attracted us to do the 16
km hike in 2005.
Unfortunately the trail is poorly marked in some sections. So, getting
lost as we did, we ended up doing 20 km but only half of the real Burma
Road.
Despite that problem we give this a *** rating as an experience not to be
missed on a tour of Israel. Just don't expect it to be easy!
The
Burma Road starts at Neve Shalom (what used to be a kibbutz, but now a co-op
village) near Latrun. You get there by the Latrun exit off Highway 1.
The fort at Latrun is a major part of the Burma Road story. Visit the
fort for historical background.
The
Burma Road ends near Abu Gosh, an Arab village in the outskirts of
Jerusalem. The half way point is Road #38 parking lot (between Highway
1 and Beit Shemesh). Continuing past this point on the Burma Road
takes you to the Mishlat 21 overlook and the town of Shoresh.
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