Driving in Israel 2009: Nazareth Illit to Be'er Sheva via Highway 6

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• published: 19 Jun 2009
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First, a technical note about the video. This is a standard definition (SD) video that was upscaled to high definition (HD). This is my first attempt (together with the other Israel 2009 video I uploaded) at experimenting with different rendering options. The width of the video was slightly stretched to fill the 16:9 aspect ratio nicely, but I think the quality degradation was not significant. This is the second (and final) in a pair of driving videos I made during my recent trip to Israel, in May 2009. This is a video of driving from my hometown Nazareth Illit, a mountain town of about 43,000 inhabitants located above the ancient city of Nazareth, to Be'er Sheva, a relatively big city (in Israeli standards) of just under 200,000 inhabitants, located at the northern edge of the Negev desert. It is Israel's biggest desert city. This particular video turned out very well (I think), so hopefully you enjoy it more than the first video of my trip, which I admit is a bit too dark in several sections. The total length of the drive is about 200 km (124 miles), and took about 2 hours via the new toll Highway 6 (more on it follows), with a moderate amount of speeding (maintaining about 130 km/h in a 110 km/h zone). Due to Youtube's 10-minute limitation on the length of videos, I had to speed this video more than most of my other videos. It is sped up about 14 times. The video begins with a brief drive inside Nazareth Illit, followed by a road with a recently-constructed tunnel, which bypasses the older longer and more dangerous (i.e. serpentine) alternatives. After a drive on some highways in Northern Israel, we reach Highway 6 (also known as the Trans-Israel Highway), which comprises the bulk of our drive. Highway 6 is a relatively new highway, which bypasses the older congested north-south freeways in the central regions of Israel. The highway is an electronic tollway, which uses a system of cameras that photograph a vehicle's license plate (or optionally a transponder available upon subscribing) instead of toll booths. The system was designed after Toronto's Highway 407, which uses a similar (but older generation) system. The highway is still under construction, and extensions at its ends are in various stages of planning and approval (at the time of this writing). Expansion of the highway to 3 lanes per direction in certain sections is also underway. The speed limit on the highway is 110 km/h (higher than the typical 100 or 90 on other Israeli freeways). At the time of the making of this video, driving the whole highway one-way cost about $7. Taking Highway 6 to the central regions of Israel is often not worth it, but taking it all the way to the Negev desert does cut travel times significantly. After a relatively long drive the landscape slowly changes to be more desert-like. Eventually, Highway 6 ends and seemlessly turns into Highway 40, which is an at-grade expressway much like the rest of Israel's trunk highway system. Finally, we arrive in Be'er Sheva in the northern Negev desert. The music is: Ace of Base - Change with the Light Ace of Base - Wonderful Life Ace of Base - Hey Darling