The mostly empty rides in the South made my trips less stressful: sometimes I could reserve my seat of a bus ahead of time, and there were times as a traveller when I would have to move to another seat to give a person the space they had booked in advance). Fewer fellow passengers also allowed me to enjoy the scenery and take notice of the different stops we made along the way to our final destination. Unfortunately, whether the bus was full or not, I still went through a few encounters where I communicated the wrong phrase or wording with the bus driver due to my rough Hebrew!
Transportation fluctuates due to the observance of Sabbath, from Friday sundown to Saturday evening. There is far less transportation available during this time, and people tend to plan heavily their days and errands around this time. Similarly to how places open later on Saturdays and Sundays and close earlier on Sundays in the US, Israel’s public transportation is limited during Sabbath.
