מַחֲנֵה, חַנְיוֹן לַיְלָה

Some of my friends grew up going to מחנה קיץ

– summer camp, implying a sleep-away arrangement. I went to קייטנה

– day camp.

מחנה

means camp, as well as campsite in the general sense. But when looking for a place to spend the night on the Israel (hiking) Trail, you won’t find signs saying מחנה, but rather חניון לילה

.

For example:

לפי המפה יש חניון לילה בעוד שני קילומטר.

According to the map, there’s a campsite in two kilometers.

You may recognize חניון

in its usual appearance as parking lot. But when putting it together with לילה

– night – we get חניון לילה – a place to park ourselves for the night.