Blogs from Golan, North District, Israel, Middle East - page 3

Tuesday, 9/15 Today we started a bit late, but set out for Jaffa and Tel Aviv about 10. Jaffa is an ancient port city on the coast on the southern side of Tel Aviv. It's history goes back 4,000 years to the Egyptians. It is beautiful and old and preserved wonderfully. The artistic section is great for shopping and I bought some beautiful earrings handmade by an Israeli artist in the Yemenite style - filigree patterns. We also walked through the older bazaar that's kind of trashy but they have some cool things as well. Had Katy bargain a top for me as I hate to bargain!!! I love the dogs in the cities - they are mongrels but remind me of the photos I have seen of the Egyptian hunting dogs and the Afgani hunting ... read more

This current adventure on which I have embarked is remarkably different from any of the travel I have endeavored upon in the past in one key way; it's scope. In some ways I think more of this as the journey of an ex-pat than a vacation or trip. This (for the sake of my family, and Israeli Immigration control) is not to state any intention to remain here permanently, never to return, but even the year I have committed myself to is double that of any travels I have experienced in the past. I have not been overwhelmed by this thus far, in fact quite the contrary. I have found myself in a state of relaxation much more befitting to a vacation than the 'real life' I have consumed to date, but with all of the ... read more

Today was a day of adventure. We started with a fun and bumpy 2 hour jeep ride through the Golan Heights, basically a barren mountain range. It was particularly interesting to travel into the area that was held by the Syrians until the 6-day war in 1967. Overlooking the Israeli settlements in the green valley below, we could really understand the strategic importance of the Golan Heights, especially considering we could see Lebanon on the other side of the valley. Next we traveled to the Mystical city of Safed, one of the 4 holy cities according to tradition and the birthplace of Kabbalah.. Kabbalah is a mystical branch of Judaism (recently made famous by Madonna). We strolled through the narrow, cobblestone streets, visited two ancient synagogues, and shopped at the local artisan workshops - no Madonna ... read more

Today was another great day. We began the day again with another hike to the Banias river. The waters here are a crystal clear blue colour and are beautiful and clean. We hiked from the Banias waterfall to the source at a spring beside some ancient ruins from the 1st century CE. Afterwards, we hiked back, and then drove up Mount Hermon to the Nimrod Fortress. This fortress is one of the best-preserved ruins in all of Israel and the Middle East. Later, we took a scenic route around the entire Golan and then stopped at a Druze village along the way for lunch. Josh and I had falafel which was excellent - Noah stuck to pita & hummus. We continued our trek through the Golan, and then drove along the Eastern shore of the Kineret ... read more

Our tour awoke today to a beautiful and cloudless day. We enjoyed our stay at the Kinar Hotel which used to be on land that belonged to Syria. The hotel was situated on the Sea of Galilee which provides Israel with most of its freshwater supply. We started out today with a tour of the Golan Heights at Gadot Point. The bus drove along the twisting roads of the volcanic mountains that make up the Golan Heights. We arrived at the top of the Gadot Point which used to be a military lookout point, which looks right into Syria. The view from Gadot Point is beautiful but it has a military pass. This was an area where Israel and Syria has fought many times. Our tour guide was in the Israeli Defense Force in the 1970's ... read more