Venue: ERETZ ISRAEL; three consecutive holidays, a car to borrow, company of good friends-indeed a golden chance to explore the Holy Land. I didn't want to waste the rare opportunity. In Israel, when you have a religious holiday, it becomes like a Saturday or Sabbath-every one including the public transport takes rest. Consequently, the day before the holiday turns out to be a Friday or half day! So at times when you are very lucky, you get two Fridays and two Saturdays in a single week! Although 29th May was a Friday, it was Shavuot, the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Thus, it is a Saturday according to the religious definition and the previous day is considered as a Friday. In short, from 28th to 30th May we had one Friday and two Saturdays to utilize. We decided to explore extensively the Northern parts of Israel especially the regions of Galilee and Golan Heights.
The itinerary is as follows:
The itinerary is as follows:
28th May
It was all decided in a day before the trip. We packed our stuffs hastily and at early morning started our mission to Galilee. Driving from Sede Boker, via Highway 40 and Route 204, through Yeruham we reached Dimona Junction. From Dimona, Highway 25 connected us to Highway 90 in the background of wild Judean Desert. Highway 90 is the longest road (480 km) in Israel, joining southernmost Eilat and northernmost Metula. At the junction where Highway 25 joins Highway 90, is the Tamar Lookout- from where we had a nice view towards the region of Dead Sea. The next stop was near Biblical Sodom to see the pillar of Lot’s Wife. Driving a few kilometers north, we stopped at Ein Bokek for shopping and for a short swim in the Dead Sea. The journey continued and after driving through Masada, Ein Gedi, Ein Feshka and Qumran, we almost covered the entire Dead Sea shore line. The next geographical stretch of land is called Jordan Valley in Israel. We made a vain attempt to see the actual baptismal site of Jesus at Qasr-el Yehud. It was on the border between Israel and Jordan and was closed for military reasons. The next important site was the oldest city of world-Jericho. The date palm rich ancient city was visible from Highway 90, however being a Palestinian city it is not easily accessible from Israel. I guess a car with an Israeli number plate is forbidden to enter any Palestinian territory. Never mind, further 80 km drive through Jordan Valley via Highway 90 took us to the first major halt of the trip in Bet Shean. Spending almost 2 hours at Bet Shean-one of Israel’s best archaeological sites, we drove through Route 669 to Bet Alpha Synagogue to see its 1500 year old well preserved Mosaic floor. On the way through Route 669, we could see the biblical Gilboa Mountains, where Israel’s first King Saul and his sons were defeated and killed. Via Route 669, Highway 71 and 65 we were approaching Mount Tabor, where according to tradition Transfiguration of Jesus happened. From the Tabor/Tavor junction, it was 5 km drive through Road 7266 to the Arab village of Daburiya which is at the base of Tabor Mount (588m). A very steep 2.8 km long narrow road ascends to the top of mount where you find 2 churches-a Roman Catholic and a Greek Orthodox to commemorate the event. The view from Mount Tabor to the beautiful and fertile Jezreel Valley of Israel is absolutely fabulous. We spent some 3 hours atop the Mount. Taking the Route 765 and driving some 20 km further we rejoined Highway 90 at Kinneret Junction near the boundaries of Moshav Kinneret. I had my first glimpse of the Sea of Galilee from the junction. It was almost 7 pm and after taking a few snaps of the Lake, we drove to Tiberias. We stayed at the Oasis St. Francesco Christian Hostel, located at the heart of Tiberias city a few metres away from the Sea of Galilee.
29th May
Day 2 was dedicated for the northernmost parts of Israel. We started at 7.30 am and continued through Highway 90. After traveling ~60 km through the highway, we reached the northernmost town of Israel called Kiryat Shmona. From KS, we took the Highway 99 towards Tel Dan Nature Reserve. Spending some quality time at the rich-green cool gardens of reserve and walking past ruins of the ancient biblical city of Dan, we moved to our next and in fact first stop in Golan Heights called, Banias Nature Reserve. After visiting the largest waterfall of Israel-the Banias Waterfall, we drove to the other gate of the reserve to see the ancient city of Pan (biblical Caesarea Philippi) and remains from the periods of King Herod Agrippa II and Crusaders. Next was a short halt at the Saar Falls and we moved further to the Nimrod Fortress National Park via Road 989. Standing almost at the base of Mount Hermon, every view from the Nimrod Fortress to Golan Heights was breath taking. It was almost 5 pm- time for all the Nature Reserves and National Parks to close in Israel for the public. Time for us also to wind up and we took the Highway 98 back to Tiberias. On the way we made a short stop at the Druze village of Masada to have a few snacks and do some basic shopping. Moving via Highway 98, after some 15 km, we reached the Quneitra Look Out. Had a nice view towards Israel-Syria border and listened to the brief history of the area. The Golan Wind Turbines and the strategic Mounts of Avital and Bental were also visible from the lookout. Further traveling via Highway 98 for 13 km, we took Highway 87 to Tiberias. Driving ~25km through Highway 87, we were almost reaching the shores of Galilee. We stopped at the Arik Bridge to have a glance of the legendary Jordan River. It was my first glimpse of Jordan. Contrary to the expectation of many first timers to see a majestic river with gushing waters, Jordan runs mostly like a narrow stream with not so much clear water! It was almost 7 pm and before returning back to the hostel, we had a short swim at the Sea of Galilee. After having a primitive dinner, we decided to explore the nightlife of Tiberias. We found all the restaurants opened and people flocking the streets, despite being a religious holiday in a religious city!
30th May
The third and final day was mainly for the shores of Galilee. Biding goodbye to Father Michelle who made our stay really comfortable in the hostel, we began the day at 7 am. The entire coast line of Sea of Galilee is around 60 km and three highways cover the whole stretch viz. Highways 87, 90 and 92. In the next 3.5 hours we covered 5 churches-venues associated with Jesus’ public ministry. 1. Mount of Beatitudes (Sermon on the Mount); 2. Heptapegon (Jesus fed 5000); 3. Church of the Primacy of St. Peter (Jesus appeared after resurrection) - all in Tabgha and 4. St. Peter’s Home (a church stands above it) and the Synagogue of Jesus; 5. The Greek Orthodox Church of the Seven Apostles -both in Capernaum. All these venues lie near Highway 87 and hence easily accessible. The next stop was at Meshushim (Hexagon) Pools in the Yehudiya Nature Reserve. From Highway 87, we had to drive through a dirt road for ~10-15 minutes to reach the reserve’s entrance. From the final parking lot, it was a 30 min steep descend to the pools. Though it was quite relieving on that hot day to spend some 45 minutes at the cool perimeters of the pool, the return hiking to the parking lot was very tedious. One more view to the Sea of Galilee and this time it was from Beth Saida Lookout (Road 869) via the Valley of Beth Saida. The view covers almost all the regions Jesus spend his times in Galilee. Ancient Beth Saida was not visible very clearly, but with a little patience you can locate its position just outside the northern end of Lake Galilee. The last Nature Reserve we visited was Gamla (Road 808) which was near the Beth Saida Lookout. At Gamla we observed Israel’s tallest waterfall, known by the same name (Gamla Waterfall), remains of 2000 year old ancient Gamla City, Griffon Vulture nests and 4000 year old dolmens. It was almost 4 pm and before we decided to call it a day we went to swim at Tzeelon Beach on the shores of Galilee. Having spent a nice 1 hour at the fresh waters of Lake Galilee, it was finally time for us to say goodbye to Galilee and Golan Heights. Around 6 pm we drove back to Sede Boker through the same way we started (Highway 90). It was almost midnight when we reached Sede Boker. In three days and three nights we traveled more than 1000 km and covered four National Reserves, three National Parks and at least seven churches, apart from spending lot of fun time strolling and swimming through the shores of Galilee and Tiberias. For details about the sites you can follow the introduction before the photographs uploaded. I take this opportunity to thank Zsolt and Brigitta for the lovely company provided throughout the trip. Thank you guys for giving us a memorable experience in Israel.
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