Golan/Galilee

There is soooo much to update! the past two weeks have been crazy. We moved from Tel aviv on October 4 in the evening. October 5th at 7am we were boarding a bus to the golan and the galilee. We were in the north for 3 days of hiking and touring and then we left on friday morn with enough time to get back to Jerusalem for shabbat. The first day our whole group went on a hike together. It was challenging but felt so good and the view was spectacular.

Baily (and her awesome hat) and I during the hike

After the hike we went to a site called Rosh Hanikra. Again the view and the sunset were spectacular.The really cool thing about this place is that you are right on the border of Lebanon. There is an Israeli army base, a UN base, and then you are in Lebanon. It really makes you understand the complex issues of middle eastern politics when you are the centre of it. At the border there is a sign that shows you are only 120km from Beirut and 205km from Jerusalem.

amazing sunset

Day 2 was our break from hiking, but no less eventful than day 1. We started off the day going to a city called misgav am which is really almost at the very tippy top of Israel, again on the border of Lebanon. There were heard a lecture from an american who moved to Israel and has lived in the city for 30 years or so. He was helping us understand who was sending rockets into Israel from Lebanon, why, and what exactly we were looking at across the border. Essentially we were looking at a Hezballah run city. It was intersting to learn that all of south Lebanon is controlled by the Hezballah which are not only a terrorist organization, but they are also the government. Again you start to feel like the politics you read in the newspapers are a lot more realy, and start to hit closer to home. After Misgav am I was in a group that went to an Arab-Israeli high school to interact with Arab-Israeli`s as part of a co-existence. It was a really eye opening and unique experience. As if that were not a long enough day, we went to tour Tzfat after that. We toured the area and then had some free time to get some dinner. Once we got back to the hostel (Tel Hai) we had an optional excursion to the open photography museum, which of course I went to.



The other side of the fence is Lebanon

Day 3 was just as packed as the first 2 days. This was the day we had a choice of the hikes we wanted to do. I chose the Jilabun hike which was considered to be the medium hike. It was amazing! Instead of bordering Lebanon, this time we were bordering Syria, but we were hiking thorugh pre - 1967 Syria. We started at the top where there used to be a Syrian army base. You can see the remnants of all the destroyed buildings. Interesting enough, the only building that is left fully intact is the mosque. This is because Israel will not bomb or destroy religious buildings.I just thought it was a really interesting cultural fact. We hiked down the mountain until we reached a stunning waterfall and we were able to go swimming at the bottom. After the hike was over, we stopped in a druze village to try some food and just relax a little bit. On our way back to the hostel, we stopped at the Naot factory... and no, I did not buy a pair.

The trip was truly amazing. Saw some spectacular views and had a chance to understand the complex political siutation in Israel a little bit more. It was a unique experience to be able to share with such amazing new friends I have made :)