Day 4:
It’s another 6.30am wake up call, and once we’re all up, had breakfast and ready we’re ready to hit the road by 8.00am. No religious sites today and it’s forecast to be quite hot so there are quite a few white knees on display, including mine.
Our first stop for the day is the Tel Dan Nature Reserve. It’s here that we do a bit of a circuit around and along the Dan River. The path is just rocks, so it’s a bit hard going for some, but the view and sounds from the Dan River is peaceful as we walk. It’s a pleasant nature walk, and we shortly arrive at the first little historical area The High Place a shrine from the Kingdom of Israel. Next along the trail is the remnants of an old bunker that looks out over the hills, and Sam explains to us that the village in the distance is partly in Israel and the other half is Lebanon.
We finish the trail by seeing the remains of Ancient Dan and the Israelite Gate before heading back to the bus and onto our next stop Banias National Reserve.
The day is getting quite warm, so it’s a short visit. We take a short trail past Banias Springs, which is beautifully clear. There is some construction around the area so we’re not able to get too close and Sam tells us that when the water is at it’s full volume, the water cascades between each section.
A short climb up a path and we see the Temple of Pan, at the foot of a 40 metre cliff. It used to be temples and ritual courtyards during the Roman period. There isn’t a lot of the ruins left, but the site and the cliff makes it feel larger than life. That’s all the time we have for this reserve, so it’s time to make our way back to the bus – but not before ice cream.
Did someone say falafel? No? Well, it’s what I had for lunch, and it will be the first of many I’m sure. Sam takes us to a small place in a village, and while it’s nothing to look at from the outside – the food is great and the view, stunning.
Driving through the largest village of the Golan Heights, it appears quite disheveled. With such a war torn history of that area, I really shouldn’t be surprised. We leave the village and continue through the region up the hills and open agriculture land. We see beautiful red flowers line the road – poppies. Interestingly, only a moment later we see a fence which is the Syrian border.
We climb further up the mountain, and stop for a brief moment to overlook the area. So there we, are in the Golan Heights overlooking Syria. There is a UN area situated here between Israel and Syria. Sam tells us that in recent times, he has taken groups to this point and they have heard bombs. It would be quite something to hear that, knowing that it would mean lives had just been lost. Thankfully, we didn’t today. Mandatory pointing selfie and photos taken, we’re off again – this time to visit a local winery.
We arrive at the Golan Heights winery, and this is a well received change of pace. We are taken in and are taken through the history of the vineyard, their different labels, as well as an explanation of the where the many different grape varieties are grown throughout the region and that they produce quite a selection of wines. We get a tasting of 3 wines, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz and Moscato. We’re all impressed, and before we have to leave, several purchases are made.
The last stop for the day is Kursi the site where Jesus cast out demons from a man into swine and they drowned in the Sea of Galilee. As is almost tradition now for us in Galilee, we drive up another mountain to the site. It’s only a short visit to the site, and there’s not a heck of a lot to see – the prominent spot is the ruins of an old temple. The supposed actual sight is further up the hill and a few brave souls trek up to see it and the view. It’s over 40 degrees, so most of us decide looking at it from a distance is fine.
We decide not to visit the last site scheduled for the day, as we have a very busy day tomorrow. So we get back a bit early, relax, have dinner and then prepare everything as tomorrow we are checking out of Ginosar.
My Hovercraft is Full of Eels 