(OK, this and the next posting are but a bit longer than usual but, for me, it’s the most interesting part of the trip thus far I think and I’ve enjoyed writing about it more than usual… so grab a cup of tea or whatever and enjoy!)
As soon as business resumed as normal after Shabbat we were off to hire a car (oh the freedom!!) and immediately took off up the coast to Rosh Hanikra, a tiny wee place that is right on the border with Lebanon (the border was even marked out to sea!). The parts of the Lebanese border that we travelled along seemed to be pretty well manned with loads of jeeps (with antennae sticking out all over them) driving round, big Hummers with guns and a navy ship out patrolling the sea border. We were driving round the border road and there was very little traffic other than army so often it seemed that we were the only (normal) car for miles. As someone from a country that has no borders, I’m fascinated by them and the behaviour around them (depending on which the bordering country is). We visited the town of Metulla, another town right on the Lebanese border and also Kiryat Shmona, a town that has had huge problems with the Hezbollah in Lebanon who, in the past, have randomly fired rockets over the border among other attacks. Kind of explains the military presence in the area really.
We travelled as far north as we could up the ridge high above the Hula Valley before dropping back down to the Sea of Galilee (felt a bit cheated as while its some 300m below sea level, its fresh water). We used a small town called Tiberias as our base for a few nights as it had relatively cheap accommodation and was fairly central.
View down the Hula Valley
Making the most of the car, we explored the Golan Heights which (kind of) run parallel to and then upwards from the Hula Valley. We visited Nimrod fortress (or Qal’at Subayba in Arabic) built in 1230 and now very decrepit but the location is amazing as it’s perched high on a hilltop with an amazing view down the Hula Valley. The route up the valley was (in 13th century) one of the trade routes to from Tyre (Lebanon) to Damascus (Syria) and, from its vantage point, the fortress controlled the route. The fortress is so weathered its almost unrecognisable from a distance and its not until you’re up close that you can see that is more actually more than just a pile of rocks on a hill top.
Nimrod from afar
From Nimrod we headed northeast to the higher part of the Golan Heights and the border with Syria (which seemed to be patrolled slightly differently to the Lebanese border). We didn’t think the countryside up that way was that picturesque but it was strangely beautiful. Lots of barren plains with dead grass that had turned golden, discarded tanks (presumably Syrian) along the road side, bombed out houses, others riddled with bullet holes, dug-outs, bomb shelters and on the hills there were army stations with towers, netting, gun stations and loads of what seemed to be communication points.
Pillboxes (I think?)
Hilltop station
Abandoned houses
I was quite keen to go and have a closer look at one of the discarded tanks but was quickly put off by the signs advising that there were unexploded mines around and was back in the car quick smart.
One of the roads we were driving along was showing on our map as closed but we thought we’d give it a go anyhow and as we approached, we saw this barricade of what looked like huge stones. We were getting ready to turn around but when we got within about 10m of it, we saw that it was just an optical illusion and that the road actually snaked sharply between two big piles of stones. The picture below is of the second one that we passed through (that’s our car driving through) and there are signs in front of it showing its obviously not a barrier. The first one we went through (at the beginning of the road that was meant to be closed) didn’t have any at all but I’m sure you’ll get the jist of what we saw.
Road barrier (or so we thought)
At one lookout point quite close to the Syrian border, there was a large UN camp and right next to it, the bombed out remains of Quneitra, a Syrian town that was flattened by the Israeli Defence Forces in 1967. Quite chilling in a way and the most blatant example of the past relations between the two countries.
UN post right next to Quneitra
Quneitra in Syria
We followed the border with Syria until it became the border with Jordan just south of the Sea of Galilee and headed on into the Jordan Valley. The Jordan border was almost non-descript in comparison to the others. What we saw of it was some rusty barbed wire and netting and didn’t spot any watch towers or any obvious military presence. Very different to the double fencing and electrified wire of the Lebanese border and the monitored Syrian border.
We actually did spot some wild life (which I got very excited about) and it probably helps that the area isn’t that busy with traffic. We saw vultures, golden eagles, a snake (we didn’t mean to run over it but it looked like a thin bit of black polythene in the road until it moved – we didn’t kill it I hasten to add). We also saw this massive wild boar (recently killed - not by us!). I spotted him just off the side of the road and got Euan to do a U-turn so we could check him out. The car that hit him must have been totalled. He was just huge.
As soon as business resumed as normal after Shabbat we were off to hire a car (oh the freedom!!) and immediately took off up the coast to Rosh Hanikra, a tiny wee place that is right on the border with Lebanon (the border was even marked out to sea!). The parts of the Lebanese border that we travelled along seemed to be pretty well manned with loads of jeeps (with antennae sticking out all over them) driving round, big Hummers with guns and a navy ship out patrolling the sea border. We were driving round the border road and there was very little traffic other than army so often it seemed that we were the only (normal) car for miles. As someone from a country that has no borders, I’m fascinated by them and the behaviour around them (depending on which the bordering country is). We visited the town of Metulla, another town right on the Lebanese border and also Kiryat Shmona, a town that has had huge problems with the Hezbollah in Lebanon who, in the past, have randomly fired rockets over the border among other attacks. Kind of explains the military presence in the area really.
We travelled as far north as we could up the ridge high above the Hula Valley before dropping back down to the Sea of Galilee (felt a bit cheated as while its some 300m below sea level, its fresh water). We used a small town called Tiberias as our base for a few nights as it had relatively cheap accommodation and was fairly central.
View down the Hula Valley
Making the most of the car, we explored the Golan Heights which (kind of) run parallel to and then upwards from the Hula Valley. We visited Nimrod fortress (or Qal’at Subayba in Arabic) built in 1230 and now very decrepit but the location is amazing as it’s perched high on a hilltop with an amazing view down the Hula Valley. The route up the valley was (in 13th century) one of the trade routes to from Tyre (Lebanon) to Damascus (Syria) and, from its vantage point, the fortress controlled the route. The fortress is so weathered its almost unrecognisable from a distance and its not until you’re up close that you can see that is more actually more than just a pile of rocks on a hill top.
Nimrod from afar
From Nimrod we headed northeast to the higher part of the Golan Heights and the border with Syria (which seemed to be patrolled slightly differently to the Lebanese border). We didn’t think the countryside up that way was that picturesque but it was strangely beautiful. Lots of barren plains with dead grass that had turned golden, discarded tanks (presumably Syrian) along the road side, bombed out houses, others riddled with bullet holes, dug-outs, bomb shelters and on the hills there were army stations with towers, netting, gun stations and loads of what seemed to be communication points.
Pillboxes (I think?)
Hilltop station
Abandoned houses
I was quite keen to go and have a closer look at one of the discarded tanks but was quickly put off by the signs advising that there were unexploded mines around and was back in the car quick smart.
One of the roads we were driving along was showing on our map as closed but we thought we’d give it a go anyhow and as we approached, we saw this barricade of what looked like huge stones. We were getting ready to turn around but when we got within about 10m of it, we saw that it was just an optical illusion and that the road actually snaked sharply between two big piles of stones. The picture below is of the second one that we passed through (that’s our car driving through) and there are signs in front of it showing its obviously not a barrier. The first one we went through (at the beginning of the road that was meant to be closed) didn’t have any at all but I’m sure you’ll get the jist of what we saw.
Road barrier (or so we thought)
At one lookout point quite close to the Syrian border, there was a large UN camp and right next to it, the bombed out remains of Quneitra, a Syrian town that was flattened by the Israeli Defence Forces in 1967. Quite chilling in a way and the most blatant example of the past relations between the two countries.
UN post right next to Quneitra
Quneitra in Syria
We followed the border with Syria until it became the border with Jordan just south of the Sea of Galilee and headed on into the Jordan Valley. The Jordan border was almost non-descript in comparison to the others. What we saw of it was some rusty barbed wire and netting and didn’t spot any watch towers or any obvious military presence. Very different to the double fencing and electrified wire of the Lebanese border and the monitored Syrian border.
We actually did spot some wild life (which I got very excited about) and it probably helps that the area isn’t that busy with traffic. We saw vultures, golden eagles, a snake (we didn’t mean to run over it but it looked like a thin bit of black polythene in the road until it moved – we didn’t kill it I hasten to add). We also saw this massive wild boar (recently killed - not by us!). I spotted him just off the side of the road and got Euan to do a U-turn so we could check him out. The car that hit him must have been totalled. He was just huge.
Have the car for one more day so may go to Dead Sea, but then again, may not.
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