My faithful readers may have been wondering why I haven't written recently and have I stopped travelling or something. So, the answer is that I have not stopped travelling (I hope I never will, not many things nicer to do in this world as far as I'm concerned). It's just that the destination has changed - instead of travelling in Italy or to other countries in the area, I've been travelling as much as possible to the Golan Heights. Why? Well, if you are faithful readers you may have noticed that there is a new man in my life - Israel - who is a big fan of the Golan - as far as he's concerned there's no better place in the world. I must say, that this idea is slowly growing on me that he has a point there... The last time I visited the area was during a trip to the El Al springs (not far from where Israel lives) a few years ago. Before that we visited the Golan when I was in high school (a long long time ago) - we stayed at the SPNI's hostel in Katzrin for a week and toured the area. The trips in the area were lovely.
Going back to the present - Israel lives in Eliad which is a moshav (village) in the south part of the Golan. He's been living there since the moshav was established in the early seventies. He's currently the owner of 3 horses and two dogs and many citrus and olive trees. On the left you can see a picture of Israel and one of his dogs - Yovav. Being in the Golan starts with the trip up north from the airport (poor Israel should be entitled for a special free pass for frequent users of the airport he's been going there so many times recently...). During these trips up north we've already been twice to Afula - twice more than I've ever been there before... There really isn't anything to see or do there - except get closer to the Golan.
Once you're there - there are a lot of things to do, especially if Israel's your guide around there, he knows everyone and everything over there and lucky people (like myself) get to have the grand tour of the area and see the nice things over there.
Here is a description of some of the highlights of my trips there so far:
Gamla - Probably Israel's favorite place in the Golan is Gamla. We went there during my first visit. On the left you can see a picture taken recently by Israel of the place (this is a good time to mention that most of the pictures in this post were taken by him). Gamla is an important historical site which according to archaeological finds was already settled in the Bronze age but which is more famous for its Jewish population living there since the second century B.C. up until the Great Jewish Revolt against the Romans, their heroic fight (and defeat) against them. A good description of the site can be found here with interesting links to other good sources of information. In addition to its historical and archaeological importance Gamla is also an important nature reserve with a vultures' observation point (to which a 24 hour camera recording system has been added recently, donated by Israel's family in memory of his late wife - see a short TV article in Hebrew here). The place has a phenomenal concentration of birds of prey, some of them rare, living in a relatively small area. Griffon vulture pairs nest on the cliffs, making up the largest flock of Griffon vultures in Israel (and in the whole Middle East) - as stated on a web site encouraging volunteering in Israel in general and there in particular.
In a separate trip we went to Katzrin (the main (and only) town in the region) where one can visit the Golan Archaeological Museum and see an interesting audio visual movie on the history of Gamla as well as many archaeological finds from the region.
Umm el Qanatir (here we have the famous dilemma whether to use the official spelling with a 'q' without a 'u' or to change it to Kanatir, I left it as is even though it tends to be jarring to anyone familiar with Latin languages' spelling) - Another favorite archaeological site of Israel's is Umm el Qanatir (mother of arches, also known as Rehavam's Arches). In this site a synagogue from the Talmudic period was discovered and is in the process of being excavated and restored using special digital imaging techniques. The place was destroyed during a massive earthquake in 749 and hasn't been inhabited since. We went there with Israel's neighbors on a rainy and windy Shabat morning and this is what we looked like:
and this is what the view to the kinneret was like from over there on that stormy day:
Salukia Springs (also known as the Eden springs) - these are the springs from which the Eden company pumps water from. The company donated money to create a lovely little park surrounding the springs. The place is well tended with fruit trees and places to sit and enjoy the water.
Other places of interest (and it's obvious I haven't seen half of them yet) are:
Kfar Haruv - Kfar Haruv is a Kibbutz in the southern part of the Golan. They have this beautiful place there - a kind of a SPA Mitzpe la Shalom where you can go and spend two and a half hours in heated pools with music coming through the water, floating on special floats allowing you to sort of lie there resting your head and the back of your knees on the floats. It's limited to a small amount of couples - 5 or 6 and it's a very romantic way to spend an afternoon. After the swim they serve you hot infusions, dried fruits, wine and cookies. The place also has zimmers nearby and a nice restaurant overlooking the Kinneret. Highly recommended.
Aniam - Aniam is a village of artists and craftsmen. Their web site (only in Hebrew) can be seen here. There are some lovely stores with ceramics, specially framed pictures, jewelry and many others.
To end this post here are a few more pictures from the Golan, which, hopefully will make you want to come and visit this beautiful place:
Oh, and one final thought. The wines produced in the Golan are the best. Very popular in chic restaurants in Israel.
