Israel and Palestine Trip

Today was decidedly and unanimously breathtaking. The consensus of the group at the ended of the day was amazing. I will tell you of the things we did and all the places and people we saw. But it is with bitter sweetness that I tell you without the words of poet to help you capture the smell of the sir, the feel of the wind and the spray of the waterfall. So, I will need your help as I share our journey. Today we went from border to border to border looking and learning about the beauty and complexity of the Golan Heights.  We started in Banais Garden and The Roman Temple of Pan. We saw the ruins of Ceasara Philliphighi, where in biblical history Jesus came to speak. Here we hiked up into the mountains and we saw the beautiful gushing springs and waterfalls.  Next we met up with Hielm who spent the day taking us all over the Golan Heights. He talked about water use and water politics, volcanic and geologic formation. We went up to the border of both Syria and Jordan.  One of the highlights of the day was when we pulled over and talked to some young Israel soldiers. They talked to us about the tanks they were using and let us take lots of pictures with them. That was really amazing. All the paces we went to were filled with children on field trips.

We had time to just stop and realize how beautiful the place was; the sunset was amazing, and we watched it while talking to local people that said “Israel has the most beautiful sunset in the world”.

We also stopped by and smelled the local Golan Iris flowers and saw a cow going into a mined field! A place full of folklore, divisive history and beauty!  

We saw the past in the ruins of the ancient temple of Pan and abandon military barricades. Breathtaking beauty of the Golan Hieghts in the abundant wildflowers and mountain views. We whirl in a whirlwind bus ride stopping at the National Park.