KAYAKING & THE GOLAN HEIGHTS

KAYAKING & THE GOLAN HEIGHTS 

After Mass at St Peter's church in Tiberias, which is an old church run by the Franciscans, we made our way up to Kfar Blum in Upper Galileeto go kayaking.  We told the kids that it was a team-building exercise, although I did fear that it could go terribly wrong when we signed up for the "extreme kayaking!"  Fortunately, there wasn't anything too extreme about it, apart from some rapids at the beginning and middle and a small waterfall at the end.

We travelled down the Hatzbani river, which merged with the Jordan River, for 2 hours. We were all in the one raft, so there was lots of laughter and screaming when we would lose control of the raft on the rapids and start heading straight for the low lying branches.  Marcus proved to be the legend of the day with his rafting skills, although he could hardly walk the next day.  Thanks Marcus!  As there was hardly anyone there we had fun singing out loud the four different songs that I used to sing to the children as babies.  Alex saw it as a highlight of the trip as it brought back so many lovely memories.

60kms from Damascus - not really where I want to be....

At least the UN vehicle provided a little comfort.

Border between Israel &  Syria.

Conor & Alex heading down into the bunkers.

Brigid, Marcus and Dario going down into the bunkers.

After our kayaking adventure we drove to Mount Bental in the Golan Heights to visit the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) stronghold.  "Coffee Anan" (in Hebrew it sounds like "coffee in the clouds") at the top of Mount Bental is the highest restaurant in Israel, 1,165 meters above sea level.  Damascus lies only 60kms from this site!!!  I was feeling particularly nervous about going to this site but our friend, David Cavenor, who is well informed as to where trouble lies, assured us that the Syrians have enough on their plate to be worrying about the Israelis.  Nonetheless, my heart did skip a beat when I heard explosions, which I soon discovered were Israeli military practice ranges coming from behind us.

Mount Bental offers a view over a site of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.  It really is, yet another, example of the incredible ingenuity and capability of the Israelis and their defence force.  Now that I have experienced Yom Kippur and its religious significance for the Jews, it is unbelievable to imagine the Arab countries, in 1973, invading Israel on this holy day.  No matter what your view is of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, it is remarkable that the Arabs would invade on such a sacred day. But that's me thinking with a heart, which is something that is missing from this conflict.

In 1973 Mount Bental witnessed a large tank battle.  The Syrians attacked with 1500 tanks and 1000 artillery pieces to be slowly mowed down by the much, much smaller Israeli force with only 160 tanks and 60 artillery pieces.  The Israeli army suffered large casualties as well and by the time the battle was over, only 6 (!) Israeli tanks were operational.  After 900 of the Syrian tanks were destroyed, the Syrians turned and fled, unaware of how close they were to victory.  In memory of the loss of life here, the valley below the mountain is called the Valley of Tears.

The bunkers used during this war still remain and can be accessed by tourists.  Conor, who is our military junkie, was particularly taken with the whole site.

The views from Mount Bental give you a sense of the strategic significance of this point for the Israeli's.  What really struck me was looking out over the Israeli Syrian border.  If you have a look at the photos you will see lush, thickly concentrated green fields on the Israeli side and then dusty land over the border into Syria.

Conor & Marcus playing around

A welcomed refreshment at Coffee Anan's (yes, a humourous play on the name of the former UN Secretary-General), which overlooks Israel's border with Syria. 

Israel-Syrian border - you can clearly see where Israel stops from the green.

I got a little nervous when I started hearing explosions but was relieved to see that it was the Israeli's practicing.  There are numerous military sites in Golan Heights. 

It was strange for the kids and us to see a tank sitting in front and behind a couple of bulldozers.  Not something you see everyday.

Just another tank sitting on the side of the road.