Bushwalks, Burgers And Basilicas
Making the most of our spectacular location, we were up to watch the sun peep its orangey self over the horizon this morning. From our little balcony we could see the shore lined with others taking advantage of the view. Peculiarly, there was a very loud and decidedly out of tune trumpet blasting away, attempting to play a tune. I assumed it must have been a special signal, heralding the start of the day, Galilean-style, or maybe it was just a really bad trumpet player.
Sadly, we awoke to the news that we have COVID in our ranks. It’s such a bummer for the poor people who aren’t feeling well, who will miss out on today’s adventures. We are praying they will have mild cases and that it will stop there and not spread further through the group.
With an itinerary more packed in than my bulging=at-the-seams-suitcase, we had to head off early to fit it all in. It was good to know I wasn’t the only one who had missed the memo when we were told we’d be hiking straight off the bat today, and turned up in sandals. Probably not the best choice of footwear for the job. Never mind. Our shady little hike took us through pretty wooded areas with waterfalls and leafy trees. Maisy commented that we could easily be walking in the Daintree rainforest and I agreed….right up until the part where we came to a clearing that was the site where King Jeroboam’s set up of a sacred cow on the altar back in 900BC (written about in 1 Kings 12) . We are not in Queensland now Maisy. Fadi also told tales of lions prowling around this forest, right up until the 18th century. That’s the wildlife encounter no=one wants and would be a surefire way to spoil a bushwalk. The altar was very close to the border of Lebanon and we could see the tower that marked the edge of Israel, from where we were standing.
The area we were hiking, in Dan, still had the remains of a trench system running through the forest. These narrow trenches were used to smuggle Holocaust survivors back through the mountains after World War. It’s incredible they are all still there!
Another indicator we weren’t in the Daintree, was when we came across the magnificent Gate to Laish - the oldest arch in the world, that is yet to be toppled. The Romans claim to be the inventors of the arch but here’s some solid evidence the Jews got there first. Quite a claim to fame - everyone knows it’s the best window on Playschool. Built back in the 18th century BC, this gate that was built to last, and a place probably visited by Abraham, certainly outlasted its warranty. Just across from the gate was an orchard of mango trees - the greenest thing we’ve seen here; the colour popping against the arid mountainous backdrop.
Continuing our tour of extremely old and, as Fadi likes to say “signifi-sent” things, next we saw the king’s throne and the judging seat, where matters and disputes were settled and judgements handed down. Both made of stone, you’d definitely be needing a cushion or two, lest you wind up with a pretty sore derrière by the end of the day.
Ablution blocks have been provided in the national park and some of us needed to ‘spend a penny’. Three of us were waiting and noticed that one door seemed a little ajar. Cielo’s timid knock on the door was met with a decidedly deep: “I’m in here, won’t be long”. We all looked at each other wide-eyed, mouthing “is that a man in there?” Sure enough, the door burst open to reveal one of our male fellow-group members (who shall remain anonymous) looking as flabbergasted as we did when met with a bunch of females in what he thought was the Gentlemen’s. On another note, the little toilet block was bereft of all water - a flush with no gush and a tap dripping air. We three just crossed our legs and held on. As we boarded the bus we were accosted by an eager apple salesman, who was peddling his fresh Hermon Apples, urging us to give them a taste test.
We ascended to the Golan Heights for a quick visit to Caesarea Philippi and as Dean spoke to us as we sat on the stones, under a shady olive tree by a stream, he was almost drowned out by a Jewish church service taking place right beside us, with loud chanting and then a cacophony of out-of-tune trumpets, reminiscent of the vuvuzelas at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. (What is it with these out of tune trumpets?) Sounding like a swarm of angry bees, I was keen to see what an earth these instruments looked like so I befriended a Chinese lady (via Google Translate) and coaxed her to give me a demo. She uncovered an enormous, twisted animal horn and though I was hoping she’d give it a toot for ne, she simply posed for a photo with it perched at her lips. Google Translate can only get you so far I guess.
Next to the stream was a striking and imposing wall of natural red rock with a substantial cave and several arch-shaped carvings across its face. With a huge pagan altar to Pan, this cavernous pit was known as the Gates of Hades, where child sacrifice and some other pretty unspeakable things took place.
Just an hour from Damascus and still right on the Lebanese border, we found an Israeli Maccas - the perfect place for lunch. It’s a favourite pastime of ours to sample foreign McDonald’s to see what, from their local cuisine, they’ve added “Mc” to. Sure enough, we found some McKebabs and some little fried corn sticks that Deb endorsed as Mclisious.
Today’s lost in translation prize goes to Gary, who ordered a cappuccino with 2 sugars and got 2 iced coffees instead. Just as well he was thirsty.
At Korazim, Fadi read the bible for us in Aramaic, which was very cool and we saw Moses’ actual seat and the pool of Bethesda, where the Jews would have to ceremonially and ritually wash themselves, making them not only spiritually clean but also leaving them smelling a lot sweeter than their pagan buddies, who incidentally only soaped up once a year if they were lucky. The buildings at Korazim were built from black basalt; stone stained by lava when a volcanic eruption took place years earlier.
Our last pit stop today was the region of Gerasenes and the remains of a basilica, built to commemorate Jesus’ miracle with the pigs. We were all feeling quite weary after a day of traipsing around in 39 degree heat, so when Fadi asked: “Is everyone ready to head back to the hotel?”, we were all fairly keen. All that is, except Debbie, who suggested we’d be missing out if we didn’t climb to the cave up the mountain to see the tomb with the beautiful mosaics. Gazing through the heat haze at the steep, vertical stairs didn’t exactly inspire me to make the trek but Molly and Deb somehow talked a few of us into it and we weren’t disappointed! The sheer view alone was worth the effort; a magnificent outlook right over the Sea of Galilee. The mosaics were pretty gorgeous too.
As we headed back for our last night in Galilee, our sweaty little posse couldn’t have felt more grateful for the airconditioned bus, and the beautiful full moon casting its beams on the sea.
We’ll miss this place.
