Wow, long day of touring. We got on the vans at 8:30 and headed out to Hazor, which was kind of a disappointment. I was expecting cooler stuff from Israel’s largest tel.
Next we went to Kadesh, out in the middle of nowhere. There was a sarcophagus and a Roman temple to Baal Shamayim. The temple was nothing but a wall of shaky stones, which the guys climbed. To my own great surprise, I climbed up there too. It was scary, but I’ll have a cool picture!
On the way to our next site, we stopped on a hill to see the view into Lebanon. Because of the recent political mess, we couldn’t go to the border and stick a hand in.
At Bar’am, we saw the impressive remains of a synagogue. Then we stopped at a grocery to buy things for a picnic lunch, which we ate at a synagogue ruin – Gush Halav – at the end of a very bumpy downhill road. We literally came out of our seats, and Dr. B almost couldn’t get the van back up again!
Next was Montfort, a very cool Crusader castle overlooking a gorgeous valley filled with trees.
On the way to Mt Tabor, we stopped for a great view of Lower Galilee. We made fun of Mt Tabor because the sign says, “The Tabor is always clean – keep it that way” . . . and it was filthy! Trash and beer bottles all over, plus an open bathroom consisting of a smelly hole in the ground. There was a small Byzantine chapel, and we watched a pretty sunset from Israel’s premier hang-gliding spot. It was a great view of the Jezreel Valley.
All in all, a long and fun day – plus we heard “You Can Call Me Al” on the radio!