Friday, March 2, 2012

Korazin and Tel Dan

We set off this morning with rain beating on the windows of our bus, looking like a party of Michelin men in our many layers of clothing. We were cosy enough on the bus, but we weren't going to let a little rain stop us getting out and exploring the very northern reaches of Israel.

Snow was forecast for the Golan Heights, but our guide and our expert driver promised to see how far they could safely take us, and all but one of our number were up for the challenge.

Our first stop was at the ruins of the basalt-built town of Korazin.

This was an ancient olive press.

At Tel Dan, the next site we visited, our walk through the bush took us past swiftly running streams of water rushing down the slopes. The rains have certainly made a positive impact on the countryside, and everyone is delighted. (Ironically the sad news from home is that damaging floods have hit much of New South Wales.)

We were very close to the border of Lebanon here.

What started out as a very smooth amble along a paved path soon became a tricky scramble over round, and sometimes slippery, rocks, and finally a tramp through sticky clay mud.

Spurred on by the promise of seeing a city gate from 1800BC that Abraham probably passed through, we were elated when we finally reached our 'prize'.

The sun even came out!

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