and follow the Jordan River north to the Sea of Galilee. The road went past innumerable kibbutzim with hectares of bananas under cover, corn, wheat and neat little towns. Until we went through an Arab town which was appalling in the amount of garbage, weeds and disorder everywhere. The guide noted that their houses are so clean you can eat off the floor but they couldn’t care less about the rest of the place.
First stop was on the Jordan River close to where it leaves
the Sea of Galilee. This is a noted
baptismal place, called Yardenit, and we were most surprised to discover that
the river was surrounded by gum trees and reminded us both very strongly of Echuca! The baptismal place is in the fenced off area.
There were no baptisms happening but we put our fingers in
and were immediately repelled by the biggest, ugliest catfish you ever saw flocking
up to us. One brave lady went for a
paddle and announced the fish were harmless but nobody else wanted to go
anywhere near them.
Time for a coffee and for others to buy stuff like crucifixes
made of glass tubing holding Jordan River water, then off for a drive through
Tiberius up to the land of Jesus’s ministry with the beautiful Sea (lake?) on
our right. We stopped first at Magdala,
as in Mary Magdalene, where we visited a working archaeological site which was
most interesting. Here is a photo of a
man working out the dirt between stones before filling them in with cement made
according to the ancient formula. His colleague
is watching him work, in the manner of workmen all over the world. The site in the background is a first century
synagogue.
We had a falafel/shawerma lunch, both delicious, then to Capernaum,
past the Mount of Beatitudes where the Sermon on the Mount was delivered. We visit this site tomorrow morning. Capernaum
is described as “the town of Jesus.” I was a little distressed that Port Power
supporters are not allowed in. I mean
nobody likes them much but this seemed a little harsh, especially as there were no signs banning Collingwood supporters.
The town features the well preserved remains of the
synagogue where Jesus is reputed to have delivered the “Bread of Life”
discourse, and next to that the remains of the house where he is reputed to
have brought Peter’s mother-in-law back to life.
Then to the nearby town of Tabgha where the loaves and
fishes miracle is said to have occurred and also apparently where Jesus described
Peter as the rock the church would be built on. To the hotel to check in for a
while then off again at 4pm to visit Kinneret College on the southern shores of
the Sea of Galilee, and excellent views of the Golan Heights.
The best part of this visit was an address by
a history teacher about the strategic value of this place in wars from WW1 onwards. It was the site of the last cavalry attack of
the war when Aussies charged the Semakh railway station and seized it from the
Turks. There is a monument to the Australians next to the lake on the lawns of
Kinneret College. Time for a quick visit
to a nearby kibbutz which didn’t look anything like we had imagined a kibbutz
would like, being a collection of sheds and other light industrial
installations and a car park full of cars.
Dinner at a local restaurant with the now very familiar food
of salads, dips and bread, followed by meatballs, steak and chicken. It might be predictable but it is still
delicious. As I write it is early for
us, not yet 10pm, but there is tinny music pounding out on the promenade along
the lake shore below us, which will probably go till after midnight if our
experience in Eilat is any guide.
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