North of the Galilee

A short while before we arrived at the Galilee last evening I was informed that a fax had arrived. It was a notice that there was a bicycle event on the road in front of the kibbutz this morning. We scrambled to reformulate our plan for the day. The road would be closed from 7 AM until noon, they wrote. So be begged the Kibbutz to prepare an early breakfast for us and we left before 7 AM. So far, so good...
Our first stop would be on a ramparts overlooking the UN facility at Qunetra. That was the plan, anyway... About 10 minutes before we go to the overlook one of the tourists informed us that he really needed a bathroom...NOW! Fortunately, we are a mere 200 yards for a turn that would take us to a national park at the top of Mount Bental instead of the overlook that was on the plan. Still going fairly well, don't you think? Next stop - Banias.
Banias was known as Ceasaria Phillipi in the New Testament. One day, Jesus was with His students beside the Galilee and he said to them, "Let's go for a walk!" A couple days later, after a tough hike up out of the Galilee basin, they arrived at the foot of Mount Hermon. The city had a horrible reputation at the time and it had an awful nickname to go with it's reputation. The city was called, "The Gates of Hell." This was where the tour group decided to have their morning devotions and worship time today. Nothing like going to the very gates of Hell to proclaim your devotion to Jesus. Good on ya Aussies!
As if that was not enough, we also hiked one of my favorite sites in Israel. Tel Dan is magnificent! Some of us walked the paradise trail and went all the way to the eye of the spring. We also hiked a trail that looked so much like Australia the we started looking for Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. And that still isn't all...


We finished the day on the bank of the Jordan river. 12 members of the group had informed us that they wished to memorialize their baptism with a repeat. There was also one who wanted to do it for the first time. Keith, our leader, was delighted to perform the ceremony.