Sunday 15th May
Sunday morning dawned and so did northern tiyul! One thing shnat has definitely taught me is that I am most definitely not a mooring person and the highly unnecessary 5:15 wake up in the morning was not very impressive. Also, after somehow managing to defeat my childhood coach sickness on long journeys for the first seven months of Shnat, it returned with full vengeance on my trip to the Golan and has remained ever since. Anyhow, the first morning of northern tiyul consisted of clearing undergrowth in the Carmel forest to prevent more forest fires (this volunteering with the JNF apparently rewarded us with free accommodation). For lunch we headed to a Druze village in the Carmel mountains which was yummy of course and also heard about many of the bizarre Druze customs. The afternoon consisted of a short hike, or should I say amble, before heading to our campsite in the forest for a very machonesque dinner and an Olympic themed peula which my group 'Afula' won!
Sunday morning dawned and so did northern tiyul! One thing shnat has definitely taught me is that I am most definitely not a mooring person and the highly unnecessary 5:15 wake up in the morning was not very impressive. Also, after somehow managing to defeat my childhood coach sickness on long journeys for the first seven months of Shnat, it returned with full vengeance on my trip to the Golan and has remained ever since. Anyhow, the first morning of northern tiyul consisted of clearing undergrowth in the Carmel forest to prevent more forest fires (this volunteering with the JNF apparently rewarded us with free accommodation). For lunch we headed to a Druze village in the Carmel mountains which was yummy of course and also heard about many of the bizarre Druze customs. The afternoon consisted of a short hike, or should I say amble, before heading to our campsite in the forest for a very machonesque dinner and an Olympic themed peula which my group 'Afula' won!
Monday 16th May
I have a feeling that my Northern tiyul blog will be rather brief as I am exhausted 24/7. On Monday morning we went on a hike in Nahal Amun which started off as a short hike and ended with Haggai saying that we had seven minutes left and half an hour later we still weren't there! The hike involved a water pool stop and Tamara and I were the only girls that ventured in. After the hike we had lunch and headed to Safed for yet another two hour tour followed by free time at which point I somehow ended up hiking up hundreds of stairs...voluntarily!
I have a feeling that my Northern tiyul blog will be rather brief as I am exhausted 24/7. On Monday morning we went on a hike in Nahal Amun which started off as a short hike and ended with Haggai saying that we had seven minutes left and half an hour later we still weren't there! The hike involved a water pool stop and Tamara and I were the only girls that ventured in. After the hike we had lunch and headed to Safed for yet another two hour tour followed by free time at which point I somehow ended up hiking up hundreds of stairs...voluntarily!
Tuesday 17th May
After being bitten to death all night once again we awoke at 6.30 for breakfast and a coach trip to kibbutz misgav am, a Lebanon look-out point. From where we were sitting we could see the border itself and directly into Lebanon. One of the kibbutz 'security force' who had also fought as a paratrooper in four of Israel’s wars, a guy called Arieh, talked to us about the kibbutz and it's history. We happened to be sitting at the very same point we visited on tour, a place that was fixed in my mind as my tour memory of he Golan but I didn't actually remember anything about it. Afterwards we headed to something that had previously been described as tobogganing but was a form of alpine-coaster, effectively a theme park ride in the mountains. It was fun if a little bit scary. When we finished they told us that we were no longer going water rafting in the Jordan river, something we were all massively looking forward to. Instead we went to a shitty leisure centre to have lunch in the oppressive heat and swim in the yucky pool. Luckily there was also an ice rink which was mamash kef.
We returned home for dinner, an intriguing questions peula and a bonfire with marshmallows, sweet tea and baked potatoes.
After being bitten to death all night once again we awoke at 6.30 for breakfast and a coach trip to kibbutz misgav am, a Lebanon look-out point. From where we were sitting we could see the border itself and directly into Lebanon. One of the kibbutz 'security force' who had also fought as a paratrooper in four of Israel’s wars, a guy called Arieh, talked to us about the kibbutz and it's history. We happened to be sitting at the very same point we visited on tour, a place that was fixed in my mind as my tour memory of he Golan but I didn't actually remember anything about it. Afterwards we headed to something that had previously been described as tobogganing but was a form of alpine-coaster, effectively a theme park ride in the mountains. It was fun if a little bit scary. When we finished they told us that we were no longer going water rafting in the Jordan river, something we were all massively looking forward to. Instead we went to a shitty leisure centre to have lunch in the oppressive heat and swim in the yucky pool. Luckily there was also an ice rink which was mamash kef.
We returned home for dinner, an intriguing questions peula and a bonfire with marshmallows, sweet tea and baked potatoes.
Wednesday 18th May
A five thirty wake up for a for a six hour hike. Down a mountain, through an ice cold pool, clambering across rocks, abseiling down a waterfall, through another freezing cold pool fully clothed, across some more rocks and up the most horrendous vertical cliff face in history. It was fun and completed the first tiyul in which I have fully completed every single hike so I was rather proud of myself. Afterwards we just about had the energy for pizzur lunch and a brief visit to the Syrian look out point before heading home for showers and dinner and a 'party' at a nearby kibbutz club (where Romy and I played the boys at pool and won!).
A five thirty wake up for a for a six hour hike. Down a mountain, through an ice cold pool, clambering across rocks, abseiling down a waterfall, through another freezing cold pool fully clothed, across some more rocks and up the most horrendous vertical cliff face in history. It was fun and completed the first tiyul in which I have fully completed every single hike so I was rather proud of myself. Afterwards we just about had the energy for pizzur lunch and a brief visit to the Syrian look out point before heading home for showers and dinner and a 'party' at a nearby kibbutz club (where Romy and I played the boys at pool and won!).
Thursday 19th May
I largely slept through (or rather sleepwalked through) the mornings events, a trip to an army bunker lookout point into ___ and to the Kineret graveyard. We all woke up drastically however when we arrived at the chocolate factory at Deganya kibbutz where we participated in a all you can it chocolate decoration workshop leaving some people to clearly out-eat their limits. Afterwards we headed to about the tenth 'oh I came here on tour but had no idea where it was at the time' place for lunch and a swim in the kineret. This concluded Tiyul and with a final play of the Northern Tiyul rap we fell asleep on the buses and headed back to Jerusalem.
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