Israel

Tiberius (Lake of Galilee) - Nazareth - Acre - Tel Aviv

Shalom!

So, left Jerusalem after parting company with Richard, who went back into Jordan to meet a friend. It feels weird travelling alone again...

Headed for Tiberius, which is a town on the Sea of Galilee, which is where Jesus did most of his preaching and miracles such as walk on water, and multiply the fish and bread etc...


THE SEA OF GALLILEE
For some reason I thought it would be a wonderful idea to cycle around the Sea (57km), and visit the sites along the lakeside. Should have done my research. First of all, it's extremely hot and humid at the lake. Secondly, there is no lakeside path, you ride on the main road, which involves lots of traffic and uphill riding. So I only made it 20km to the main holy sights to the north of the lake, which of course were all marked with a church being built on top of it. I was only able to wade in the water at one point near a church marking Jesus handing his ministry to Peter, where small fish swim all around you, and very happy Christians sing and clap out of tune along the waters edge.

Ate a fish from the Sea of Galilee for dinner. Because It's what you do.


NAZARETH
Nazareth is a large predominantly Arab town with many hills and panoramic views. But the real attraction is the basilica of the Annunciation, where Mary accepted to receive Jesus, in her house (which is a grotto actually). Also on the location is Josephs carpentry shop (another grotto), and the Synagogue where Jesus went as a youngster (still a Synagogue). The basilica is impressive, it's exterior bland but the interior decorated with colourful sculptures and artwork from all over the world, and constructed to look like the inside of a barn, even with horizontal beams holding the roof up, except concrete is used to imitate wood...

Stayed the night at a convent across the road, which unfortunately locks you in a 9:30pm so I couldn't really explore the town at night. Not that you need to, as the city shuts down after 7pm!


ACRE
Went to the historic Crusader town of Acre. 5000 years of history, conquest, and reconquest have left this town with an ancient souk, solid fort walls with moat, an underground Crusader city and water tunnels (lots of fun exploring), all picturesquely set on the sea peninsula. Amazing stuff!


TEL AVIV
I went to Tel Aviv for two reasons: Beaches, and Nightlife. And I'm happy to say I got both in abundance, which is why I am writing this with only 4 hours of sleep and a lighter wallet. The nightlife doesn't compare to Beirut (nor do the girls - though, and many travellers agree on this, the Israeli women soldiers in their fitted uniforms are hot! Though being armed with huge heavy machine guns, one does not feel compelled to approach, lest they say the wrong thing or offend. Speaking of which, it takes a while to get used to the high number of young soldiers on national service on public transport, their machine guns hanging casually on their backs or on their laps pointed disconcertingly right at you.

Kept meeting people from Australia who are in Israel on some free Jewish programs, some involving a free 10 day tour of Israel! In fact, being a Jew in Israel, one gets many free things, such as free accommodation, food and drink in certain places. Was wondering if I could fake being a Jew for the freebies...hmm somehow I don't think I could pull it off..

Now I’m about to head for the Israel/Jordan border, to get into Jordan, so I can fly to Turkey at 4:30am tomorrow morning... looks like I won't be getting any sleep tonight either!