Another in my ongoing posts from Israel:
We spent the day on the Golan Heights and the Lebanese border near Metula. We were accompanied by my good friend from Moscow days who I mentioned in a prior post. We were led by Hadar Sela of
BBC Watch blog, who lives on the Golan and has an amazing knowledge of the topography, history, people, and politics.
I had intended to do one blog post -- but soon realized there was just too much to cover so I'll break it down into three posts to run on separate days -- The Battle of Tel Saki, The Valley of Tears, and The Lebanese Border. The blog posts will track our journey from the southern to northern Golan, then down to Metula in northern most Israel.
We started the day where we stayed overnight last night, Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan to the south of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), in the shadow of the Golan Heights:
[caption id="attachment_60600" align="alignnone" width="501"]
(Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan, Israel - Map View)[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_60601" align="alignnone" width="547"]
(Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan, Israel, view towards Golan Heights)[/caption]
We then drove on the snake-like Highway 98 up the side of the Golan Heights facing Jordan across a deep ravine. The border fence along the road is shown in this photo -- my reaction was the same as yours probably is -- that's the border fence! We were assured that the Jordanian policing of its side of the border together with the topography was sufficient.
[caption id="attachment_60603" align="alignnone" width="527"]
(Highway 98, Israel, climbing Golan Heights - Jordan Border Fence)[/caption]
Note also the red triangle signifying a minefield -- something we would see repeatedly throughout the Golan even away from the border. Vigorous warning signs not to leave the established roads and pathways were everywhere.
