{"id":2552,"date":"2012-02-20T23:59:01","date_gmt":"2012-02-20T22:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onmytodd.org\/?p=2552"},"modified":"2012-03-07T15:28:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-07T14:28:00","slug":"day-trip-around-the-golan-heights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/?p=2552","title":{"rendered":"Day trip around the Golan Heights"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Golan Heights, a plateau at an average altitude of 1000m, was covered in snow. We learned that 3 days ago many roads had been impassable due to heavy snowfall. And the road up Mt Hermon was still not open.<\/p>\n<p>We had lunch in the Druze village of Ma&#8217;asada (not sure I got the spelling right). Later we saw Nimrod castle in twilight. Unfortunately, it was already closed for visitors for today.<\/p>\n<p>Near the Syrian border we stopped at a car park and wittnessed a special moment. A bus full of students returned from Damascus through the usually closed Syrian-Israeli border. Their families and loads of journalists were waiting for them. We were surprised that Israeli citizens were allowed to study in Syria in the first place. Though the reason probably is that those people were Druze from the Golan, which belonged to Syria until it was occupied by Israel in the Six-Day war in 1967. Internationally the Golan Heights are still not recognized as Israeli territory.<\/p>\n<p>Basically we did a big tour of the Golan today &#8211; east to the Syrian border, then north to Mt Hermon, west to the Lebanese border, and returned back to Tiberias for the night.<\/p>\n<div class=\"rl-gallery-container \" id=\"rl-gallery-container-1\" data-gallery_id=\"0\"> <div class=\"rl-gallery rl-basicmasonry-gallery \" id=\"rl-gallery-1\" data-gallery_no=\"1\"> <div class=\"rl-gutter-sizer\"><\/div><div class=\"rl-grid-sizer\"><\/div> <div class=\"rl-gallery-item rl-gallery-item-width-4\" > <div class=\"rl-gallery-item-content\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_7943.jpg\" title=\"Tiberias\" data-rl_title=\"Tiberias\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_7943-225x300.jpg\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" alt=\"Tiberias\"\/><span class=\"rl-gallery-caption\"><span class=\"rl-gallery-item-title\">Tiberias<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"rl-gallery-item\" > <div class=\"rl-gallery-item-content\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_8024.jpg\" title=\"Sunset over Nimrod castle\" data-rl_title=\"Sunset over Nimrod castle\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_8024-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" alt=\"Sunset over Nimrod castle\"\/><span class=\"rl-gallery-caption\"><span class=\"rl-gallery-item-title\">Sunset over Nimrod castle<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"rl-gallery-item\" > <div class=\"rl-gallery-item-content\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_8022.jpg\" title=\"Mt Hermon\" data-rl_title=\"Mt Hermon\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_8022-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" alt=\"Mt Hermon\"\/><span class=\"rl-gallery-caption\"><span class=\"rl-gallery-item-title\">Mt Hermon<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"rl-gallery-item\" > <div class=\"rl-gallery-item-content\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_8007.jpg\" title=\"Our car in Ma&#039;asada, Mt Hermon in the background\" data-rl_title=\"Our car in Ma&#039;asada, Mt Hermon in the background\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_8007-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" alt=\"Our car in Ma&#039;asada, Mt Hermon in the background\"\/><span class=\"rl-gallery-caption\"><span class=\"rl-gallery-item-title\">Our car in Ma&#039;asada, Mt Hermon in the background<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"rl-gallery-item\" > <div class=\"rl-gallery-item-content\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_8004.jpg\" title=\"Selling fruit in the snow\" data-rl_title=\"Selling fruit in the snow\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_8004-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" alt=\"Selling fruit in the snow\"\/><span class=\"rl-gallery-caption\"><span class=\"rl-gallery-item-title\">Selling fruit in the snow<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"rl-gallery-item\" > <div class=\"rl-gallery-item-content\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_8000.jpg\" title=\"Arrival of the students from Damascus\" data-rl_title=\"Arrival of the students from Damascus\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_8000-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" alt=\"Arrival of the students from Damascus\"\/><span class=\"rl-gallery-caption\"><span class=\"rl-gallery-item-title\">Arrival of the students from Damascus<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"rl-gallery-item\" > <div class=\"rl-gallery-item-content\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_7987.jpg\" title=\"Walking up a hill at the Syrain border through mined area, watched by IDF soldiers\" data-rl_title=\"Walking up a hill at the Syrain border through mined area, watched by IDF soldiers\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_7987-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" alt=\"Walking up a hill at the Syrain border through mined area, watched by IDF soldiers\"\/><span class=\"rl-gallery-caption\"><span class=\"rl-gallery-item-title\">Walking up a hill at the Syrain border through mined area, watched by IDF soldiers<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"rl-gallery-item\" > <div class=\"rl-gallery-item-content\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_7978.jpg\" title=\"Crossing the river Jordan to the Golan\" data-rl_title=\"Crossing the river Jordan to the Golan\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_7978-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" alt=\"Crossing the river Jordan to the Golan\"\/><span class=\"rl-gallery-caption\"><span class=\"rl-gallery-item-title\">Crossing the river Jordan to the Golan<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"rl-gallery-item\" > <div class=\"rl-gallery-item-content\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_7971.jpg\" title=\"\" data-rl_title=\"\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_7971-225x300.jpg\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"rl-gallery-item\" > <div class=\"rl-gallery-item-content\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_7965.jpg\" title=\"Tiberias&#039; Citadel\" data-rl_title=\"Tiberias&#039; Citadel\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_7965-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" alt=\"Tiberias&#039; Citadel\"\/><span class=\"rl-gallery-caption\"><span class=\"rl-gallery-item-title\">Tiberias&#039; Citadel<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"rl-gallery-item\" > <div class=\"rl-gallery-item-content\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_8029.jpg\" title=\"Hm...?\" data-rl_title=\"Hm...?\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/wp-uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_8029-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" alt=\"Hm...?\"\/><span class=\"rl-gallery-caption\"><span class=\"rl-gallery-item-title\">Hm...?<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Golan Heights, a plateau at an average altitude of 1000m, was covered in snow. We learned that 3 days ago many roads had been impassable due to heavy snowfall. And the road up Mt Hermon was still not open. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/?p=2552\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[51],"class_list":["post-2552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-into-the-lions-den","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2552"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2774,"href":"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2552\/revisions\/2774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}