This past weekend I went on a trip to a few places in northern Israel. Our first stop was in Haifa, a large city on the coast famous for its port. Here we went on a tour of the famous Bahai Gardens, a walkthrough botanical garden that goes along a large hill. The layout and organization of the garden was breath taking and it was incredible to learn about the Bahai religion (pictured below). Our next stop was at a religious site called Elijah’s Cave. To me personally this was an underwhelming stop, however I was very interested to learn about the backstory and importance of the site. We spent the night in a small kibbutz, a type of small community that can be found throughout Israel, and prepared for the rest of our trip. We continued the adventure in the morning by going on a short hike in the Golan Heights that led to a beautiful water fall at the top of a hill.
The Golan Heights are a very interesting area in Israel. The area was always highly disputed and although Israel has governed over it for many years, there is no official document stating that it is Israels territory. Recently President Trump declared publicly that Israel is rightfully in control of the Golan Heights, a political move with no real implications but was aimed to strengthen the alliance between the American government and Israel. After this declaration a small community in the Golan Heights was renamed to “Trump Heights”. I included a picture of myself next to the sign of the community.
The trip in the Golan Heights ended by going to a watch point at the peak of mountain in the Golan Heights where you could see for miles and observe the border between Israel and Syria. Lastly, we went rafting a stream that leads to the Jordan River. Overall I really enjoyed this trip. It was great to be able to experience so many different places in Israel and continue to get a grasp for the entire country, not just Tel Aviv. It was surrea
l to see the border between Israel
and Syria while learning about the ongoing conflict which was occurring just miles from where we were standing. I hope to do another trip like this in my time here!
It is wonderful that you are getting to see and experience the country while you are studying and doing research. Sometimes, when people work in another country, they don’t get the same opportunity. The picture of the Bahai Gardens is beautiful!