This is my first guest post on the blog! It was actually written by my dad who fell in love with Israel. It is about his first travel to this country which fascinated him so much that he had to come back several times (once also as a tour guide), started to learn Hebrew and Israel also holds a remarkable space on his bookshelf. And so I asked him if he would like to write something about Israel for my blog so here it comes! Pictures are also from his first journey. I just translated it for you – enjoy the reading!
If you like both sun and exploration during your holidays, then I´ll recommend one country that took my heart – Israel. A couple of years ago, my friend and I decided to travel somewhere beyond the usual and we somehow both decided on Israel. And today here I write about our first trip. It made me fall in love with this country so I do hope it may give you some flavor and maybe tempt you to visit this fascinating Holy Land one day.
We arrived in Tel-Aviv early morning and right after leaving the climatized hall of the airport, a heatwave slapped us into our faces. In Israel, the weather is often very hot, and even at 4 a.m. in the morning. Our Israelian journey started with a visit to Jaffa, southern and the oldest part of Tel-Aviv, nowadays a separate enclave. Although Tel-Aviv is relatively a young city, the ancient port city of Jaffa has been overseeing the coastline from a higher ridge for more than 4000 years. The Old City of Jaffa became a melting pot of Jewish and Arab populations and therefore has a unique atmosphere. Its narrow streets are full of coffee shops, restaurants, craft shops, and galleries. The flea market here is a very popular attraction and something I enjoyed the most here. In the center of the Old City, there is a Clock Tower from where you can see even Haifa when the sky is clear.
Jaffa sitting on a ridge – view from Tel Aviv´s beach
Streets in the Old City of Jaffa
View from Jaffa
Clock Tower in Jaffa
Old Town of Jaffa
Flea market in Jaffa
View from Jaffa
Tel-Aviv, view from Jaffa
Tel-Aviv
Tel-Aviv
We left Jaffa and headed to Haifa. On our way, we stopped at this place to take a swim in the Meditteranean Sea, under the ruins of Hadrianic Aqueduct. It lies near the ruins of the ancient city Caesarea Maritima which used to be the capital of the province of Judaea (founded by Herod the Great) and one of the most important cities of Roman World.
Hadrianic Aqueduct
Haifa is the largest industrial city in Israel with a busy port. But we came here to visit one of the most visited places in Israel, the Terraces of Baháʼí Faith (also worldwide known as the Hanging Gardens of Haifa), overlooking the city from the Mount Carmel (meaning the Lordʼs vineyard). It is a set of 19 terraces surrounding the Shrine of the Báb (named after the founder of the Bábí Faith and forerunner of Baháʼuʼlláh in the Baháʼí Faith, whose remains are buried here). It is a little paradise with Persian features as it was designed by an Iranian architect. The construction works took 13 years and the terraces were open to the public in 2001.
The Terraces of Baháʼí Faith
Port in Haifa and the Terraces of Baháʼí Faith
We continued direction to Lake Tiberias, also known as the See of Galilee or Kinnereth Lake. This is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth (212 m below the sea level) and it is considered as the place of Jesusʼ miracles. During the draught in 1986, a boat was discovered in the lake and was directly classified as the Ancient Galilee Boat (known as Jesus Boat). Nowadays, the replicas of this boat are used to transport tourists on the lake.
Lake Tiberias
Lake Tiberias
Lake Tiberias
Replicas of Jesus Boat on Lake Tiberias
From the Lake Tiberias, we continued to the North, through Golan Heights to Banias archeological site to see the ruins of ancient Caesarea Philippi. During the Hellenistic period, there used to be a cult center where the Ptolemaic kings built a sanctuary for the Greek god Pan (half-man, half-goat). Hence the name Panias (Banias is its Arabic pronunciation). The Romans incorporated Banias into Herod´s empire and later on, Philip II (the son of Herod the Great) founded a city here called Caesarea Panias to honor the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar. This was later renamed Caesarea Philippi and today the city is referred to as Banias. Banias is also the name of the spring issued from here and feeding the River Jordan.
Ruins of Cesarea Philippi
Spring Banias
We then headed to the South, to discover ruins of Beit Sheʼan, an ancient city that was once the leading city of the famous Decapholis (a group of 10 cities ruled by the Romans: Damascus, Amman, Hippos, Canatha, Dion, Abila, Pella, Beit Sheʼan, Gadara a Gerasa, located in nowadays Jordan, Israel, and Syria). Beit Sheʼan played an important role in history due to its geographical position. During its existence, this city witnessed 11 different periods with a different face – it was destroyed and rebuilt eleven times in its history (starting from Chalcolithic period, Canaan, Israelite kingdom, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Early Muslim, Crusade, Mamluk, Ottoman periods, to the modern times). Also, its name was changed several times. Nowadays, the ruins are part of the Beit Sheʼan National Park.
Ruins of Beit Sheʼan
Our next stop while heading South from Beit Sheʼan was the Dead Sea – something you shouldn’t miss once you visit Israel. It is the Worldʼs deepest salt lake with a surface lying 428 m below the sea level, which is also Earth’s lowest elevation on land. Its salinity reaches 34% and its density makes it impossible to swim, therefore this place is a paradise for those who can’t swim – you can just float in it as cork. But also, this makes it impossible for plants and animals to exist there, hence its name. Dead Sea is also famous for healing properties of the water and mineral mud it contains, it was also one of the first health resorts in the World. The first time we took a swim dip in the Northern Basin near Kalia.
Dead Sea
Dead Sea
Salt in the Dead Sea
Our dip in the Northern Basin of the Dead Sea, Kalia
Dead Sea
Once we enjoyed our dip in the Dead Sea, we continued towards the South. We passed through the Negev Desert and stopped by the Timna Valley. You can pass through in a car but there are also walking paths to let you discover the fascinating landscape colored into shades of orange, yellow, or red due to the content of minerals. There are some interesting sandstone rock formations such as the Mushroom or Salomon’s Pillars in the pictures below. Both are works of water, erosion, and humidity over centuries.
Timna Valley is also rich in copper which was mined here already in the 5th or 6th millennium B.C. – we are speaking about the oldest copper mines in the world! The theory is, that King Salomon had its own copper mines here too, hence the name of Salomon’s Pillars.
Mushroom
Salomon’s Pillars
We continued through the Negev desert towards the most Southern town and port in Israel – Eilat. It lies in the bay of the Red Sea (Gulf of Eilat but it is also known as Gulf of Aqaba in Jordan because Eilat is a neighbor to Aqaba town in Jordan). Eilat as such is a popular sea resort with a port and a place where you have sunny weather 360 days in a year.
There are beautiful beaches in Eilat to enjoy the clear water of the Red Sea. You can also rent diving equipment and go for a dive at the coral reef – it is one of the best diving spots in the world! If you would like to experience the marine life here without getting wet like us, I would recommend you to visit the Underwater Observatory Marine Park. It is good to know that Eilat is also a good base for trips such as to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Negev Desert, or even, after crossing the border, to the famous archeological site Petra in Jordan, which lies only approx. 125 km far from Aqaba. But let’s speak about these fascinating places in other posts later on.
When I was there, I was always fascinated by the proximity of airplanes landing and taking off in Eilat. Until about 2-3 years ago, there was still an airport in the center of the city, established in 1949 after the Palestine war, and in its beginning, operating mainly domestic flights in the beginning. It was located close to the beach so that you could see airplanes landing from close by! But as the city and air traffic grew, they built a new airport (known as Ramon Airport), located about 20 km North from Eilat, and operating all domestic and international flights since the beginning of 2019.
View from a hotel room to the Gulf of Aqaba
Entry to the coral reef in Gulf of Aqaba
Aquarium with underwater observation
Diver feeding the fish
Old airport in the center of Eilat
Airplane landing at the old airport
This is it for now, although there is still a lot to write about. I will continue some other time and will probably dedicate a whole post only to Jerusalem. Until then, I hope you enjoyed reading!