From Cairo to the Connemara: A Sojournal

 Pt1 - 19: SAFED, MEGIDDO AND THE GOLAN... The ancient town of Safed stands atop Mt Canaan in the steep Galilean hills north of Tiberias. Along with Hebron, Jerusalem and Tiberias itself, Safed was one of the four most sacred cities in Judaism and the centre of Jewish mysticism. These days it’s more famous for its artist’s colony than any deep religious pursuits. The city, no more than a village 20 years ago, tumbles down the hillside crowned by the Citadel Park. Fires were lit here in ancient times to signal the start of Jewish festivals and to look at it today you’d think the last one got seriously out of control and the park is still recovering. It is woefully neglected, overgrown and strewn with windblown rubbish. The few scrawny cedars struggling to survive up here look like they’ve been under sustained acid rain attack for a century, sad echoes of the once majestic trees that graced the hilltop. Add the fact that the excellent vistas across the surrounding hills I remembere...

 Pt1 - 18:  TIBERIAS   We were the only travellers and two of only five civilians aboard a full bus bound for Tiberias on the western shore of the Galilee. This might sound like insurance against any nasty surprises along the way but the bottom line is buses are prime bomb targets in Israel, especially if they happen to be carrying a platoon’s worth of Israeli military. The trip was slated for three hours but it quickly became apparent that our Death-or-Glory driver would have us in Tiberias early or never. The route took us back through the crossroads at Jericho then straight up the Jordan Valley on Highway 90. In light drizzle we raced north through vineyards and date and banana plantations for an hour then, after a fifteen minute pit-stop at a place called Yalit, the country abruptly changed. Green stony hills pocked with caves appeared on our left while on the right, behind the fence marking Israel’s eastern defence perimeter, the even greener Jordan Valley spre...