Israel Day 5: Running the Trenches of the Golan Heights

We began our fifth day in Israel with a short hike along the Hasbani River. And I do mean quite literally along it. There was little room to walk without pretty much just walking through the water, and the entire hike I was terrified I was going to fall straight in. Seemed like something that would happen to me. I never did fall in, although frankly the embrace of water might have been a rather large relief. It was sooooo hot out, and this only being my fifth day still, I had yet to become used to the heat.

My nose was probably the thing most upset by the heat. My nose has always been a finicky little bugger, freaking out over the slightest change in temperature. So you can imagine its dismay at suddenly being swarmed by the most intense heat it’s ever experienced 24/7. It held in there for three days but then it gave up and I got one of my oh-so-fun gushing nose bleeds. Like I said, my nose is a real wuss.

Regardless of the sweltering heat that left me near to crawling by the end of it, it was a fun hike, and compared to the hikes we would do in the future, it was easy peasy lemon squeezy. I should really change the word hike to a simple walk next to a river, but even a simple walk next to a river seems more difficult when it’s blazing hot and your toe is starting to swell up in your shoe (I told you my toe would start to become a problem. The pain I was feeling was still mild, however, compared to what was to come in later days).

I know, I know, it seems like I was just completely falling apart in Israel, what with my nose and my toe, yadda yadda, but I was trekking along and I was enjoying myself darn it!

We then headed for the hills, or should I say, the Golan Heights. We bused to the top of a mountain in the Golan Heights that had been used as a sight during one of the wars (a better history buff than I can probably figure out which one). The mountain was laced with trenches and bunkers and we spent the better part of the afternoon running through the trenches and exploring the pitch black bunkers, poking our heads out of crevices and secret hiding spots.

We ended the day with one of those 4D experiences, a show about the Golan Heights. We soared above them, getting sprayed with mist and wind and dazzled by lights.

I drifted off to sleep that night, impressed by the day but concerned about my toe, which was looking more and more infected every day.