Time in the Golan Heights

We started off the day with a beautiful hike at Zevitan and finished at a natural spring in order to cool off since was so hot today in the North. After enjoying a packed lunch in the cool shade, we headed to Mount Bental. This spot is an amazing overlook of Syria, the UN compound and Lebanon in the distance. This was a major battle site in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 between Israel & Syria and was right next to the Valley of Tears. We left Bental and headed to an Olive Oil factory where we learned how they press the olives and everyone had the chance to put on olive facial scrub to cleanse our faces. From there we visited the old synagogue in Katsrin and then to Tiberias. We boarded a boat on the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) and had a bit of a dance party in the beautiful body of water. Everyone was then able to walk around Tiberias and see the sights & shopping of the city and find their favorite foods whether falafel, shawarma, pizza, etc.

Blog entry from ISTer, Caroline Seman, about Massada..
"Blasting 80's music at 4am, Elaun dancing and telling us to wake up. Tired and cold from spending the night in the Bedouin tents, we forced ourselves into hiking gear. With the full moon still shining brightly in the sky, we loaded the buses at 4:30am with our minds and bodies barely functioning. Soon we arrived at Mount Massada. Though the sky was still dark, we had to hike the Roman Ramp quickly in order to witness the sunrise from the very top. Watching the bright colors rise over the Dead Sea while "Here Comes the Sun" blasted around us was extremely beautiful and definitely a bonding experience for all of us ISTers (especially due to the fact that we didn't get to eat breakfast until 9am after hiking down the technical Snake Path in hot weather. Sitting in the fortresses that had been built so long ago and watching he blazing sun come up was an experience that none of us will ever forget because it placed us into history.

After hearing the stories of Mount Massada I am sure that we were all impacted in ways that we did not expect to get from a morning hike. Whether the impact was due to hunger pains, heat, , exhaustion, the incredible views or the history that surrounded us on top of the mountain, every ISTer experienced something while on Mount Massada" - Caroline Seman