The Border of Israel & Lebanon
Israeli Naval vessel patroling the Lebanon border
On my tenth day, I drove for an hour to the Northernmost point in Israel along the Mediterranean Sea to see the caves of Rosh Ha-Nikra. These natural grottos have been carved into the spetacular white chalk cliff by thousands of years of waves beating down on them. The caves are right on the heavily guarded border between Israel & Lebanon. The border, like that of Syria to the the East, is completely closed, and the Lebanese government also refuses to recognize Israel. Lebanon is basically controlled by Syria, which supports and encourages terroist activity by the outlaw group Hezbollah against Israel. To stop frequent rocket attacks into Isreal from southern Lebanon, the Israelis occupied a 20 mile buffer for almost 20 years, just pulling out troops in 2000. Rocket attacks do happen from time to time, and the Israeli response is always swift and severe.
For most of the last year, there has been quiet, which is why I felt comfortable visiting these natural wonders. The grottos themselves are awesome, with the blue sub-tropical water contrasting with the natural caves. The caves can also be explored by sea kayak, although I did not choose this option.
The other part of this sight is the more recent history. The British enlarged the caves during World War II so they could run a rail line from Europe to Egypt. There is a flimstrip which is shown that optimistically states that maybe someday soon this type of train will be a reality again. This seems unlikely.
The way down to the caves is via a short, 5 minute cable car ride from the top of the cliff to the bottom.
My next stop was at Akhziv National Park, a small beach park with some Crusader-era buildings that are sprinkled in to the landscape of the park. In a testament to the number of ancient ruins in this country, the building are unlabeled and barely draw any notice from the families and crowds of young people who come here.
The main attraction are the two 'natural' pools that have formed along the coast. They are popular for swimming, especially with families, since their shallow waters are safer than swimming in the sea.
My next stop was the famous walled city of Akko (Acre). Akko has been inhabited since the second millennium BC, and has been under the control of the Egyptians, Israelites, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Greeks, Roman, Arabs and Crusaders, just to name a few. The city's importance as a port coincided with the downturn in the fortunes of Herod's port at Ceaserea.
Today, it is a largely Arab city, and many of the building that survive in the old city are from the crusader period.
The highlight of any visit to Akko is wandering around the Subterranean Crusader city and the old Citadel. Many of the underground chambers are well-preserved. There is an audio guide available that adds to the experience. Each room has a number that is typed into the guide and an explanation of what you are looking at is given in the language of your choice.
Another fascinating part of the walking tour are the underground tunnels, which were important in the defense of the city. When Jerusalem fell, the Crusader briefly made Acre that capital of their empire in the Holy Land. The city fell to Salah al-Din in 1187 without a fight, which is remarkable to imagine, since wandering around these tunnels make it hard to imagine the city being very easy to capture.
I walked along the imposing southern walls of the city along the blue waters of the Mediterranean.
I finished my visit to Acre with a walk around the souq, or market. I really loved the one in Jerusalem and this one also proved to be an amateur photographer's dream.
