Another weekend we explored the Golan, staying in this cute cabin in Ramot-- a small town in the Eastern hills above the Sea of Galilee.
Ayalon enjoying the swing hammock--
reading in this hammock made me motion sick.
After a delicious breakfast of cheeses, crepes, freshly squeezed orange juice, veggies, and fried eggs, we set off into the Golan.
We drove up the eastern bank of the Golan Heights. Our first stop was the wind turbines, otherwise known as the Golan Heights Wind Farm. These wind turbines sit atop Mt. Benei-Rasan overlooking Syria, surrounding a former army bunker. It is turbulent and cold up there, even on a sunny day, and it was clear why these turbines are valuable sources of efficient, environmentally-friendly energy. Constructed in the summer of 1993, these privately owned wind turbines supply enough energy for about 20,000 residents of the Golan Heights-- or, as a whited-out portion of an Israeli sign explained, "1.5 times the Jewish population of the Golan Heights". (Of the 36,000 residents of the Golan Heights, 50% are Jewish and 50% are Syrian Druze. The Syrian Druze have been offered Israeli citizenship, but most have refused. This is not due to deep seeded Syrian loyalty, but because the Druze believe the Golan Heights will one day be returned to Syrian and they fear the repercussions of having accepted Israeli citizenship.)
The turbines measure 30 meters in height and 36 meters in diameter.
Barbed wire protecting the abandoned army bunker.
Israeli gun turret pointing north.
Poking my head out.
Turbines above the military bunker.
Descending into the bunker.
This was really scary because we had to descend two flights of stairs into pitch black and we didn't have a flashlight.
I used the camera flash as an intermittent light source.
Inside the empty bunker.
It was just like in Beaufort!
Eastern wind turbines above Syria.
The view over the Golan Heights.
Down on the highway, a Syrian bunker.
Driving in the Golan Heights, piles of heavy rocks sporadically line the highways. In case of war, these rocks will be pushed onto the roads to block access.
Above the Quneitra lookout onto Syria, military surveillance equipment crowds the hilltop.
This technology allegedly has the power to record conversations in Syrian homes and read the time on a person's watch.
Remains of a former Syrian army base.
"Unit office #463"
Artillery hole.
Inner office graffiti.
Rubble.
Rainy Golan mist.
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