Thursday, 23 October - Akko and the Lebanese Border

zzzzzzz.....

We still don’t have our body clocks adjusted for a good nights sleep, but we seem to be doing well during the day anyway.  (Other than Ellen’s little naps on the bus.)  Today was supposed to be an optional tour but it turned out that all 8 of us wanted to go, so that made it easier for our guide. 

We first went to the old city of Akko, which was back on the seacoast and right across the bay from Haifa, where we were yesterday.  Akko claims to be the only active seaport in use for over 4,000 years.  There have been several civilizations that have occupied Akko and they each seemed to have built on top of the other.  Only recently have they been excavating to some of the lower levels that reveal entire cities, streets, buildings and courtyards.

Knights Courtyard

We started with the ‘knights’ halls that were built and used by the crusaders.  This whole level was previously filled in with rubble so that later buildings were erected above.  It’s hard to believe that after all that was removed…. the 800-year-old structures and rooms were still there.

Knights Great Hall

Mosque interior

We then got to visit the el-Jazzar Mosque and learned about Moslim prayer rituals.  The mosque is named after the ruler who built it, and  ‘el-Jazzar’ literally means ‘the butcher’ because he was ruthless (but an apparently ‘effective’ leader…….).

Several of the woman were issued shawls to cover their shoulders

Turkish Baths

Next were the Turkish baths, a visit to the old ‘market street’ and a long walk through the recently discovered “Templars Tunnel” which allowed the crusading knights a hidden path from their fortress to the port area.  We then had a great lunch on the waterfront overlooking the bay and Haifa on the other side.

Market Street

Market Street

Templar Tunnel

At the exit of the tunnel near the old port.

Our lunch

The restaurant and view across the bay.

After lunch we went to the Baha’i Gardens.  It’s the most holy place of their faith and where their prophet is buried. 

Inside the garden entrance

As close as we could get to the prophets mausoleum.

Last stop of the day was at Rosh HaNikra.  It’s as far north as you can get on the Israeli coastline, and so it borders Lebanon.  At times it’s been a very ‘tense’ area, since relations between the two countries range from unstable to all out war.  This area is also the location of the chalk cliffs and the grottos, which are caves within the cliffs made by pounding surf and rain.  We took a cable car from the top down to the cave area.

Almost to the bottom on the cable car.

Inside the grotto

During their governing period right before and during World War II, the British were building a railroad from Egypt all the way up through Europe to England.  It followed all along the coastline of Palestine.  In the Rosh HaNikra area, they had to build three long tunnels to get through the rocks and then bridges between them.  During the Israeli War of Independence the Israelis were concerned that the Arabs were going to use the railroad to provide supplies and arms to their troops in the Galilee, so the Israeli underground destroyed the bridge and closed the tunnels even though the British were defending them at the time.

After a cable car ride back to the top, we got back on the bus for an hour-long trip back to Nazareth.

Surveillance equipment monitoring the off shore boundary.

On shore surveillance

The actual border crossing that can only be used by United Nations officials.

We met as a group an hour before dinner and gave a little and background and history on ourselves.  After four days together, we were all familiar with each other, but this exercise gave each of us a new insight on the others.