10 MilesMEDITERRANEAN
SEANahariyaSGalileeea ofNATIONAL PARK ACHZIVLOWER GALILEEISRAELLEBANONUPPER GALILEE
MOUNT ZVUL HurfeishGOLAN HEIGHTSAcre walking trailYam Ie YamISRAELGetting there & around
British Airways, EasyJet, El Al,
Virgin Atlantic and Wizz Air fly non-stop
between the UK and Tel Aviv.
ba.com easyjet.com elal.com
virginatlantic.com wizzair.com
Average flight time: 5h.
Israel is compact: a 90-minute drive
east-west, nine hours north-south. All
major rental companies operate here.
Just be aware that certain Orthodox
neighbourhoods close during Shabbat
(Friday to Saturday evening).
Taxis are plentiful, but overcharging
of tourists is common; sheruts
(minivans) operating on fixed routes for
a fixed price can be better option.
Wild camping isn’t permitted on the
trail, but there are plenty of B&Bs.When to go
Yam le Yam is best walked in spring
(March/April, average temperature is
20C) and especially in May when the wild
lilies are in full bloom. Alternatively, hike
in autumn (September/October average
temperature is 25C), when the summer
heat has lost its sting.Places mentioned
Hefer Ranch. meshekhefer.com
Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
parks.org.il
Treasures of the Galilee.
ozrothagalil.org.ilFurther information
touristisrael.com
info.goisrael.comHow to do it
POMEGRANATE TRAVEL offers
small-group, four-day Sea to Sea trek
tours from £2,320 per person, including
all accommodation, guide, transport
and most meals. Excludes flights.
pomegranate-travel.comESSENTIALS
“Where the green ends, so too does Israel,”
points Daniel, gesturing past the shadow of
the disputed Golan Heights region. These
are the valleys of Jesus’s intensive roaming.
“When you’re travelling in Israel, you can
pick up the Bible, read just about any story,
and see the landscape it played out on,” says
Daniel. Israel is the seat of stories — and
as we walk, we tell each other our own. “I
didn’t cut my hair for two years after I left
the army, having done my national service,”
Daniel shares, pacing a few metres in front of
me. “I finished university and then rode my
motorcycle around the world.”
We walk on a little further and finally
summit the pylon-crowned Mount Meron,
Israel’s highest peak. “Do you see what I
see?” asks Daniel. In the distance, the Sea
of Galilee, the lowest freshwater lake on the
planet, shimmers like a sheet of metal. But
chasing in from the north is a muslin veil
of mist and rain that draws up the valley,
obscuring the villages and views. Raincoats
on, we start downwards, eventually tracing
the Amud Stream. From the bushes comes
a flash of jackal, dappled brown and gold. A
few steps further and we disturb three wild
boars, almost as big as brown bears; they
canter past us with a snort and snuffle.
The rain intensifies and, once again, we
have to spread the map out and re-route.
Eventually, we admit defeat and jump into
the car to drive towards the Sea of Galilee.
“My uncle owned a farm on the shore over
there, near the village of Migdal — it’s where
Mary Magdalene came from,” Daniel tellsme. “For two years, I lived on the beach,
picking his mangoes and riding my horse.”
When we pull over, I reach for the bottle I’d
stowed in the back pocket of the driver’s seat.
It’s not there. “Meir, have you seen my bottle
with the Mediterranean seawater in it?”
Panic fills his eyes. “I threw it away. I thought
it was old drinking water,” he stutters.
Daniel and I collapse into laughter.
We decide to go through the motions
anyway. So, at North Beach, between stacked
sun loungers waiting for summer bodies,
I slowly pour some bottled drinking water
symbolically into the sea, its surface already
jumping with the patter of rain. “I once
caught more than 30 fish from here,” Daniel
mentions, quietly but proudly.
Our walk, or halach, hadn’t quite gone to
plan. However, it had encompassed going
forward and plenty of water, but as for
walking hand in hand with God, I wasn’t
sure. That night, Daniel and I sat on the edge
of the pier at Nof Ginosar kibbutz hotel,
beers in hand. Off to the left, lights glimmer
along the Golan Heights, to the right spreads
Jordan, and behind looms the shadowy
masses of the Upper and Lower Galilee
valleys we’d partly traversed. The inky waters
of Galilee swayed the high reeds near us,
releasing soft whispers, and in that moment,
I felt a soulful presence. I paused; the beer
bottle halfway to my mouth. Suddenly, it all
started adding up. Daniel was in his early
30s. Used to have long hair. Fished and lived
on the shores of Galilee. Had I been walking
ILLUSTRATION: JOHN PLUMER with someone else all along?
ISRAELMay/Jun 2020 91