Tour mit Ludovic
The R Nine Ts are saddled, we’re ready to go, 2 days north of Israel, camping and sightseeing, the weather is fantastic, and so is our mood.
First stop, the “Atatürk” coffee truck on the way north.
Ok, we’re out of Tel Aviv Metropolin and over a coffee and a sandwich the permanent grin comes on your face, which always comes up when you’re out with the bike, the tour begins, nature, the fun, everything else is gone…
Freshly strengthened, we drive north through the Carmel Mountains. The forest of the Carmel Mountains was almost completely burned in a terrible forest fire eleven years ago and it is nice to see that it is slowly recovering, everything is very green even at the end of the long dry summer.
Via Route 70 we continue almost to the Lebanese border. We stop at Goren Park and look at Montfort on the opposite side.
Montfort is a former Crusader castle situated on the banks of the Keziv Creek in the Galilee of northern Israel. The Arabic name of the castle is “Qal’at Qurein”, which means “Castle of the Little Horn” and is probably due to the pointed rocky peaks on the mountain side behind the complex.
Continue on Route 8993, the northernmost road you can drive along the Lebanese border. It leads over the ridge between Israel and Lebanon. The track is beautiful and every time I drive it I wonder when maybe we could just drive over and Lebanese friends could drive with us to our place.
Parts of the route are actually only permitted for military vehicles, there are always protective walls and concrete boxes along the route to protect against shelling, we drive to Margaliot and then turn towards Kfar Giladi.
It is now afternoon and we will soon arrive at our campsite, the “Green Camp” in Beit Hillel, right on the Hatzbani stream. We’re both getting hungry too… 😉
Once the tents were pitched, we stocked up on some tomatoes, onions and eggs for the “Shakshuka” breakfast the following morning.
Then a little walk at Hatzbani and then eat a hamburger at Klumpus near Beit Hillel.
The night was good, I’m slowly getting my “sleeping setup” out in the tent (a bit more about my equipment soon).
After morning coffee and shakshuka, we dismantle the tents and set off towards the Golan Heights and the journey over the famous Tapline Road or Petroleum Road.
The name Petroleum Road derives from the now-defunct Trans-Arabian Pipeline Company oil pipeline that the road passes by. The Tapline, as it is abbreviated, originated in the oil fields of Saudi Arabia, then passed through Jordan and Syria to its oil export terminal at Sidon on the Lebanon coast.
Who wants to know more should read my Bericht von meiner großen Israel Tour .
At Bruchim Qela’ Alon we turn off the Petroleum Road and head towards Har Bental. Our next stop is El Poran, an IDF street fighting training ground. A surreal place, open to the public. Then it goes up to the Bental mountain for a coffee break at 1100 meters.
From Har Bental we continue driving over the Golan Heights towards Tel Saki. The landscape is fascinating as always. At Tel Saki we stop longer and I tell Ludo the history of the military post and its role in the Yom Kippur War. If you want to learn more about this, you should read my report from my big Israel tour again.
From Tel Saki we continue south, down to Lake Genezeret and then on towards Tel Aviv.
On the way we stop in Nein (that’s really the name of the place) and treat ourselves to specialties from the Middle East in the “Sahara palace” restaurant (that’s really the name of the place) 😂
Then our weekend is over. Was really great, thanks Ludo!
