Golan Hights!

This trip was supposed to be a bit different - after Syria and Jordan I was planning to go to Yemen. But just few days before my departure, a few tourists were killed, so I decided not to go there anymore.. but I still wanted to do something risky ;-) and this is why I decided visiting Golan Hights (it was not risky at all though ;-)).

I mentioned this idea to Agnieszka, already at the very beginning, but she absolutely didn't want to join me.. but thanks to my negiotiation skills, after a week of travelling around in Syria, she decided to go to the Heights with me. Of course I would go there even alone, but it's always better to have a company :-)

so we woke up very early, in order to get a permit from the Syrian Ministry of Interior. It took us some time in this crazy city to find the place, but when we got there, it went surprisingly fast - we just gave our passports to someone at the entrance, and after 15 minutes we held our permits. with the permits we went to the minibuses station and found the one, which was going to Quneitra. Asking the driver at what time we will leave is senseless - the answer is always the same: "when the bus will be full"... luckily the bus got full very fast and we could go!!!

Actually travelling through the Golan Heights is not allowed, but we could visit the town of Quneitra. Quneitra is a ghost town today. in 1973 Israelis evacuated all the Arabs and systematically distroyed the town. when we got to Quneitra, the driver of our minibus proposed that he could drive us around - of course for additional money. At the checkpoint we also got a Syrian intelligence officer, who officialy was making sure we don't wander off into any minefields, and in reality that we don't go in the places we shouldn't.

Quneitra made a very sad impression. The town was totally distroyed, all the houses were demolished, so the mosque, the church and the hospital. It was sad to see a once-normal town in which the life does not exist anymore. I loved this place and I think that getting there was a great idea. Although I cannot say that I enjoyed the place, it was a nother perspective of my Middle East trip after all these Roman ruins, crusaders' castles, mosques etc