When I left Ramallah, I had to go back to Jerusalem to then catch a bus to Tiberias which would go into/through the West Bank/Palestine again. Makes no sense, but that’s how it is due to the political situation. Driving through the desert landscapes I remember thinking: would be nice to see some colours again. And Galilee region delivered! The landscape was finally green again which felt like a treat for my eyes.

I checked into my hostel in Tiberias and realized I still had some time to go see Safed, especially since the bus there was only gonna take about 30 min. In the end it took a little more than an hour and that without much of a traffic jam. Odd, but short bus rides so far always seem to take longer than announced – for no apparent reason. So once I got into Safed, I only had about an hour left to see the town before the sun would set and everything would close down. But I managed! Somehow. Because Safed is small, it is actually possible to explore the old town rather quickly. However, I ended up liking it more than I had thought and would have preferred a bit more time at my hands.

First, I climbed the little hill to get a bit of a view of the area. Then I descended into pretty little alleys which are dotted with small art galleries. They were so nice!! Of course, prices are high – but looking is free 😉 If you have the chance, I think Safed would make a nice place for an overnight stay – certainly a lot nicer than Tiberias.

Next day, I had a bucket list item on my list that was going to be a little difficult to reach: Since I had seen a picture of the Hexagon Pool somewhere in this www, I had always wanted to go see them. Only later on I found out there was no public transport to the pools. So I had to improvise. I found out that I could take the bus until Beit Zeida Junction and then hitchhike from there. And that’s what I did! Hitchhiking worked really well and quickly, and I was dropped off at the turn-off to the Hexagon Pools. Unfortunately I still had to walk about 30 min to the park entrance along the service road, with no car passing to get another ride. Once at the park, it was only about a 30 min hike down to Hexagon Pool – and it was completely worth the way! Just as amazing as I had expected. The black rocks look almost un-natural and reminded me of pictures of the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. Really really cool!

The way back was a bit easier: I joined some other visitors in their car back to the main road and then got a ride quickly on to Capernaum. Capernaum doesn’t have too much to offer, just a pretty church with red roofs. So after seeing that rather quickly, I suddenly came to the shocking realization that I was stuck again! The next bus from here to Tiberias was only gonna be in about 3h from now. No way I was gonna wait that long with nothing to do and see! But hitchhiking proved difficult since it was a big road and cars were passing too quickly to stop for me. I finally managed to get a ride back to Tiberias and was very relieved! Phewww, I definitely wouldn’t have gone to Capernaum if I’d known getting away from there would be so hard.

Back in Tiberias, I went for a quick walk to see what’s to see in Tiberias: not much. The sky was rather misty these days, so I didn’t get a clear view of the Sea of Galilee ever. The lake and horizon just melted together, you couldn’t see where one ended and the other one started… in other conditions I might have gone for a boat ride, but like this there was no point! So I packed up my stuff and hopped on a bus to my next destination – Nazareth.