Thanks to a devout Buddhist businessman, an Indian Army truck driver and a couple from the town Haa, we visited Cheli La, the highest motorable pass in Bhutan.
Waiting for a ride at Bondey, the road to Cheli La separates from the Thimphu – Paro road here
My friend and I were contemplating going to Haa, a valley south of Paro and even got the Special Areas Permit to visit the place. However it would have been a touch-and-go trip so instead we decided to go upto a point midway between Paro and Haa and return to Paro the same day. This mid point is the Cheli La pass, the highest motorable road in Bhutan. The only problem was that hiring a taxi would cost is Rs. 1,200 ($26) and being the last few days of the holiday we didn’t have that much money. So ultimately we decided to go to the place where the road to Cheli La begins and see what happens.
Pockets of snow at a shrine, first leg of our journey
We waited at the junction for over 30 minutes and then 2 vans full of Buddhist nuns stopped as we tried to flag it down. There is a nunnery somewhere in the mountains. Unfortunately their vans were full of stuff so we couldn’t squeeze in. Their vehicle was so crowded that I think 2 Bhutanese can fit into space required for 1 European. Since there were very few vehicles on the road and there was nothing else to do, we started hiking towards Chele La.
The first person to help us was a guy who operated a convenience store in the Bondey village nearby. He was going to the shrine shown in picture above to fix his prayer wheel. Apparently, during his earlier visit to India, his teacher instructed him to pray at a place high in the mountain. He therefore installed a water-operated prayer wheel at this site.
The prayer wheel worked on a simple principle of a water mill. Water from a stream hit the wooden paddles and the wheel span. The prayer wheels have scrolls of prayers written inside them. Buddhists believe that spinning the prayer wheel will have the same meritorious effect as orally reciting the prayers.
Since winter was approaching (you can already see the ice), he had to ensure that his prayer wheel remained safe from frozen chunks of ice. That’s why he was going there to make some repairs.
And that’s how we covered first 22 of 36 kilometers to Cheli La.
Walking on rooftop
After saying bye bye to the guy who helped us and assuring him that we’d pray on his behalf at Cheli La, we started walking on the road again. there were few abandoned houses, or maybe just makeshift storage houses on the way so I had to walk over their roofs, you know. Eventually we ended up walking 1 km on a road with step ascents until the next ride came.
In Bhutan, like in India, you flag down a vehicle by waving the hand with the palm facing downwards. I don’t know if the US way of ‘thumbs up’ works, because if I did that, people will probably think that I am wishing them good luck or something.
Waiting for my next ride
The final 13 km were covered thanks to a huge Indian Army truck. The guy who was driving it was an ethnic Nepali and he was overjoyed to see us. The truck was carrying some supplies to the Indian Army post in Haa. This is the first time I crossed a mountain in a truck (no wait, second, but I dont remember the first time) and it was scary. The road was narrow, the bends were sharp and the valley was steep. If you have been to the Himalayas, you know how it feels like. These roads were also built by India’s Border Roads Organizations, so they have a peculiar style. Trucks require higher turning radius so the guy went almost to the edge of the road before making a turn. And while doing that he was chatting non-stop with me, while I simply nodded. Each time the truck went near the edge of the road and I looked down, I remembered all the gods I could… thinking to myself ‘why the hell is he not turning… turn! turn! stop talking! turn!’
Pheww, finally the “Cheli La 0″ milestone came into view. The two of us were visibly shaken from the ride but the driver was cheerful. We offered to share our food with him but he refused to take. He said that it was his gesture towards his countrymen and that he was sorry to hear about terrorists in Mumbai. He also asked us not to worry if we didn’t find a ride back home from Cheli La – he was going to come back at 8 pm. Oh my god, angel!
Happy Happy. Wonderful CheleLa
Yay! Cheli La.
You can ‘feel’ that you are at the highest point in the neighborhood, there are taller snow-capped mountains only far away (Eastern Himalayas). Cheli La is a very simple place – there is a prayer wheel, a small altar, a round wooden table with an umbrella and an electric substation. But there are prayer flags and poles – lots and lots of them all over the adjacent hills higher than the road.
Walking towards Haa valley
I spinned (spun?) the prayer wheel and prayed, also on behalf of the first guy (who gave us a lift) as he’d requested. It was a place that will humble you with its sheer power and simplicity. There is nothing but snow capped Himalayan ranges at your eye level. At 3,900 something meters above MSL, its not the highest places I’ve been to, but was certainly one of the best.
We spent 2 hours walking around. There was nothing to ‘see’ there because we were the tourist attraction. 
LOL. There are a couple of hills around the pass and can be hiked easily. These hills are the true peaks of the mountain. Predictably, they are all covered by prayer flags fluttering eternally in the strong wind, carrying the prayers to all corners of the world. There is nothing to worry about here – homework, deadlines, junk food, pollution, neighbors, nothing.
Mountains around the pass are filled with prayer flags
The sun set and the place got chilly in an instant. We were waiting for a ride for almost an hour but there was absolutely nobody going to Paro, most vehicles were going to Haa – maybe from their work places in Paro? I thought that we missed a good time to catch a ride – we started in the afternoon, by then the peak traffic had subsided. Well I think the peak traffic is 1 vehicle in 5 minutes in one direction anyway! It was almost dark and we didn’t have sufficient warm clothes, but soon a Maruti 800 stopped, and there was a couple who dropped us home, err…, Paro I mean.
Prayer Flags
Cheli La was not a big deal, the place is charming for sure. You can view the Paro valley from south and the Haa valley on the other side of the mountain range. But the most exciting part of the day was hitch hiking there. 
“The greatest religion never gives suffering to anybody” – Lord Buddha
How about we modify this:
“The greatest religion never gives suffering to anybody in the name of religion”
- Priyank Thatte, adapted from Gautam Buddha’s quote.
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Dead sea is one of the most fascinating places on Earth and visit to Israel is incomplete without a dip in the dead sea.
Dead Sea. Jordan is on the other side.
Where is it?
Dead sea is a salt lake between Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Jordan to the east. It is 420 metres below sea level (shores) and 330 m deep, making it the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River. The Jordan River is the only major water source flowing into the Dead Sea, although there are small perennial springs under and around the Dead Sea, creating pools and quicksand pits along the edges. There are no outlet streams.
To go to the Dead sea from Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, the route passes through west bank territories and once can see the checkpost and the (in)famous wall. It is a part of the the Negev desert.
Why the name ‘dead’?
With 31.5% salt content, Dead sea is 8.6 times saltier than the ocean. This salinity makes for a harsh environment where aquatic life (fish, plants etc) cannot flourish. Hence the name ‘dead.’
Swimming Floating in the Dead sea:
To float or not to float. The Dead Sea experience
It’s fun to even write about it. You cannot drown in the dead sea.
But how is it possible? How can one not sink in the water?
This is something everyone has to experience themselves. I can only try to describe the strange feeling. Due to such high salinity, water of the dead sea is so dense that we can easily float in it. I’m not sure if an elephant would.
So when I first stepped on the water, it felt strange. It felt like something heavy, like oil, but definitely not water. I dove into the water and surprise surprise there was not a big splash or anything but instead a little glopish sound. Then I was simply floating in the water. The water continuously tries to push you. If you simply release yourself, your ass and torso would sink (due to the weight) while other body parts would be suspended on the surface. Very unreal feeling! So it’s really not possible to ‘swim’ in the sea per se but you can float, and simply hang out, read a newspaper or something. Make sure you don’t swallow the water because it is deadly. It was a great feeling to float on water, something almost as rare as flying in zero gravity. I even thought of performing the miracle of walking on water 
And oh, yes I went to this place twice
Four hundred meters under the sea. Very cool!
Natural resources:
Many people believe that the mud of the dead sea has curing properties. There are several therapy centers around the coastline that do mud therapy, salt water therapy and such. Due to below sea level conditions, the sun is powerful and atmospheric pressure is also higher.
High salinity and minimum turbulence makes the composition of the water very interesting. The composition varies slightly at different test points. Unlike sea water which is mostly (97%) Sodium Chloride, this water has lots of other anhydrous chlorides such as Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium while Sodium Chloride is only 30%. [Oh watch the Chemical Engineer speak!]
The sea is a source of various chemicals and minerals that are used for the manufacture of beauty products. It was one of the world’s first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from balms for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers.
Its the Negev Desert afterall.
Religion:
How can this place not have any religious connotations? Comeon, its Israel!
The human history of the Dead Sea goes all the way back to remote antiquity. Some cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis which were said to have been destroyed in the time of Abraham, were on its shores. A specific prophecy over the dead sea that the water will “.. be healed and made fresh…”
In Islamic tradition, the Dead Sea was about the land in which the Prophet Lut lived. The people of the towns and cities were wicked for their acts of homosexuality (cough cough), raping men, robbery and murder and had therefore been given a punishment for such deeds. The punishment arrived when angels in the form of beautiful men were sent down by God as guests for Lut to host. When Lut’s people heard of the men, they rushed to Lut’s house to misbehave and rape the men. This was their final test which they failed so the angels raised the land where the prophet’s people lived, tipped it upside down and threw it back on earth, causing the ground near the impact to cave in. Thus, the lowest land on Earth was formed because of this punishment.
Reference: Wikipedia
For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Dead Sea Photo Gallery
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The conqueror, looking at his conquest Machu Picchu as viewed from Huyana Picchu looks like the Andean Condor.
Q: Why did I go to Peru?
A: To see Machu Picchu.
History: Machu Picchu (माचू पीचू meaning “Old mountain”) was constructed around 1460 AD, at the height of the Inca Empire glory. It was abandoned less than 100 years later as the Inca empire fell to the Spanish. Although the site is only 80km from Cusco the Inca capital, it was hidden from the Spanish and the outside world until 1911. Consequently this site, unlike others, was not destroyed and plundered by the colonizers. It’s an entire self-sustaining city and how the Incas built such mammoth structures on top of an inaccessible mountain is a mystery.
Machu Picchu (Fog-u Picchu) very early in the morning.
I went on the very first bus (5:30 am) from the base town Aguas Calientes, and you need to jostle with hordes of other people who also want to get on that same bus – but no point doing it other than for symbolic reasons. Why? After racing there before sunrise we found that the whole place was covered by a thick fog that did not clear until 10 am or so, haha. But that’s okay, there is so much to see.
Actually I was overwhelmed. And confused – too many things to do – Charlie in the chocolate factory!
Apart from the main Machu Pichu site, there are several interesting things that an enthusiast can do. Walk to the Sun Gate far away on one side of the site, hike to the top of Mount Machu Picchu, hike to Huyana Picchu (which is the only thing I did from this list), explore Huyana Picchu mountain and the Moon temple. The main MP site itself is extremely extremely intriguing.
Fog starting to move away
Llamas graze on the mountains and keep the grass trimmed. Natural grass cutters I walked through the sacred temples and the priests’ quarters trying to imagine how the site would be at its prime glory. I circled around their astronomical clock and wandered on the paths in the city of commons. I think its essential to read as much as you can about the place so that when you go there, everything will start making sense. OR, hire a guide 
Something at this site is strikingly noticeable even at a cursory glance: eveything is well organized. The streets, housing districts for different classes of people, storage areas, water supply, drainage etc. Making such a planned city on the top of a mountain is indeed commendable. But then, the Incas were wise planners.
A walk in the clouds
Location: The location of the city was a military secret and its deep precipices and mountains provide excellent natural defenses. From atop the cliff of Machu Picchu, there is a vertical rock face of 600 meters rising from the Urubamba River at the foot of the cliff. The city sits in a saddle between two mountains, with a commanding view down two valleys and a nearly impassable mountain at its back. It has a water supply from springs that cannot be blocked easily, and enough land to grow food for about four times as many people as ever lived there. The hillsides leading to it have been terraced, not only to provide more farmland to grow crops, but to steepen the slopes which invaders would have to ascend. There are two high-altitude routes from Machu Picchu across the mountains back to Cuzco, one through the sun gate, and the other across the Inca bridge. Both easily could be blocked if invaders should approach along them. Regardless of its original purpose, it is strategically located and readily defended.
Machu Picchu, viewed from Huayna Picchu. It is supposed to look like a brid (the Condor)
Huayna Picchu or Wayna Picchu (वायना पीचू meaning “Young Peak” in Quechuan) rises over Machu Picchu (it is 360m higher, an hour long steep hike.) According to local guides, the top of the mountain was the residence for the high priest and the local virgins (?). Every morning before sunrise, the high priest with a small group would walk to Machu Picchu to signal the coming of the new day. The Temple of the Moon, one of the three major temples in the Machu Picchu area is located on this mountain – I didn’t go there because its too far away. Only 400 visitors are allowed to hike this mountain every day, so hurry, go there first. By the time you return, Machu Picchu will be free of fog and waiting for your exploration. However by that time the morning train arrives and with it loads and loads of tourist groups Huyana Picchu offers some breathtaking views of the surroundings.
Pondering over the ruins
Machu Picchu is not a huge site (one end to opposite is just a 30 minute walk) but honestly, for someone who likes to dive down to every detail, even 9 hours are grossly insufficient to explore that place. Every stone has a story, every room has a feel.
Architecture: I’m a fan of planning and architecture but I will try to make this sound less geeky. ^_^
Most of the construction in Machu Picchu uses the classical Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape. The Incas were among the best stone masons the world has seen, and many junctions in the central city are so perfect that not even a knife blade fits between the stones. Peru is a highly seismic land, and mortar-free construction was more earthquake-resistant than using mortar. The stones of the dry-stone walls built by the Incas can move slightly and resettle without the walls collapsing. Inca walls show numerous subtle design details that also help protect them from collapsing in an earthquake. The lack of strong draft animals as well as terrain and dense vegetation issues may have rendered wheels impractical. How they moved and placed enormous blocks of stones remains a mystery, although the general belief is that they used hundreds of men to push the stones up inclined planes.
The space is composed of 140 structures or features including temples, sanctuaries, parks, and residences that include houses with thatched roofs. There are more than one hundred flights of stone steps–often completely carved from a single block of granite–and a great number of water fountains that are interconnected by channels and water-drains perforated in the rock that were designed for the original irrigation system. According to archaeologists, the urban sector of Machu Picchu was divided into three great districts: (1) the Sacred District, (2) the Popular District to the south, and (3) the District of the Priests and the Nobility.
Ok, I will stop here!
Picture perfect photograph of Machu Picchu. Huyana Picchu is the tall mountain right in the front.
I thought that my trip to Peru appropriately climaxed at this juncture and I liked my route – it built up the Inca and Peruvian story bit by bit. Had I landed in Machu Picchu first, it would have been confusing. Do let me know what you think about this post and there are many more pictures in the photo gallery
For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Machu Picchu Photo Gallery
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Start of our trekking. Towards the right side on the picture, you can see another tall mountain. This is on the other side of the valley
“[...] Colca Canyon is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States. Over a span of 100km, it averages 3.4km vertical depth. However, the canyon’s walls are not as vertical as those of the Grand Canyon. Since it is such major features of the landscape, the Colca canyon is easily recognizable in even low-resolution satellite photos of the region. The Colca Valley is a colorful Andean valley with towns founded in Spanish Colonial times and formerly inhabited by the Collaguas and the Cabanas. The local people still maintain ancestral traditions and continue to cultivate the pre-Inca stepped terraces. [...]” (Read more on Wikipedia)
Walking down… slowly
We started our 3km descent into the valley at around 9. The plan was to reach the bottommost point by noon, have lunch at 13, relax for a bit and then start the ascent till 1km, then descend again into the oasis at the bottom of the valley. The southern mountain of the valley is very barren and had wild shrubs and cacti. The northern side, however, feels like very tropical green. The vegetation, the red soil and the smells reminded me so much about our own Sahyadri range and for a moment I thought I was hiking to one of Shivaji’s forts.
Colca Canyon
Lunch was simple – based on potatoes, vegetables and bread. The family that served us lunches also let us relax in one of their guest rooms and that 30 minute nap was the most beautiful one I had in a long time. It usually happens that way, doesn’t it? We city people love the countryside, and sleeping on earthen floor inside a hut made of straw, at least I do.
Rock scales
After lunch and relaxation, we were too lazy to go further, but we had a schedule to keep. The route climbed up, up and up until it hit two tiny hamlets. They hold a huge annual festival at this square outside the Church in which hundreds of people from neighbouring villages participate. This village reminded me so much of the village called Datmir somewhere in Himachal during my trek to Har-ki-doon. The guide informed us that the religious practises of these people were hardcore Incan, but the only difference the Spanish imposed was to worship Christ instead of the Inca deities. But the locals still revere the earth, water, wind, and other elements of nature.
Bridge
Finally we reached another village called Oasis because it was really one (literally). My friends thought that this name was funny because tomorrow someone might name their village ‘Beautiful’ or ‘Peaceful forest’. But then there are Indian villages called ‘Sundar nagar’ (beautiful city) or ‘Shantivan’ (abode of peace) and they found this interesting.
Local women dancing
Alpaca, the local sheep
There was no electricity. We slept in tents; with mosquitoes. My mosquito repellent emptied into my bag mysteriously and my clothes for the next day got soaked in it completely. I get the feeling that the leader of mosquitoes did that on purpose so that the repellent that blocked their feast would be gone the next night. Alas, we had no intention to be there for long.
Campfire at night
The next day we woke up at 3 AM and started climbing the mountain with our torch lights. After a while, my eyes rivaled that of an old owl and moonlight was enough. We got spread over a distance because everyone was hiking at their own speeds. Four hours of climbing got us to the top. Thanks to my friend who gifted me an iPod before this trip, it became easy to sustain.
Church
The Colca Canyon is an interesting place. Imagine yourself are standing on a huge block of cheese. Now imagine that a sharp knife being plunged into the block, forming a slit. There you go, that’s a Colca canyon. Last night we were at the bottom of that crack. It was a relieving feeling to be on the surface again, after four hours of climbing, my shirt was totally dripping sweat. Now I had a choice – sweat drenched and smelly shirt or mosquito repellent drenched but fragrant shirt (I carried only a tiny backpack on this excursion).
Farm terrace. Football field during summer. Looks like a UFO landing site to me!
So in the last two days, we started with a body ache from the Condor watch point, went up and down the Colca canyon and emerged all sore and smelly on the second day. By evening we reached Arequipa by bus, signed off from the trek, exchanged email addresses with others and finally parted ways. I didn’t know what I was doing next, there were a number of options but that will be my next post.
Early morning
For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Colca Canyon Photo Gallery
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Views of the Colca mountain range
At 1 am, we started from Arequipa local bus station and our first destination was the Condor lookout point some 6 hours away. I say ‘we’ because I did not go to the Colca canyon by myself, but found a group as narrated in previous post. I met my other teammates – a Czech couple, a Spanish couple and a guy from USA. Everyone was cool. We got into a bus that was going to drive us to Chivay शीवे, change the bus at 3 am and board another local bus from there. It was impossible to sleep because the route was a dirt road, but after a while I became oblivious to the jerks and shocks and head hitting the window frame. There was a cold wave in Peru that time and it did not help at all. The journey rattled each and every bone in my body and I swear I heard clattering sounds of my bones while I walked later on. But my body ache disappeared the moment we got off at a watch point in the canyon. Take a look at these pictures, picture yourself watching it and then multiply that feeling by a thousand times. Now who cares about a silly bus ride?
Colca Canyon. The Colca river flows in this valley
It was very cold and windy since the nearby peaks are snow covered. I was shivering, Peru was supposed to be a tropical country; clearly I did not research enough. Several regions in the Arequipa and Puno provinces are at very high altitudes and it can get chilly at night; plus there can be cold waves (like this one). I wrapped myself some borrowed Alpaca shawls that the locals were selling and it was warm in no time!
My backpack
Condors, like Vultures, are scavengers. Scavengers only eat what is already dead and thus help clean the mess. The Andean Condors usually rise early morning during sunrise and rise high up in the sky surveying the landscape below. The canyon is very deep and it was not possible to see the bottom. But in no time, as the sun rose, we could see Condors flying in the sky.
Condor in the morning sky. Ah, freedom. I wish I could fly.
While flying out of the valley in circular loops, one giant bird appeared about 20 ft above me. It was a terrifying feeling and I ducked instinctively, although I was perfectly aware that a Condor don’t hunt. You really feel like a dwarf compared to these mighty Condors.
Andean Condor
Some excerpts filtered from Wikipedia:
The Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) is a species of South American bird. It is found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, it is the largest flying land bird in the Western Hemisphere. It reaches sexual maturity at five or six years of age and roosts at elevations of 3,000 to 5,000 m (10,000 to 16,000 ft), generally on inaccessible rock ledges. One or two eggs are usually laid. It is one of the world’s longest-living birds, with a lifespan of up to 50 years. The birds have a wing span of upto 10 ft. and weigh upto 15kg. The Andean Condor is considered ‘near threatened’ by the IUCN. It is threatened by habitat loss and by secondary poisoning from carcasses killed by hunters.
Andean Condors
Andean Condors (morning love)
Andean Condor (Hey look! A decaying bull… yummy!)
We came to this spot again on the next day while coming back from the trek and waiting for a bus. It was entertainment time because the place was full of tourists now who were complaining about the heat and dust; they were noisy, playing music, eating, shouting, running around, polluting, (sometimes their bus would honk) and then they grumbled about not seeing any Condors. It’s a not a circular logic; I don’t understand why people just don’t get it. It will permanently scare the birds away some day – from their own habitat. Go figure. They already have a ‘near threatened’ status.
Condor view point
Watching these huge creatures fly is a divine feeling. Something is different about them – huge birds, but scavengers; powerful, but isolated. Nature is amazing, nature is supreme and we are mere slaves, I ended up saying that for the hundredth time as our group descended into the valley.
For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Colca Canyon Photo Gallery
Next post: Trekking in the Colca Canyon.
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A 72km bike ride along the Sea of Galilee coast checking out prominent Biblical sites.
Caution: This particular blog-post is going to be excessively long.
7:30, I start with the sunrise.
Sea of Galilee
Sea of Galilee (गॅलिले), slso known as Lake Kinneret (किनारेट), is the largest fresh water lake in Israel. This lake is 209 m below sea level, the second lowest lake in the world after Dead Sea (also in Israel and I’ll post abt it). The lake has several sites of Christian significance around it in addition to being historically important for the Jewish.
Biking
I rented a mountain bike from Hostel Aviv for 50 NIS and started on this route equipped with a map. The route going along the lake is 65 km long but since I took a detour, I had to travel about 7 km more. The terrain is uphill for the initial part (upto Capernaum) and then more or less a flat ride. Since I took liberal breaks at different sites, I finished the journey in 8 hours, but my average speed on road was abt 14 kmph, not bad! If you are visiting this area then I will definitely recommend a tour on bike, it is very refreshing
Measurements
Arrival
8:30
10:15
11:00
11:45
14:15
15:30
16:30 |
Distance
14
8
4
3
19
16
8 |
Location
Ginosar
Mount
Tabgha
Capernaum
Kursi
Kinneret
Tiberias |
Ginosar: The Jesus boat
Jesus boat and me
In 1986, two fisherman brothers discovered the remains of an ancient boat that dates back to 1 CE, believed to be Jesus era. 27ft long and 7.5ft wide, this boat is delicately preserved at the Yigal Alon (यिगाल अलोन) Museum in Ginosar (गिनोसार). There is an excellent documentary that shows how the boat was excavated, removed, cleaned and reassembled – a process that took 7 years. This was my first stop and I met some people from a neighboring Kibbutz here. I had only read about Kibbutzs before and it was good to talk to real people working there.
Mt. of Beatitudes
Church of Beatitudes
It is believed that Jesus delivered the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ at a place around this location around 30 CE. This sermon is said to contain the central tenants of humanity, something that is shared by many religions. For example – ‘turn the other cheek’ or ‘resist not evil’, ‘judge not, lest ye be judged’ or the Golden rule. Mount of Beatitudes (बेटिट्युड) is located on a hill. The church is very beautiful, and the surrounding garden gives me amazing peace of mind. Also, the climb to the mountain top was an overkill and I was sweating like crazy when I reached here. I shed my clothes, but then it was cold, so had to wear them again (hehehe). The restaurant sells stuff that is bound to burn your pocket, and I got mine burnt.
Tabgha: Miracle of the Multiplication
In this fruitful garden, Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish.
Nice Church at (टॅब्घा/ताब्घा).
There was a little water fountain outside and I had a quick shower there while tourists/pilgrims who were arriving from big tour buses looked at me with disgust admiration and astonishment. Ah, it felt so good.
Primacy of Peter
This was a mystery as I did not have information about this chapel in my guidebook, nor did any tour bus stop here, so it was deserted except me, my bike and statues of Jesus. All I know is Peter was the favorite Apostles of Jesus of Nazereth and probably this Chapel is dedicated to him. The sepia picture shows a shepherd begging Jesus saying ‘Feed my sheep’.
Capernaum:
Ruins of an ancient Synagogue (ज्यू मंदिर) where Jesus prayed
Jesus lived in (कपर्नॉम) town along with his disciples after he moved from Nazereth (नाझरेथ). There are several architectural excavations that reveal old Synagogues, Monasteries, houses and courtyards.
Rest of the journey:
I only paused briefly at the Greek Orthodox Church (the distinct red building in the pictures below) admiring the numerous peacocks and the ambiance it had. The Church was closed, but at a table outside, the priest dressed in black robes was having lunch with some visitors. Needless to say I was invited to join them but it was all meat and since ani simkhoni, I had to politely decline.
So, after 5 hours of up terrain cycling, I was pretty exhausted. I ran out of my power bars and oatmeal cookies and water. I did not eat breakfast because everything was closed when I left Tiberias, and unfortunately there were no little stores on this way. 
God I was starving. I secretly asked Jesus to come back and multiply bread and fish for me, but he didn’t come (maybe it was his Christmas break.)
Finally I found one restaurant on the side of the road – yes very much like our Dhaba! – on the Yehudiya junction (north-east corner of the lake). I was so hungry that I told myself that falafel and humus were the best foods on earth. I stacked the pita bread full of olives, pickles, cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes, beet, peppers and other veggies. The lady gave me freshly fried spicy eggplant and some other thing (I never found it anywhere again). I had both – freshly squeezed orange juice and mint tea. After a contentful burp, I hit the road again. 
Wish there was a place to nap (wow a whole paragraph dedicated to my lunch!)
The remaining journey was tiring, probably because there was nothing much to see. But the real cause of pain (pun intended) was the uncomfortable seating of the bicycle. I tried various innovative methods to make my (sensitive, precious, private) body parts at ease but then the whole area became insensitive.
Roads in Israel including this part are in quite good shape. The drivers are also considerate (compared to India, not Canada) but sometimes they like to ‘play’ with cyclists…hehehe. Only on a few occasions I was forced off the road, but it was fun nevertheless.
Kinneret beach was beautiful, but I had painful reasons to reach back to the hostel asap.
Tiberias!
I was back to Tiberias before sunset. What a wonderful day it was Cycling and walking gives me a strange feeling of connection with the area, something that I will always prefer over booking a tour bus. (Maybe its a good thing to do after 40 years when I am old.)
Update: While I was riding from Kinneret to Tiberias, another cyclist went speeding past me. I don’t like when someone overtakes me for no reason and I sped after him. But I couldn’t match. Later I spotted him relaxing on the promenade just before Tiberias and since he seemed friendly we started chatting. I made a very good friend Yair who comments here regularly. Others – if you are reading this but not commenting then I hate you (nah, ofcourse not )
Next day I left to visit the ancient city of Beit She’an (बेट श्यान).
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