Our original plan was to arrive in Nazareth on Sunday lunchtime and have the afternoon to explore the various churches and the old town, but due to our mishap with the blocked road to the Dead Sea this did not work out. Neither did adding a half day on the back end of our 2 day stay here, as we’ll elaborate.
Today was day 1 of our two day horse riding trip. Horse riding is always a way to see a country from a different persepctive and we try to fit that in if possible. Sirin Riders had the best recommendation as being a good company, having good horses and offering multi day rides, not just a 1 hr around the bush ones.
Yair is the owner, a 62 old Israeli who grew up in a Kibbutz in the area. He knows those hills by heart. We drove there quite early through Nazareth rush hour and arrived at some stables where we waited for two more riders to join us. The horses, small Arabian horses and one small quarter horse were tied in their stalls, already saddled up with either western or endurance saddles.
Chris got a feisty Arab wth a Western saddle and as always his stirrups were barely long enough for him… Esther got the small Quarter horse with an endurance saddle.
The two other riders were two Teachers & Farmers from South Australia who had ridden with Yair before and were here for a 3 week vacation combined with volunteer work.
After mounting our six horses, Yair’s twelve-year-old nephew, Sasha, joined us as well. We rode up into the hills toward the Sirin Heights, passing through olive groves and almond trees, and riding past grazing herds of cows.
We went from 200 meters above sea level to 400 meters and then down to -200 meters in one 4 hr ride. It was great weather, just a bit windy and the horses were fresh.
We stopped first for a short coffee break and a snack, and later for a picnic lunch. Along the way, Yair shared stories from his childhood, pointing out places he had grown up around—some of which we reached on horseback. From the final hill, the view was spectacular: the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan Valley stretched out in front of us, with Jordan and the Golan Heights rising on the opposite side. Once again, one is struck by how close everything is here.
And also by how close the enemies once were. After the proclamation of the State of Israel in 1948, Arab armies attempted to drive the Jewish population out of the region. Around the Sea of Galilee, it was largely the kibbutzim that held the line—often poorly equipped, but strategically positioned and fiercely motivated. Some of these communities had received basic military training during the British Mandate period, while others improvised their defense under fire. Their resistance played a crucial role in preventing a breakthrough in northern Israel during the early phase of the war.
With the help of his younger brother, who had driven the horse trailer down to our destination, Yair was able to complete this route all the way to the Sea of Galilee for the first time in ten years. Especially the past five years have taken a heavy toll on Sirin Rider as a business: first the Covid pandemic, then the brutal Hamas attack on October 7, followed by the Israeli military response in Gaza.
Yair was visibly moved to be riding this long route again—and to be doing so, for the first time since 2020, with a group of international riders. At times, he seemed close to tears. It may also explain why he happily allowed himself one or two detours along the way, turning our ride into a much longer journey than originally planned.
We made our way down some very steep tracks, sometimes walking, sometimes riding, until around 4 p.m. we finally reached the Jordan Valley. This is where the Jordan River flows—at least in theory. In reality, it looked far more modest than its biblical reputation would suggest: more a narrow stream than a mighty river, almost a creek.
That may well be due to the fact that both Israel and Jordan divert large amounts of its water for agriculture, leaving only a fraction of what once flowed south toward the Dead Sea. Standing there, it was hard to reconcile the river’s outsized place in history and religion with its rather understated appearance today. At the bottom, Yair’s brother was waiting for us with the horse trailer—and, very welcome after the long descent, a hot cup of tea.
We were all pretty pooped and until we were back in Nazareth to grab a bit to eat it was 7 PM. A full day in fresh air, with horses and some interesting conversations, that’s what vacations should look like… More tomorrow as our plan to see the church of announcination before 6 PM today also did not work out.
