On this day, we drove north the length of the Golan Heights to the Ein Zivan kibbutz. This was the first Israeli settlement founded in the Golan following the Six Days War. It was established, in 1968, by young people from older, more established kibbutzim. It appeared to me to be an incredibly successful farming operation. Mind you, under international law, this is considered to be part of Syria which is disputed, of course, by Israel.

We were met at the kibbutz by Ilan Shulman, a kibbutz member and retired officer of the Israeli Defense Forces and military intelligence. He told us that he used to be a kibbutzim cowboy and he looked the part. He told us about their kibbutz. Today, he also has a side business of taking people on jeep excursions and that’s what we did. He had two cohorts with him in three jeeps and we drove to within a rock throw of the Syrian border. They were armed with pistols.

This is Ilan Shulman with Vicky. I tried to tell her that her shirt choice might not have been the best for driving right up to the Syrian border, but hey, she’s a cowboy too.

IF you notice the red sign, it was the second sign that we passed that said no entrance. It reads: Military Area, No Entrance.

This tank and soldier were on a hill just pass the second No Entrance sign. They weren’t kidding. We were only allowed to pass because we were with Ilan Shulman and friends but the soldiers still checked us out.

The tank in the next photo is left over from the Six Days War in 1967. But also notice the Yellow and Red sign saying ‘Warning DANGER! You are entering an area with land mines; Do not leave the marked path; Do not cross any fences.’ We saw dozens of these signs.

The last photo is the former Syrian Army Headquarters. Here, Ilan gave us an incredible talk and led a discussion about the 1967 and 1973 wars, about Israeli and Arab cultures, and he brought us up to speed on what is happening today in Iran and other states as well as entities such as ISIS, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, and the PLO. It was an inspirational and informative meeting and a trip highlight for me. From the Golan Heights, we had good views of Syria and some abandoned towns.