waterfall

waterfall
Originally uploaded by nostalgist

The waterfalls at the Banias. The Banias are named for the shrine to Pan found there, a deep cave with a natural spring that was used for animal sacrifices. If the blood of the sacrifice vanished into the depths of the water, it was successful, but if it washed back up the sacrifice had been rejected. We walked from the Pan cave to the waterfall - a walk of a little over an hour - and I was a little nervous because of the woods and the rushing water and the general dionysian context. There were other groups of hikers, some classes of teenagers and a large group of soldiers, and the boys handily beat the teens and almost kept pace with the soldiers.