How hard is it to have a day trip to the West Bank from Jerusalem?For a British tourist? I am an archaeologist who will be working in Jerusalem for a month over summer and would very much like to see Bethlehem one afternoon, just out of interest rather than for any political/ religious motive. How easy would it be to arrange this for a tourist? Could it all be put together in... | |
I am a Canadian and have been to Bethlehem dozens of times. It's something you can do on the spur of the moment without any planning. We have waaaaay more rights and privileges there than the Palestinians so can easily go there. There is, however, the distasteful task of going through a checkpoint, but as a foreigner it's more just an annoyance than anything.
It's a short trip from Jerusalem and you can take public transport. Since the ugly big wall went up, the bus cannot go all the way to Bethlehem. They take you to the checkpoint at the entrance. You go through the checkpoint and then pick up another bus or take a taxi from there.
Alternately, you can go with a tour group and of course that would have to be arranged a bit in advance. I go to Bethlehem on my own or with friends so don't know of tours there but you can probably find them through the Christian Information Center, which is located by Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. Their website is
http://christusrex.org/www1/ofm/cic/...
I also recommend going into other parts of Palestine, either with an Arab-run tour group or on your own. There are buses that go to Ramallah that leave up the street from Damascus Gate. Ask for directions once you're there. There's no set schedule - once the bus is full they leave. The trip is about 1/2 hour plus who knows how long at a checkpoint. Again, as a foreigner it's easy for you but you have to wait for all the Palestinians to go through extensive checks. Let me know if you have any more questions!
it's the easiest thing for a tourist,
take your passport
get a taxi to the control point that goes into bethlehem
pass through
get a palestinian taxi
go to wherever you want to go in bethlehem
and come back.
you could do it on a whim, no need to coordinate or plan. it would take about 1-2 hours to see the church of nativity if you're an archaeologist. if you want to go to the milk grotto and sheppards field add another 2 hours.
remember that franciscan churches open 8-12 2-4(5).
enjoy
oops - thought you meant digging there :)
if you don't need any digging authorization then I think it won't be a problem.
it may be hard to watch the palestinians have to go through there...
its not fair............
