Touring Jerusalem, Palestine and the West Bank

Tel Aviv - Wednesday, 8am-ish

A couple of years ago my friend, Ryan Middleton, toured Israel with his church group. When this trip was just an idea, Ryan was adamant that if I went to Israel I must meet his friend and former tour guide Ron Perry. Ron handles all tours to Israel for his church group and they absolutely love him. Over the years the church has changed travel agencies and almost everything else about the Israel trip - but Ron is as much a fixture of  the Israel tour as the city of Jerusalem itself. I would soon understand why. So, after a couple of days,  Ryan put me in touch with Ron. With only a night's notice we were set to meet in Jerusalem at the central bus station. I tried to get an idea of what was in store - was I just getting coffee or was I getting a tour. I asked Ron how much he wanted on the call and he said he'd spend half a day with me for free. I figured I could be walking into a giant scam. Anyhow, Ron offers me advice on how to get Jerusalem - a cab for around $120-$150 or a bus ride from Tel Aviv central station for something like $30 round trip. Ron's advice the night before helped me figure out how to get to the bus station using public transportation, so I was beginning to look up. Although I had only a few hours of sleep I was awake and ready to go. I brought along the caffeinated gummy candy my mom packed for me into my day pack just in case. Very glad I had them.

Jerusalem - Old City Tour

Getting to Jerusalem

With Ron's advice, getting to the Tel Aviv central bus station was easy. Mini-buses pass by every ten minutes or so and jet to the station. I think the fare was right under $2. The central bus station is a sight itself. Inside is a gigantic market. Tel Aviv's station has something like six floors with any kind of shop you can imagine. Busses do not leave at a fixed time. They leave once enough people are in the bus or after a certain length of time. The buses are comfortable with coach seats and even have free wifi. The journey to Jerusalem was about an hour. The Jerusalem central bus station was similar.  The Jerusalem Chords Bridge is an absolute work of art.

Tel Aviv Bus Station

(not my photo)

Meeting Ron Perry

Ron Perry

Upon arriving at the airport in Tel Aviv I picked up a SIM card for my phone. In Europe it's common to get free incoming calls (there's a tariff attached to calling mobile phones, so the person receiving the call does not pay). Anyhow, Ron and I exchanged messages back and forth and met up at the train station. From there we went to the Old City including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre . Ron was going to walk me through the Old City and go through the 14 stages of the cross - recreating the trial of Jesus at the various places. Essentially, recreate Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ on site. Walking around the Old City church was incredible - most of what you see is at least a couple of hundred years old, some parts thousands. Ron's of Jewish heritage, but since he's a professional guide he can spin a tour for any faith. Ron's knowledge was second to none. Probably what I liked most about Ron was how he treated other people and the site. Whenever Ron saw garbage on the ground, he picked it up. Whenever he saw a confused or lost tourist, he stopped to help and make them feel comfortable. "Being a tourist can be a humiliating experience" he often said.  Often, he just engaged in conversation with people of all cultures - Ron just loves talking to people. I heard him speak English, French, Hebrew, Arabic, and I think Russian. Ron's the tour guide you want to hire, regardless of spirituality, and he can be reached in Israel at 050-552-9534. He doesn't have a web page or a US number. In my downtime I need to fix that, because he said business is extremely slow. Ron mentioned American clients are his primary customers. 10 years ago he said about 80 percent of all tourists were American. Now it's down to maybe 10-20%. Part of the decrease could be related to the increase in tourism from former eastern block countries. When the Soviet Union fell, travel restrictions were lifted any many people from that region now make the trip to Jerusalem. 

Old City

Entrance to the Old City is through the Jaffa Gate. It's entirely free and you walk through tons of markets. The markets sell anything you can imagine and is very much like a flea market. You can get diapers, toiletries, religious artifacts, ancient antiquities, coffee, pirated software, etc.

At the entrance, Jaffa Gate

Old City Market

Bootleg movies and software for sale at Old City

ILL!

(Too many Illinois fans to list)

Ohio State 

(Figured this would make my OSU friends Michelle and Mike)

Closest to Purdue I could find...

Odd given Starbucks withdrawal from Jerusalem, 

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

This church is nothing short of amazing. This is where the 14 Stations of the Cross are recreated. Throughout my time touring I saw no less than a dozen groups of all faiths carrying crosses, reciting prayers, etc. This is the site where Jesus was tried and crucified. What's interesting is how little the various religions trust each other. The main entrance is actually controlled by two Muslim families who share responsibility of opening the Church every day.

The keyholder of the Holy Sepulchre and me

People praying outside the Western Wall

Me on the rooftop of one of the churches

Ron & me enjoying some Turkish tea. I really enjoyed talking to Ron about everything.

Baidum Antiquités Dealer

It seemed Ron new just about everyone in the Old City. We passed by a shop I assumed sold recreations of ancient antiquities, but Ron said they were all authentic and the shop, Baidum, was very well known throughout the world. The shop was closed but the owner's son, Rami, was outside and insisted we come in. Rami attended university in the states (LA) and spoke perfect English. I made it clear I could not afford anything in the shop, but he gave me a tour anyway.  Later, the owner/father (left of me) insisted we stay, have tea and talk. This sort of hospitality is confusing to me. 

The Baidun family with me and Ron. 

Note all antiquities are authentic, including the statue next to Ron!

Finishing up Jerusalem

Ron and I concluded our tour around 4pm. He was incredibly gracious and asked for nothing from me - I insisted but couldn't pay him nearly enough. I mentioned if it might be possible to go to Bethlehem and the birthplace of Christ. Bethlehem was handed over to Palestinian control in 1995. Sometime after that period Jews from Israel were barred from entering, so Ron could not accompany me to this site. I was a bit concerned about safety and he reiterated the area was safe. Ron made arrangements and for $100 US I was going to get a private driver and tour of Bethlehem...all to begin in under 20 minutes.

Surprise trip to the West Bank-Palestine!

Israeli wall separating Israel from Palestine

View from Bethlehem 

After entering Palestine I was (seriously) greeted by Minnie Mouse. I imagine the Palestinians do this to create familiarity for westerners.  I never left the car aside from when I went into the church. 

A fake Starbucks! Or should I say Stars & Bucks! Taken from the car.

Lots of narrow rock stairways

Kneeling down at the birthplace of Christ 

(star below is within the fireplace looking thing)

Closeup of the point of birth

Back to Tel Aviv

After my short trip to Bethlehem, the driver took me back to the Jerusalem Bus Station. I picked up a few essentials from the drug story and head back home. The trip back was incredibly short - maybe because I feel asleep on the bus and was exhausted.

Jerusalem Bus Station 

Chords Bridge 

(not my photo)

Gift Shopping at Palestine

Ron mentioned the tour guide would be paid by the ministry of tourism and that I'd have to stop at the gift shop on my way out. He said I didn't have to purchase anything, but to spend time in the shop and maybe get a cross I promised to buy for someone back home (hi Olga). Everything in the shop was extremely expensive. They had a lot of stuff carved out of wood (see my photos below) costing thousands of dollars. Almost all the crosses bigger than a few inches were over $25. The crosses were made from the Olive Trees around the area. I'll need to ship the stuff I picked up before I leave Tel Aviv because I do not have room to carry anything - shouldn't be a big deal.

Back to Polly's

I got back to the Tel Aviv bus station around 10pm. My host/landlord Raviv mentioned this area was sketchy, but not necessarily unsafe. He was right, the area outside the station was sketchy. I spent some time looking for a Tel O Bike (bike rental stations throughout the city) stand without success. So I hopped a bus in the general direction and ended up back on Allenby street. From there I picked up a Tel O Bike and went home. 

I was exhausted, but also didn't want to call it a night. So after getting back home, I dropped off my day pack and head to Polly's. I got there around midnight The outside bar was open and my favorite friend of Israel, Roy served me up a nice cold beer after insisting everyone at the bar do a shot on the house because, in part, 'Christopher had returned'. I learned a bit more about Roy. He spent 4 months in military jail after serving a year to get out of the 3 year commitment. Didn't realize that was an option. He was certain to tell me that Israeli military jails are not like US prisons and that he was not raped. He also spent several years in the states, but not Chicago. He asked me if I had ever been to Tulum in Mexico - it's one of his favorite spots in the world. We argued back and forth about which was better, Playa del Carman or Tulum. I assured him he was incorrect. Throughout the night Roy introduced me to a the others at the outdoor bar. I had a nice conversation with an Israeli pediatric physician and schoolteacher. My hebrew is still rough, but I'm sure the two ladies appreciated my feeble attempt to converse in their native tongue. They gave up on me and insisted to we speak English. O'well, I tried. It's unusually warm I keep hearing from everyone. The 80s are not normal this time of the year, so everyone is making the most of it. 

Outside bar at Polly's

Tomorrow

After extensive touring today, I'm planning to take it easy tomorrow. Write a blog entry (what you're reading now), visit Jaffa and the Carmel Market by bike. 

Countries visited thus far

Germany (very short walk outside city between flights)

Israel

Palestine