Two weeks trip on Palestine

March 2, 2015

              This day is the first day of our travel. The reason why we chose this time for our travel was that we have the long spring vacation and we thought this season was comfortable.

              We’ll arrive at Narita airport about two hours before getting on our airport, and go through boarding procedures. We are going to leave Japan at about 1 p.m. Japan time and arrive at Moscow in Russia at about 6 p.m. Russia time. We change the airplane there and we arrive at Tel Aviv in Israel at about 11 p.m. local time. This route will takes about 17 hours, but this is the cheapest (about 50000 yen). That’s why we will follow this route.

              We reach Tel Aviv late at night, so we will stay at Momo’s hotel near the airport. However, it will take 30 to 40 minutes to arrive at the hotel from the airport. Because of going out late at night, we’re planning to get on a taxi to the hotel, not trains.

March 3

             We’ll walk or get on Shertoes, which are like a taxi that runs in fixed routes, and see the scenery in Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is a leading developed city in Israel, so we can feel and know the city culture in the Middle East and understand what the life of people who live in a city of the Middle East is like.

We’re planning to go to Helena Rubinstein Pavilion of Contemporary Art as one of city cultures in Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is famous for contemporary arts, and the museum displays a lot of works made in Tel Aviv. Also, as a sightseeing of city cultures, we are going to Karmel market. We can see foods and clothes of people in Tel Aviv. If we forget something, we can buy and make up.

The next day, we will go sightseeing in Beer Sheva, so we need to finish dinner until 5 p.m. and leave Tel Aviv early because it will takes one and a half hours by bus and the buses to Beer Sheva don’t run frequently. Beer Sheva is a country town and there are not many hotels. So we’ll stay at Beit Yatziv Guest House though the charges are a little expensive.

March 4

              There are a reason why we decided to travel to Beer Sheva. The reason is that we want to see and feel cultures of the Bedouin, which is nomads who live in a desert. The Joe Alon Center is a good spot for our wish. This center is like a museum and many tools used by Bedouin are displayed. Also, we can ride on a camel and enjoy eating traditional Bedouin foods.

              The next day, we’ll planning to walk around Negev desert. That’s why we have to leave Beer Sheva early like the day before this day. We will travel in March and the season will be comfortable, but the weather in a desert may be hot even in March and we may sweat sometimes. So in Ngev desert, we’ll stay a hotel room with a shower.

March 5 - 6

              Negev desert is a harsh natural environments. It doesn’t allow people to live there except the Bedouin. Therefore, beautiful and magnificent nature remains there as it is. We cannot see such a scene created by harsh desert environments in Japan. That’s why we want to go there and feel the nature in Negev desert.

              We’ll planning to two national parks. The first park is Ein Avdat National Park. This park is famous for ravines in the desert and has an observation deck where we can look out the desert. It will take about two hours to complete the walking course, so we need to prepare sporty clothes, sunglasses and enough water. The second park is Avdat Natinal Park. This park is famous for ancient buildings. There remains ancient bathhouse, church and engraving. These parks will teach us the wonderfulness of the desert nature.

March 7

              We are going to go to a zoo: Bio Ramon. This zoo is a little small but, we can see animals, reptiles and insects which live around there. In Japan, we cannot see the creatures which live in a desert easily, so it will be a precious experience to go there.

              This day, we leave Negev desert and go to a city in Palestine, Bethlehem by bus. It will take about 5 hours, so we leave there around noon. Around Negev desert, buses don’t run frequently. If we miss one bus, we may wait for many hours. So we need to check the schedule of bus service in advance. Also, we have to remember that we need to change the bus of Israel into that of Palestine before entering Palestine.

March 8

              Bethlehem is said to be the place where Jesus Christ was born and there are a lot of buildings related to Christianity. Also, in the city, Many Arabs who believe Christianity, not Islamism, live. We want to see cultures of Christianity made by Arabs.

              Bethlehem is a city in Palestine, so there are some good restaurants. For our dinner, we are going to a restaurant in Bethlehem, Ab Aries. This restaurant is said to make the most delicious Shwarma in Bethlehem, which is a famous food of the Middle East. The restaurant is said not to have its signboard, but if you want to go there, you should look for a signboard of Coca-Cola.

March 9

              We’ll leave Bayt Lahm and stay in Jerusalem. To take the bus is the simplest and cheapest way to get there. The bus is from the bus stop at Herbon Rd., and we are to take the bus of No.21. It takes about an hour and costs 7.3NIS.

              Jerusalem is the capital of Israel (however, many nations deny this.) and one of the most important place for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. So, there are many sacred places to see in the old city in Jerusalem and that’s why we cannot miss this city.

              In Jerusalem, first, we`ll see the old city. There are districts for Muslims, Christians, Jews and Armenians, which is pretty uncommon. In the morning we’ll see the big wall surrounding this city and 8 gates. It costs 16 NIS to go sightseeing around the wall.

              After eating lunch and shopping in the market, we can go walking on the rooftop to see the great view of Jerusalem. Afterwards, we’ll visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, known for its history of the destruction and rebuilding. We won’t be charged for sightseeing, but we need to be careful for unscrupulous merchants.

              Our accommodation from March 9 to 12 will be Hilel 11. There is a discount for a double room, so staying there will cost about 36000 yens (Reservation should be made before we arrive there.)

March 10

              We`ll see the rest of the places to go in Jerusalem on this day. First, we’ll visit Via Dolorosa. This is the legendary road where Christians say Jesus walk to accept his death penalty. Then we can see Qubba al-Sakhra, the best Muslim architecture. There’s also Abraham’s sacred stone, which is important for not only Muslims but also Christians and Jews. At last we can finally see Wailing Wall for Jewish. But we need to remember we are supposed to put on a Jewish hat to enter as a rule. We can go through these three buildings for free.

              After lunch, we’ll see Jerusalem District (a museum). There we can see many religious exhibits including famous Dead Sea Scrolls. Entrance fee is 42 NIS.

March 11

              On this day, we’ll go on a day trip to Hebron, which is close to Jerusalem. We’ll get a taxi to Hebron and it’ll cost 15NIS. After 20 minutes drive, we begin a tour in the old city. However, Hebron is under the control of Israel and some exhibitions or stores may be close. Therefore, we may enjoy ourselves in markets and understand what an occupation is like. Also, we can see Haram al-kalil, Abraham’s tomb there. There we’ll see many Jews under the oppression as well.

              After lunch in the market, we’ll visit the archeological museum in Hebron to see the history in Hebron from the era of Kanan to Islam. If we have some time, we can also go to see the oak of Abraham as well.

March 12

              On this day, we are to leave Jerusalem and get to Ram Allah, a city of youth in Palestine. After 30 minutes of bus trip from Damascus Gate (7~8NIS), we begin a tour in the museum of Ram Allah. Its exhibitions reveal some secrets of the history in Palestine, which has prolonged for more than several thousand years. Since this museum used to be a residence, we can also see the life of Palestinians.

              After leaning history, we’ll head to the main town to feel Palestine new culture. Among some tall buildings, we can go to the Star and Bucks in Palestine. Also we can eat the best ice cream at Rukab’s ice cream, the most popular ice cream shop in Palestine.

              Our hotel for this day will be Caesar hotel. It’s one of the most popular hotel in Ram Allah and it costs about 16000 yen, which is considered to be pretty good deal for their service including great foods.

             

March 13     

              For the sake of our last sightseeing in Palestine, we’ll head to Nablus, an old town famous for its olive production. We can take either a bus or a taxi to go to Nablus and whichever way we take, it’ll be one hour drive from Ram Allah. (10~15NIS)

              And sightseeing in Nablus shall include many opportunities of shopping. We can get good herb tea and olive soap for a good deal (about 5 NIS).

              And we can do not only shopping but like go to a public bath called Hammam. Hammam is influenced by Roman culture of a public bath and used to be an important place for communication. Entrance fee is 18NIS, and more 10NIS to get a massage service. And after we’re done with shopping, we take a taxi to Jacob’s fountain. (10 minutes drive and it costs 15NIS) It’s well known for the origin of Islam and a beautiful marble building. We need to get there by 4pm to enter and see the fountain although we won’t be charged for entrance.

              Our hotel for this day will be Al-Yasmeen hotel. Unfortunately, we don’t have so many options on our accommodation in Nablus. It’ll cost about 15000 yen for one double room.

March 14

              Since the security in Israel is so strict that there may be a chance that we miss our flight because of a long official’s testifying at the airport, we’ll head to Jordan and have a flight from Amman.

              After 2 hours drive from Nablus (it costs about 25NIS), we arrive at Allenby Bridge, which is the gate to Jordan. We need to prepare for Jordan Dollar to get ourselves checked before entry in Jordan. It totally costs about 5JD and 200NIS for all check, facility use and our luggage. After all of checks, we get into Jordan and we need to take a bus or taxi to Amman airport. (Fee is no decided. It’s up to our negotiation with a driver.)

                We’ll try to get an airport by 2pm. There, we take a plane to Tokyo. Our flight will be Qatar airline whose departure is 4pm. After exchange in Doha, we can finally go back to our sweet home, Japan (Narita Airport). This flight will cost 116,090 yen.

Consederation

・We don’t need VISA to enter Palestine for the sake of sightseeing. However, we need to take Jordan VISA to get into Jordan even for a day. That means we need to go to a Jordan embassy before our trip to get VISA.

・Since we don’t go to Gaza area where there’s almost always a combat, we don’t have so much risk of getting involved in attack during this trip. However, needless to say, we always need to be more careful and avoid a suspicious place.

・At an airport in Israel, it takes a quite long to go through the security gate. We need to prepare for many questions and avoid vague behavior.

・In some places, we need to follow their religious customs. We may not need to think about it so serious before our trip though because people there will teach us about it.