Sign in with Facebook"Bethlehem 2005" Bethlehem by jacobzoethout
Bethlehem Travel Guide: 80 reviews and 295 photos
I wanted to visit a Palestinian town during my stay in Israel in 2005. Bethlehem seemed the most logical choice; it is easy to reach from Jerusalem and the situation in Bethlehem is relatively calm and it is a well known tourist town being the city of birth of Jesus.
In the morning, I took a minibus from the Arab bus station on Suleyman street, eastern Jerusalem. However, when I was inside the minibus, I found out that the main border crossing between Jerusalem and the Bethlehem Palestinian territory was closed due to an attack a few days before. The bus passed a checkpoint, west of Bethlehem; at the checkpoint a Druze military entered the minibus and asked for the identity cards of my fellow Palestinian passengers. I showed him my Dutch passport. After half an hour we continued.
I had to leave the minibus at the western outskirts of Bethlehem, close to Beit Jalla from where I took a taxi to the centre.
In Bethlehem, I visited the Church of the Nativity, which is being visited by many religious tourist groups again, drank a coffee on Manger Square, and walked around in this famous town. Bethlehem seemed a friendly little town; the centre was attractively renovated a few years ago. It is really sad this city has been suffering so much during the last years.
I spoke with a policeman who told me that the border was closed, but not for non-Arabs like me. He arranged a taxi for me to the main border, an open gate in the infamous Wall. I took some pictures there, walked a few hundred metres to the Israeli checkpoint (a very weird walk; I was the only one at that time between the Wall and the checkpoint). After the checkpoint, I had to walk for another few hundred meters where a minibus to Jerusalem was waiting.
Reviews (4)
Tourist Information
Favorites
(1)
There is a tourist information office in the Bethlehem Peace Centre on Manger Square. A Swedish and Palestinian flag is... more travel advice
From Jerusalem to Bethlehem and back...
Transportation
(1)
Travelling from Jerusalem to Bethlehem should not be a too big problem, but things change quickly in this area. I was... more travel advice
Bethlehem town centre
Things to Do
(2)
It is nice to walk around in Bethlehem town centre, into the soukh area. From Manger square, I walked upwards Paul VI... more travel advice
Church of Nativity
Things to Do
(2)
One of the oldest churches in the world, built in the 4th century on the place believed to be the cave where Jesus was... more travel advice
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Comments (3)
About how much were the Arab minibus to Bethlehem?
Wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. What is more suiting than wishing real peace on a virtual site in Bethlehem !
That really looks nice and calm there! What you see from Palestine in TV looks so different...