Transit to Bethlehem

So maybe you heard - the Israeli's had a dust-up with an aid convoy going to Gaza. Needless to say, this is the kind of to-do that we were warned about listening for before going to the West Bank. Unfortunately, we didn't hear about the convoy attack until we were already in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem ... in the West Bank.

Our plan for getting to Bethlehem was to take a taxi to the border, walk across, then taxi to Manger Square. We asked our Hotel Man for a taxi to the border and he said he'd call. A bit later, Smooth-Talking Man walks in, most likely a secret friend of Hotel Man. Smooth-Talking Man tells us of his good friend, the Taxi Driver. Smooth-Talking Man says his friend Taxi Driver will take us to Bethlehem, link us up with Tour Guide Man (for free, no less!), and bring us back to our hotel or anywhere else, for the price of a tour bus (a generous discount from the private taxi fare for sure). We hem, haw, dither and finally give in. Smooth-Talking Man ushers us into Taxi Driver's car (a Mercedes; what a deal!) and we head for the West Bank. It's about a half hour, with no stop in this direction at the check point. We get to Bethlehem, outside of a shop where we meet Pleasant Shopkeeper. Pleasant Shopkeeper welcomes us, gets us water, shows us around and says Tour Guide Man will be with us shortly, he's just "showing another group of beautiful tourists around". We admire the shop (indeed there are many beautiful olive wood and mother-of-pearl things) until Tour Guide Man comes in.

Tour Guide Man takes us to his car (a sparkling new VW), asks if we don't mind picking up his daughter at school before the tour, and starts regaling us with details of the area. We swing down the road, pick up his 8-year old daughter, and come back to the shop to drop off the young one and re-park the car. Why couldn't we just stay at the shop for that? Don't know - he may have showed us the Shephards' Fields; I'm not sure I heard right (though his English was quite good).

Back at Pleasant Shopkeeper's place we meet up with another couple pilgrims looking for Tour Guide Man. Obviously Americans, we ask them where they're from. Sudbury, no lie - that's like 20 minutes from Boston! So the two couples from MA huffed it after Tour Guide Man on the way to the Church of the Nativity. It wasn't far, and along the way we got some details of the area and church. Diana will surely tell more of the church (and maybe contradict my account of the events - don't listen to her!), but there is a grotto beneath the church that Tour Guide Man snuck us in through the exit (instead of waiting behind 300 tourists going in the entrance). Apparently there is an organized effort between security and unofficial Tour Guide Men to use this short cut. God knows where all the kick backs come from. The guide was indeed free, though I gave him a token tip.

Exiting the Church of the Nativity, we are in the middle (literally shoulder to shoulder) of a rally, complete with guys in dark suits with signs in Arabic, guys dressed in judge robes, TV cameras and a bit of tension. Tour Guide Man now takes the time to inform us of the trouble at Gaza and says these people are from the courthouse, protesting Israel's actions. Perhaps this isn't the best time to be here...

Back at Pleasant Shopkeeper's place after our tour, we enjoyed some refreshments and shopped a little. Taxi Driver was waiting there the whole time, enjoying some tea and a newspaper - no doubt earning his fee. We hop in for the ride back and relax a little. Part way from Bethlehem we reach the checkpoint where Taxi Driver says some things to the Israeli Border Guard and we show our passports (just the covers, to show we aren't Israeli). Slightly atypically (I believe), we are ushered into a new line for what I'd call secondary screening. Other Soldier looks a little more carefully at our passports (picture, expiration date and visa it appeared), before waving us through. Really not too difficult, but the agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians is that Israelis stay out of the West Bank. They just wanted to check that we indeed were humble pilgrims.

Finally at the hotel we paid Taxi Driver in American dollars (he preferred them over shekkels) and completed our adventure. It was a little more tense than driving on the Mass Pike, but not nearly as bad as I was fearing. It was definitely better having Taxi Driver and Tour Guide Man to lead us around the trouble spots. Worth the expense!

Off for our last jaunt around the Old City before heading south to the Dead / Red Seas. Cheers!