A visit to Bethlehem and Banksy hotel
I have read that the Palestinian bus company (aka Arab bus) operates the Jerusalem-Bethlehem route and goes quite close to the city centre. Apparently there was no time table available, so we went to the bus terminal anyway, just to see what’s what… The terminal is outside the Damascus gate next to the light rail stop. The signs are written in Hebrew, Arabic and English. We found the stand that said ‘Bethlehem’ and the bus was already there; it was bus 231 to Beit Jala. The driver said it goes to the city centre in Bethlehem, so we hopped on. It cost 6.80NIS one way and we bought a ticket on the bus.
Our journey took around 40minutes, but I guess this can vary. At the check point, the officials came into the bus, some people were asked to step out of the bus. One person was kept in the booth and we had to leave him behind… They didn’t seem to care much about the tourists, we only needed to show our passports.
We reached our destination and as soon as we stepped out of the bus, we were bombarded by a non-stop sales pitch from a number of taxi drivers. We wanted to see a few Banksy art pieces first and knew they were within walking distance, so we walked on as we repeated ‘no thanks’ to very persistent taxi drivers. The returning bus leaves from the other side on the same street, but I didn’t see any signs or bus stops, so remember where you got off.
The Girl Frisking a Soldier: Walk straight towards the direction of the bus or the dividing wall keeping on the right. After Bethlehem Museum you will see a small Banksy shop and the piece is inside this shop!
Armoured Dove: It should be possible to make a right turn after The Girl Frisking a Soldier piece and reach here, but we were already distracted by the dividing wall and walked straight on. We saw the piece after visiting The Walled Off Hotel, also known as Banksy Hotel. Facing the hotel entrance, walk the street along the left side of the hotel, you will soon see the Dove to the left.
The Walled Off Hotel: We were initially just going to have a ‘quick look’ at it, but our visit ended up being a bit longer than just a ‘quick look’ due to an unexpected surprise.
After the visit to the gallery upstairs, we ordered a pot of tea for two (15NIS) and admired the various art pieces in the piano bar. They have a small book shop and the museum which is dedicated to the biography of the wall (15NIS entry fee).
After the tea break we were ready to go and were just asking a few Banksy related questions at the reception/bar. Suddenly, one of the staff (must be one of the managers) said: ‘would you like to see the rooms?’
Of course we said ‘yes’.
I thought he was going to just let us take a little peak at a couple of rooms, but no, we were actually given a good show around of the hotel! We were shown 5 rooms, we looked around, walked around, took photos, asked questions as the manager pointed and explained to us about several Banksy pieces and room features.
I still haven’t got round to fully making sense of this experience; being given the opportunity to enjoy a private viewing of so many Banksy arts in a non-street and protected environment (but not a museum, hotel rooms!), hotel windows looking out on the dividing wall, hearing the Islamic call to prayer in the distance, the sense of hospitality, generosity and kindness we felt…
Our plan was to visit the Church of the Nativity afterwords. It is the opposite direction to the dividing wall, so we walked back to where we came from. We were told that the last bus to Jerusalem was around 7PM, it was about 4PM, but when we saw the return 231 bus standing at the bus stop we decided to take it. I’m sure we could’ve taken later buses, but I guess our minds were already filled and content with that day’s experience, it was time to call it a day.
In Jerusalem, opposite the bus terminal is the Arab market with shops, bakeries and fast food stands. As we hadn’t had lunch, we sat down for a quick snack of falafel sandwich.
Ka’ak bread ring
The falafel sandwich here was okay, I have tasted better, but not bad for 8NIS which was cheaper than many other places I saw in Jerusalem (usually between 15-20NIS). We also bought a bread ring from a bakery (3NIS). It was really tasty and the man in the shop was kind. This is a good place to get something to eat during Shabbat when almost everything in West Jerusalem shut. We were there around 5PM on Friday.
