Day trip to the south. Will write more in detail another day. But boy is that a messed up city! Trip to Nablus tomorrow and after that I’m ready for a day off.

On day 2 of my Palestine adventure I met up with another local couchsurfer, Hiba. We walked around the city a little and she gave me a bit of a background about herself. Being a pharmacist and having studied foreign languages (German) at the local Goethe Institute, she certainly is part of the educated population. One of the sights we visited was a traditional Palestinian house that is now a museum.

After the initial shock of the noisy market in front of the hostel, I found Ramallah to be a very relaxed and calm city. People in the streets are friendly and I get a lot of “Welcome” and “Hello”. Not a lot of tourists around here. Later in the day I met up with a local couchsurfer, Mohammad, who showed me a few parts of the city and shared a lot of his opinions and views on the current situation.

Left the hostel in Jerusalem in the late morning and took the local bus to Ramallah. Good deal, 8 NIS / 2 EUR for the 40 minute ride. Crossed the wall at one of the checkpoints - fortified like the inner-German border in the 80s. Arrived at the hostel in Ramallah not much later. Everybody on the way has been friendly and welcoming. It’ll take me a while to get adjusted to the noise level in the streets, everybody is shouting.

Made it to the Temple Mount more in time today. Nobody checked my passport and the camera bag was only given a brief view. Nothing compare to yesterdays scrutiny. Guess security varies with daily form around here. Once inside, the sight that immediately draws the eye is the Dome of the Rock with its golden roof. From what I could figure (not really my field of expertise), the mount is predominantly a Muslim holy site and other religions are accepted but not necessarily welcome.

Having spent the early afternoon dozing (I blame the heat and the noise), I wanted to be a little more active afterwards and went to see Jerusalem from above. Well not really from above but at least from high up. Mount of Olives is the go-to destination for that and hostel staff recommended to take a Palestinian bus up there. Those leave from the Arab bus station that serves East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

After another 5h ride through the desert, I arrived in Jerusalem in the late afternoon. Spent the afternoon having a first look at the old part of the city. Brought back memories of Bangkok and similar places - loads and loads of tourists and shops to accommodate them. That being said, there are also more quiet residential areas within the walls of the old city. The evening was a little more relaxed, met up with a local couchsurfer, Eran, to visit an art show (music, still, performing, …) in the city.

Spent a little more time under water yesterday. Lazy day today, coffee at the beach and doing some planning for the rest of the trip. Off to Jerusalem tomorrow morning. [caption id=“attachment_2975” align=“aligncenter” width=“450”] Most colourful Fish on the Reef[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_2976” align=“aligncenter” width=“450”] Who can spot the two Octopus?[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_2978” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”] Torpedo boat, deliberately sunk as an artificial Reef[/caption]

Yesterday evening I got into a conversation with an Israeli guy, also staying at the hostel. As was my plan for this trip, I enquired about his views on the country, the history and the current situation. He is a student at the Jerusalem university and described his political position as left-liberal. He gave me an overview of the political situation which has parties ranging from the secular on one end to the ultra-orthodox on the other.

A couple of impressions from the Coral Beach Nature Reserve.