Travel report: Palestine

Country ranking by area: #165
Country ranking by population: #122

Date of visit: September 2016

Palestine – the first non-UN country

Palestine was the first country I have visited that is not a member of the United Nations. It is also one of only six countries with no commercial airports (the other five are European micro-states like Andorra or San Marino). It was also my first trip with Tobi, my competitor on the route to the 197 countries.

Tobi and I talked about traveling together for a long time, and we finally booked this trip in September 2016. We also discussed different destinations, but traveling to Tel Aviv for a total of three nights and spending one night in Palestine was the most appealing option for us. Tel Aviv was nothing new to us, as we have both been there before. It was the side trip to Ramallah that spiced the whole trip up.

Just a few weeks before, we had a setback. Tobi is a huge football fan and the Champions League draw made his team FC Basel play against Arsenal in London the night before our trip. Watching his team play in the Emirates Stadium was always his big dream, and now it would ironically be exactly the night before our trip. He first had the silly idea of driving from London to Basel directly after the game (11 PM). Unfortunately, the departure of the flight was at 6 AM. It would have been a mission impossible. Eventually, he decided to book a new flight from London and he would arrive just a few hours after I would.

From Tel Aviv to Ramallah

My easyjet plane landed in Tel Aviv on a Thursday morning, where a driver from my hotel in Ramallah picked me up. Ramallah is the capital of Palestine and only a 45-minute drive from Tel Aviv. It’s part of the West Bank, a more or less safe area, and far away from Gaza, which would be a dangerous area to visit.

I still though that traveling to the West Bank would be stressful. A friend told me he had to wait four hours at the checkpoint, but that was many years ago. I did some research online without finding any accurate information about the procedures at the checkpoints.

I was more than surprised when we passed the checkpoint after 30 seconds and I did not even have to show my passport. It’s kind of depressing to see a huge barbed-wired wall around a whole country. Seeing how 18 years old Israeli soldiers control the passports of 50 years old Palestinians before they allow or deny their entrance show you the humiliating process that happen every day at the checkpoints.

One day in Ramallah

I checked into my hotel, which had a surprisingly good standard. It wasn’t something fancy, but it was more or less like a 3 star hotel in Europe. It was also a very short walk away from the small city center of Ramallah. As Tobi would arrive three or four hours later, I decided to explore the city by myself.

Ramallah is more a village than a city as its population is only 33’000. The center of the city is so tiny that you can see most of it in 30 minutes. I walked a bit and went to a café afterwards. “Do you sell beer?” I asked. The waiter laughed and shook his head. However, it is absolutely possible to get alcohol in Ramallah, but it wasn’t the case in this café. I opted for a coffee and smoked a cigarette.

Two middle-aged gentlemen sat right next to me. Their English was not fluent, but they tried to make a conversation while smoking their hookah. They asked if I liked the coffee, what I affirmed. They also asked what I thought about the city. I said it’s very beautiful. “Veeery beautiful” one of the guys repeated. Actually, it was little white lie. Ramallah is not a beautiful city in my opinion, but what can you say to two friendly locals when they ask you that question. They have probably never seen anything else than Ramallah, and they were proud of their city despite all circumstances.

My company arrives

Meanwhile, Tobi had arrived in the hotel. He didn’t need a lot of time in the hotel room so that I took him back to the city center right after. Usually, I don’t grab the attention of the locals in Middle East countries, as I don’t look much different from them except for the clothes I wear. However, that changed immediately when Tobi was walking next to me. He is plain white and his arm is full of tattoos.

Of course, everyone was staring at us now. Some boys greeted us or just nodded. It wasn’t an uncomfortable feeling. I think the only white people they usually see are NGO workers or Israeli soldiers. I think we didn’t fit in either pattern. At least, no Israeli soldier would just walk through Ramallah without wearing a weapon.

We headed to the mausoleum of Yassir Arafat, former chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Arafat is still a hero in Palestine and his mausoleum is protected by armed soldiers. A few other people entered the building to pray. After they had left, we asked if we could take a few pictures, which was totally fine. One of the guards even showed us around afterwards.

Nightlife in Palestine

A small percentage of the population in Palestine is Christian and they have their own quarter. We went to a restaurant there and were welcomed by a good-looking young lady. Her name was Katia and she gave us her best advice on the food and got us a hookah as well. Before we left, we asked her if she can recommend a good bar for the night. I found out back home that there is actually a nightlife scene in Palestine. Katia said “let me change, I will come with you guys if you want and show you the best spots.” It turned out that she was the owner of this place and this was the best thing that could happen to us.

We went from one bar to another and Katia introduced us to their friends as well. We had so much fun and I have no idea how that night would have been if we had not met her. There was (Western) music, dancing, high-quality liquor, everything. Still, we were in an occupied country, which made it even more strange. Despite all these circumstances, people are having a good time in Palestine and forget their sorrows in nights like these.

It was 4 in the morning when we wanted to go in bed, but Katia had other plans. She insisted that we should come to her car, as she would take us somewhere. She did a lot of effort to show us the most important places of the city. We stopped at a small hill, where you could see Tel Aviv in the distance. She also took us to a bakery in order to get us fresh bread and other stuff. It was phenomenal and we never thought that a night like that would be possible in a country like Palestine.

We woke up hungover the next morning and our taxi back to Tel Aviv was waiting for us. However, we did not want to leave without saying thank you to Katia, so we told the driver he should make a short stop at her restaurant. It was a warm goodbye and she even gave us food from the buffet for our ride. Katia is one of those people you meet during traveling and really want to see again, as she was so kind and hospitable to us. And encounters like that are the reason why traveling is the best thing in the world.

My travel experience in Palestine

Although I spent only one day in Palestine, it was an important trip for me and also an eye-opening one. The whole Israeli–Palestinian conflict is kind of a miserable situation. I learned that it’s very difficult to take sides in this conflict if you visit both countries. Usually, the Palestinians are the good people and the Israeli are the bad people in the European mind. It’s not that easy though.

What people interested the most was if traveling to Palestine is safe or not. Traveling to Ramallah is absolutely no problem. The situation might be different in Gaza, but you really don’t have to worry when you go to the West Bank. Of course, things can change quickly in the region, but I still consider the West Bank area of Palestine a safe travel destination. I neither felt unsafe when I was walking through the streets of Ramallah at night. Au contraire.

The trip to Palestine wasn’t about politics or war in the end. It was about meeting new people and having fun. Surprisingly, everything – especially the transfer – was very easy and we didn’t have a single problem. Our night out in Ramallah was also the reason that we didn’t go out until late in Tel Aviv. Ironically, we thought we would go to Ramallah for the cultural experience and to Tel Aviv for the nightlife, as Tel Aviv is one of the best party cities in the world. But that’s traveling. You never know what happens.

Find the travel reports of the other countries I’ve visited here!