We travel from the UK to Israel via Zurich. We end up in Beit Sahour, a small town very near Bethlehem.
01calonplane, 82KWe see some of Beit Sahour.
02beitsahourhotelview, 144KWe visit Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem.
04aidacamp, 125KWe see a bypass road through Beit Sahour.
10bypassroad1, 181KWe go to Jerusalem and explore, ending up in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
12jaffagate, 178KWe see the wall-struck town of Abu Dis and its close neighbour, the lush settlement of Maale Adummim.
22securitywall, 138KA view from nearby Abu Dis and Maale Adumim.
27palestinelandscape, 137KThe miracle of the light - fire and crowds in a Jerusalem street.
28miraclecrowd, 181KEaster Sunday in Beit Sahour, and the surprising presence of a New Zealand native tree in Palestine.
31pohutukawa, 193KBethlehem, and the tiny entrance to the Church of the Nativity.
34nativitychurchentrance, 121KShepherd's Field, where the Shepherds were told by an angel of Jesus' birth. There is a growing settlement a short distance away, I think it is part of Har Homa.
37harhomasettlement1, 99KQalqilya, a Palestinian town of 40,000 people, surrounded on all sides by the wall. This is a view from the outside, showing the southwestern corner of the wall.
40qalqilya, 115KApproaching the wall. The girls' school is on the left, with the vehicles parked outside. The wall looks very close - but that is because it is far, far larger than you expect.
41qalqilyaschoolwall, 138KAlongside the wall, before the soldiers arrive.
42mahmoudmarkjgsabine, 153KAt the farmer's gate.
45farmersgate1, 132KMahmoud's lovely children.
47mahmoudskids, 112KView from on top of a building in Qalqilya, showing the size of the place.
50qalqilyaview, 112KMy favourite photo from the whole trip.
51morguemakesfriends, 167KBefore we leave Qalqilya, we give Mahmoud's children the kiwi that's travelled with me since I left New Zealand in 2002. I make sure they know what it is before we go.
52kiwifight, 143KIn the hills near Jerusalem we talk with Peretz Kidron of Yesh Gvul, a refusenik organisation.
54peretzkidron, 180KBreakfast with Manar and Johnny and little Nicole. (Dean, the brekky shot is for you.)
55breakfast, 140KBeit Sahour seemed just like any other place in the world - unless you looked at the wrong building or turned down the wrong street.
59beitsahourbuilding, 166KVisiting the massive man-made fortress-hill Herodion, built by King Herod himself. Here's a view of Herodium from a distance, a view of Herod's pool from the top of the hill, and Cal at the top.
61herodium, 134KThis view shows some Palestinian villages seen from the top of Herodion. At the centre of the top is a square of light - that's a bridge. A bypass road will pass under the bridge - it has already been built up to the bridge. The photo shows the olive groves and village that are in the way of construction and will be annexed and demolished to make way for the road.
64bypassroute, 168KCal stole this shot while a guard in a sniper tower (not visible - that's a water tower in the photo) watched our van suspiciously. This is the road down from Herodion (the hill is out of shot on the left) and the sign says 'Welcome to Herodion National Park'. The barricades, barbed wire and sniper tower are an odd accompaniment.
65nationalparksign, 108KWe visited Dheisheh refugee camp. Jihad, who told us the history of the place and showed us around, is in most of these photos.
samer446dheishehchat, 141KLunch. It was delicious.
68lunch, 130KThe IDF demolished the house of a prisoner's father. We visited five or so hours later.
samer457demolished1, 152KThe group: (back) Jean-Guy, Cal, Sabine, Sarah; (front) me, Samer.
69group, 124KThus endeth the trip. Salaam, Shalom, Peace.