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Ian Lloyd Neubauer

“What’s your religion? Jewish? You are Jewish, aren’t you? You shouldn’t be here. It’s dangerous for you.”
It’s May 2024, Gaza is being levelled and the welcome, if one can call it that, sends a chill down my spine as I walk through Bethlehem, 10km (6.2 miles) south of Jerusalem, in the Palestinian-administered area of the West Bank.
Revered as the biblical birthplace of Jesus, King David and other figures, Bethlehem has been an important pilgrimage site for Christians, Jews and Muslims for centuries.
Until October 7 last year – when Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza, sparking a bloody war – Bethlehem was also a tourist hotspot: the jewel in the crown of the US$1 billion Palestinian tourism industry.

“Whether you’re interested in the history, religion or culture of the city, it is definitely a fascinating place to visit,” reads information posted on the website of Tourist Israel, a travel company that runs tours in Israel and the West Bank. However, when I asked to join one of its Bethlehem tours, a spokesman for the company said those had been cancelled “due to the current situation”.
I had better luck at the tourist information centre in Tel Aviv’s old port city, Jaffa, where I met an Israeli who took tourists to Bethlehem before the war and who told me I could easily get a bus to Bethlehem from the Old City of Jerusalem.

Shortly after departing from the Damascus Gate, the largest and most elaborate of the entrances to the old city of Jerusalem, my bus is stopped. A pair of machine-gun-wielding Israeli border police board, to check everyone’s ID.
There are two other tourists on the bus, a Christian couple from Romania. The rest are Palestinians.
The road south of Jerusalem is an engineering marvel, with tunnels, bridges and long curves that peel down the Judaean Mountains. The views are dramatic of steep, jagged, barren hills festooned with villages.
I haven’t had a single customer since October 7
A shopkeeper in the Old City of Bethlehem
We arrive in Bethlehem 40 minutes later. First impressions? Everything is broken and dirty – the roads, the shops, the footpaths. Rubbish and weeds are everywhere. Old cars are dumped at the side of the road.
A taxi driver follows me on foot. He wants 20 Israeli shekels (US$5) to take me to the Unesco World Heritage-listed Old City of Bethlehem, where most of the historical sites are found and which lies atop a steep hill. He is pushy and arrogant.
When I tell him no, he asks me if I’m Jewish. As I walk away he shouts, “F**k you! I will get Hamas to kidnap you”.
My heart starts pounding. I can feel my pulse in my hands. It is impossible to know if he is just a taxi driver with an attitude or whether he is at that very moment on the phone with Hamas.
If it is the latter, walking back to the bus stop isn’t going to save me. I stay my course.
The road climbs and narrows, now lined with tall white terraces made from limestone that shine brightly in the sun. Soon I find myself in a bustling marketplace where cobblers and fruit sellers call out their wares and the smell of freshly baked flatbread wafts through the air. From a bell tower, church bells ring.


As the only Westerner, I draw looks from everyone I pass: either thinly veiled disdain or an expression of indifference. Scowling stallholders tell me not to photograph them. The only hospitality I receive is from children, who ask me where I come from.
The road narrows further, into a cobblestone alleyway lined with souvenir shops selling handicrafts and religious trinkets. But the shops are empty and the owners depressed.
“Bethlehem is a tourist place. Without tourists, how can we survive?” one laments.
“I haven’t had a single customer since October 7,” says another, mumbling that the war is Israel’s fault.

At the top of the hill stands the Church of the Nativity, the main attraction in Bethlehem. Built in the Romanesque style in AD565, it is Christianity’s oldest continually used place of worship and the oldest major church in Israel.
It is immaculately maintained, with stunning courtyard gardens full of flowers, and there is a knight’s armour in a glass casing set within a wall.
The Grotto of the Nativity, where Jesus is said to have been born, is a cave underneath the main altar in one of two large churches. Plated with brass and silver, the altar is fronted by a constellation of candelabras, each an elaborate work of art.
“The grotto is the most sought-after site in Bethlehem, so expect crowds and long lines,” warns Tourist Israel’s website. “No guide can guarantee the time to actually enter the grotto itself.”
Today there is only a small group of tourists from an Arabic country and a couple from somewhere in Africa.

International tourist arrivals in Israel have dropped 80 per cent since October 7, and most of those coming now are Jews or Christian evangelists who support the Israeli government unequivocally and are unlikely ever to set foot in the West Bank.
I go back the way I came, stopping at the marketplace to buy a falafel sandwich stuffed with hummus, salads and pickles for 5 shekels, a fifth of what it costs in Israel, and a glass of orange juice that is squeezed in a press in front of me.
I also speak with two Palestinian policemen and mention the taxi driver who threatened me. They dismiss the incident as “personal problems” and assure me Bethlehem is safe.
Before returning to Jerusalem I want to visit another key pilgrimage site, Rachel’s Tomb, the burial place of the Biblical matriarch who is held in esteem by Jews, Christians and Muslims.

The route takes me along a wide, scorching hot, treeless boulevard lined with dingy storefronts where men sit smoking water pipes in groups and beggars creep out of corners, demanding money to feed their children.
When I reach Rachel’s Tomb I hit a wall – literally.
Stretching for more than 700km, the West Bank Wall is a brutal nine-metre (29ft) high concrete separation barrier built by Tel Aviv 20 years ago following a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel.
The Israeli government says suicide attacks dropped 84 per cent in the three years after the wall was built compared with the three years prior. Palestinians, on the other hand, claim the wall is a tool of racial segregation and apartheid.

Although I cannot visit Rachel’s Tomb, I do get to see another of Bethlehem’s attractions, Banksy’s Wall, a section of the separation barrier wallpapered in political graffiti and murals.
Named after British street artist Banksy, it was a popular “dark tourism” spot before the war, attracting tens of thousands of visitors every year. But on this day, I alone admire the striking murals painted by local and international artists.
I hail a taxi. The driver tears through the narrow streets of Bethlehem like a maniac, yelling sexually explicit insults at women we pass. He complains to me about the war, and says it is all Israel’s fault, before dumping me at a bus stop.
I don’t have to wait long for a ride. The bus winds up a series of tight hairpin turns on a steep road wedged between terrace buildings. After joining the highway to Jerusalem, we come to a stop at a military checkpoint. Everyone has to file out and present their IDs and travel permits for Israel.
Five Palestinians are pulled aside, including a couple with a baby; there is a problem with their permits and they look stressed. But after 20 minutes, everyone is waved through.
I sigh with relief when the bus enters Israel. I do not recommend travelling to Bethlehem currently.


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Tourism

In Bethlehem, a welcome to send chills down the spine of any Jew visiting the jewel of Palestinian tourism amid Gaza war

A woman prays inside the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Stallholders in the Old City of Bethlehem. The city, which has long been a pilgrimage site for Christians, Muslims and Jews, and is reliant on tourism, has seen almost no visitors since the Israel-Hamas war started. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

The new city of Bethlehem seen from the elevated old city. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Arab-Israeli children at the Damascus Gate in the old city of Jerusalem. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Pedestrians walk in a street in Bethlehem in May 2024. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

A closed store in the Old City of Bethlehem during what would normally be the peak tourist season. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Stunning candelabras in the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

An orange juice seller in the Old City of Bethlehem. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

A model of a Christian knight slaying a dragon in the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

A section of the Israeli separation barrier – the West Bank Wall – covered with graffiti and murals. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

From ‘sad’ Niagara Falls to ‘boring’ Grand Canyon to Venice – ‘it’s just a canal’ – tourists’ LOL online reviews

A gondola traverses a canal in Venice. Photo: Shutterstock

Tourists at Niagara Falls on the United States-Canada border. A visitor to the southern side of the attraction was unimpressed, writing online about how “sad” the town is. Negative reviews of many attractions can be found online, some unintentionally funny. Photo: Shutterstock

Paris has long been called the City of Love, but the French capital has been bashed online by some visitors for lacking romance. Photo: Shutterstock

The London Eye, while offering great views of the British capital, isn’t for everyone. Photo: Shutterstock

People at a night market in Bangkok. Photo: Shutterstock

A tourist takes in the view along the Bright Angel Trail in Grand Canyon National Park. One visitor was unimpressed, writing online that it is “a cluster of ugly looking rocks”. Photo: Shutterstock

Machu Picchu, in Peru, was called “a massive cash grab” by one online reviewer. Photo: Shutterstock

A gondola traverses a narrow waterway in Venice, Italy. Photo: Shutterstock

A gondola ride at The Venetian Las Vegas could be an alternative to the “very busy” real Venice. Photo: Shutterstock

Tourists at the Parthenon, at the Acropolis of Athens. Photo: Shutterstock

The Leaning Tower attracts plenty of visitors, but has been criticised online for not being near Pisa train station. Photo: Shutterstock

Poor organisation and overcrowding at the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, often leave visitors fuming. Photo: AFP

What a flight to Israel as a tourist is like during the war with Hamas, on as cheap a ticket as possible

Passengers wait to board the plane for their flight from Athens International Airport, Greece, to Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, on May 3, 2024. Photo: Ian Neubauer

Passengers stand on the baking hot tarmac at Athens International Airport, Greece, where they are made to wait for 30 minutes before boarding their flight to Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, on May 3, 2024. Photo: Ian Neubauer

Israel’s Iron Dome air-defence system intercepts rockets launched from Gaza, as seen from the city of Ashqelon, Israel, on May 6, 2024. Photo: Reuters

An Iron Dome air-defence battery stands on Israel’s southern border with the Gaza Strip, on April 17, 2024. Photo: AFP

The inside of Ben Gurion airport, on May 3, 2024. Photo: Ian Neubauer

Posters calling for the safe return of hostages kidnapped by Hamas fighters on October 7 are seen at Ben Gurion, on May 3, 2024. Photo: Ian Neubauer

The seats on this Bluebird plane do not recline, so that more can be squeezed into the fuselage. Photo: Ian Neubauer

Many of the seats on the Bluebird flight were discoloured, even torn. Photo: Ian Neubauer

Ben Gurion buzzes with people, on May 3, 2024. Photo: Ian Neubauer

The writer arrives at Herzliya Beach, in Israel’s coastal city of Herzliya, on May 3, 2024. Photo: Ian Neubauer

In the footsteps of the teak wallahs in northern Thailand: legacy of logging on show

A restored teak wood building that is the centrepiece of the 137 Pillars Hotel. Photo: Oliver Raw

A room in a house built of teak in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, that is now a museum. The area’s ‘teak trail’ traces more than a century of logging of the hardwood. Photo: Oliver Raw

Kittichai Wattananikorn, a retired professor and local author, at the Lanna House Museum in Chiang Mai, which features several traditional teak buildings with high pitched roofs and raised floors. Photo: Oliver Raw

Teak logs in the north of the country would be transported by elephant to nearby river banks to be floated down to the sawmills in Bangkok. Photo: Getty Images

This restored teak building is the centrepiece of the 137 Pillars House hotel. Photo: Oliver Raw

Teak trees in Chiang Mai. More than a century of logging depleted their numbers before a ban in 1989. Photo: Oliver Raw

The Gymkhana Club, founded in 1898, in Chiang Mai. It now serves as one of the city’s 12 golf clubs, and, happily, its veranda is open to all, even non-members. Photo: Oliver Raw

Pang Muang railway station, between Chiang Mai and Lampang, is an example of the many small teak stations in the area. Photo: Oliver Raw

A likeable town known for its horse-drawn carriages, Lampang has a distinctly Burmese feel to it. Photo: Oliver Raw

A museum in Lampang housed in another historic building, Ban Pong Nak, an example of fine teak architecture. Photo: Oliver Raw

A room inside the Ban Pong Nak museum. Photo: Oliver Raw

Louis Leonowens House, Chiang Mai. Leonowens was the son of Anna Leownowens, teacher to the children of Siamese King Mongkut, whose experiences where fictionalised in the musical The King and I. Photo: Oliver Raw

Vongburi House is an example of gingerbread architecture in Phrae. Photo: Oliver Raw

The exterior of the Chao Luang’s palace in Phrae. Photo: Oliver Raw

The Dutch East Asiatic Company Headquarters, on the banks of Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River. Photo: Oliver Raw

Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure

‘Expect long lines,’ the tourism website reads, but I am one of just a handful of visitors to the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem seven months into Gaza war
A pilgrimage site for three religions, Bethlehem is run-down and the visitors few. I’m a Westerner, and it’s hard to see when tourists like me will return


Bethlehem, jewel of Palestinian tourism, is run-down, its shopkeepers gloomy. My reception as a Westerner sends chills down my spine, and a taxi driver’s menacing words make my heart pound.


Israel

Israel-Gaza war

Romania