Surda

Surda: Mean place. People trudging
along, up and down the steep two kilometers. The taxi drivers said
that at about 10 o'clock, we could see the sick and elderly being
pushed on the wooden carts along that stretch. Apparently a new
economic branch has developed consisting of porters who hire
themselves out to push people and heavy bags and things through the
long checkpoints. There were no soldiers at Surda at all, the
weather was nice and the view lovely. A huge traffic jam of taxis.
On the way back, we mistakenly ended up in Ramallah, where a number
of people were very helpful in showing us where the taxis to
Qalandya were. It was nice to see a bit of normal looking
Palestinian life...shops open, people going about their business on
the street. It's always heart warming to see the friendly responses
of people in the taxis who are pleased that we are there.