Dheisheh is one of the largest Palestinian refugee camps - in reality a compact town of narrow lanes and tall buildings - 'the only way to build is up' said our guide Khamsi.

Khamsi took us from the Ibdaa centre - whose name means 'creativity' - from near the entrance and took us on what turned into a grafitti tour.

The grafitti is mostly of Handala - the cartoon refugee boy - cartoons include Handala clutching a sword the blade of which is a pen nib and him flying with a Palestinian flag.

Dheisheh is calm and the people friendly.

An important place to visit if you want to understand one part of the story that makes up the current history of this complex land.

Ibdaa Centre, Dheisheh Camp, Bethlehem

www.dheisheh-ibdaa.net

Lonely Planet says catch a service from Bab iz-Qaq in Bethlehem (3NIS).

I travelled with Rawda and Issa Khouriya who run a guesthouse near Ramallah and are happy to arrange trips at reasonable cost if you are staying with them. See their entry on this site.

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