No self-respecting Guardian reader should visit Israel and the Palestinian territories without experiencing the brutalist modern architecture of the massive checkpoint at Qalandia between Ramallah and Jerusalem.

You can visit Ramallah from Jerusalem - catch the no. 18 bus from the bus station close to the garden tomb by the Damascus Gate - and be whisked past it. You're not a security risk leaving Israel.

Catch the bus back and it's a different matter. Keep your ticket 6.50 NIS (about £1.20) as you'll be leaving your bus at Qalandia and getting onto another one on the other side.

Queue with your fellow passengers and admire their patience as they wait to go through the turnstiles.

Feel for the people trapped in the turnstiles between 'groups'. A woman carrying a toddler was stuck for 20 minutes despite calls to the guard to let her out while I was there.

Wait for the Stasi-like guard to check your passport only to discover it's a bored Israeli teenager dismissively shrugging you through.

Admire the chutzpah of the Israeli 'welcome' notice - 'have a pleasant stay in our country!'

Be thankful that you're a tourist and you don't have to do this every day to earn a living.

On the main road between Ramallah and Jerusalem. You can't miss it.

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