The Big Felafel

How to spend the day in Jaffa/Yaffo/Yaffa for under 40 shekels

You know the day is going to be unusual when you go to the Jerusalem train station, expecting to take, you know, a train, and you wind up on a bus. The train station ordered a bus to take passengers to Tel Aviv because the train was currently unreliable because of technical problems. Maybe they thought we wouldn’t notice. I didn’t care which mode of transportation it was, as long as it didn’t require the ritual of pushing and shoving to get on, and didn’t contain arsim, the little 12 year old boys with spiked, dyed hair and tight jeans who scream in your face, crank up their mp3 players and try to make your life miserable. Another bonus was not having to end up at the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station- the most horrible, worst designed, confusing, did I mention horrible? building I have ever entered in my life. Best yet, the bus driver didn’t check our tickets because of their fadicha (screw up) which meant we scored a free train ride home.

The main attraction of Yaffo is the Shuk HaPishpushim, the flea market. Every Friday the merchants take out their crap, er, beautiful antiques, and hope for a shekel or two from tourists. The market was filled with every single thing in the world I would never need. And all in one place! Take for example, this item below. What is it? We asked the people selling it. They looked at us blankly and said they didn’t know. Does it work? no. There you have it. Official crap. The owners even agree. But I have to admit, it was really amusing, wandering around the streets with that special Israeli scent of body odor, looking for a treasure among the discarded like everyone else.

Yaffo/Yaffa/Jaffa is located on the southern most part of Tel Aviv’s beach. I recommend taking the Number 10 bus from the train station or 46 (I believe) from the central bus station. We took the opportunity to eat our packed lunch (saved $$) on a bench overlooking the beach.

Total cost:

Bus to Jerusalem train station (roundtrip): 8.80 sh
Train ride (one way – student) 17.10 sh
Bus to Yaffo (roundtrip) – 10.20 sh
Total price: 36.10 shekels

Some more photos: