September 18th cont.
It is the beginning of a weeks holiday to celebrate the end of Ramadan in much of the Muslim world so we crawled into Syria with a mass of trucks and cars. As we did I thought to check the carnet for Rhubarb that has albeit in small text, 'Not Valid in Syria.' This was not so good. Still we got in and walked into the crowded arrivals hall and were directed to the empty Foreign Nationals window. Which was closed. So we got sent to Diplomatic Arrivals. Sadly this was packed with the overflow from the Syrian, Jordanian and Arab arrivals windows. When we got to the front we were admonished for not having a visa but after an hour or so a couple of stamps were given to us for two weeks - after we'd paid $52 each, in USD only. It's ironic as an American girl waited three hours for hers - apparently the quickest she's ever got entry to Syria. if you're from the U.S. be prepared to wait an average of six hours. Don't even think about it if you have an Israeli entry stamp - our passports were pored/pawed over by Immigration checking for them.
On to Rhubarb - he took another hour and a bit and a further $167 - but all eight people who signed/checked his carnet either didn't notice or chose to ignore the Syrian bit.
We offed to Damascus.
On driving into town it all got a little nutty, traffic wise, until some guy swerved across our paths stopped his car and jumped out. After a bit of talking he asked us where we were going and told us to follow him. he took us to a place we didn't want to stay but after a bit of translation he led us to the Old Town. it's a good job he did as it is a nearly impenetrable maze of very narrow streets - so narrow people have to stand in doorways as Rhubarb drives down them since he takes up the entire width of the road. Jo naively thought he wasn't going to ask for money for his service but in all honesty it is amongst the best $20 I've spent all trip. The hotel had a room for just the one night - there are only eight rooms in the place and Damascus is packed at the moment. We got the signature room Suleiman The Magnificent. Compete with lighted fountain in the room and intricate painted ceilings it was a bit special. We wandered round the old town visited a couple of bars before dinner. Then we watched Twin Town - a requirement for anyone claiming Welshness like Jo. Damascus is amazing.
September 19th
We managed to find a new hotel after trying six or so and were very pleased we could stay in the Old bit of town and found yet another boutiquey place.
It is like a mishmash of an old European city crossed with Stone Town on Zanzibar only cleaner and no one hassling you constantly like Zanzibar. It is just one of the nicest places I've every been. The people are great but also it is no where near as conservative on the streets as other Muslim countries we've visited - I can count the number of fully veiled women I've seen on the fingers of one hand. Alcohol is available freely in shops and most restaurants even though it is Ramadan - whereas even in liberal Jordan all bars and liquor stores are closed for the month. There are hundreds of tiny shops and traders everywhere, street food vendors throughout the day (food in the day during Ramadan!) and no pestering sales people, no begging. It is truly beautiful too.
We wandered the streets for a couple of hours today and through this huge covered market and along the side streets. Damascus is one of the oldest permanently inhabited cities in the world and the evidence is all around you, it hasn't gone through the same formalisation process that say, London has.
All of the craftsmen still have their little shops/workshops mostly grouped around the same areas, everything from the table football and pool table craftsmen to the shisha pipe manufacturers tend to be gathered together with perhaps the spice merchants further down the road from them, all in little narrow alleys. The smells of pastries, spices and sawdust mingles all over town. All the big cities must have been like this 500 years or more ago. Old Damascus is a spectacularly cool place and easily my favourite city on this trip. The U.S. thinks Syria is a rogue state but it is not - lovable rogue perhaps - it is just nothing like I imagined. The only minor downside is there is some internet stuff, like amazon.com wouldn't work, (amazon.co.uk does, bizarrely) but that was relatively easy to circumvent. Really, really visit Damascus as soon as you can.
Okay so it's a bit gushy but at least it's about somewhere really cool and quirky - Damascus is cool.
Just went to get something out of Rhubarb and found the card of a South African Embassy in Damascus card popped on his window. Must be missing home.
Stubbed my left big toe. Again but particularly badly - worse than normal. Ten or more times in two months?
On The Subject of Kindles
I love my Kindle although it is causing me to read far too fast. I think I probably read a book about 25% quicker on a Kindle, maybe even quicker than that and I'm really rather a quick reader already. They are just much easier and quicker to operate than a book which seems odd but they really are. Adding notes and highlights that I always forget to do is very handy. Really everyone should have one.
Another example of how cool Damascus is - been talking to the two guys on the desk of Beit Zamman where we're staying and they are very very cool as I update this. Well having reread that it doesn't actually sound very cool. I guess I wrote that to appease them.
September 20th
We left Damascus and found that it was Eid. Whack Crimbo type Muslim party day. Drove 350km to Aleppo that all the western maps have as Haleb. Dunno why as it's Syrian and they call it Aleppo and don't know where Haleb is. Another very cool old Syrian town. Awesome cheapo hotel, great food. Syria is so very nice.
September 21st
Started driving to border. Drove 100km or so, didn't buy cheapo fuel as there was no fuel and realised we were going to get caned by the super expensive Turks. Leaving Syria wasn't too bad. Departure tax of $10 but that's cheap compared to some places. Left Syria which was sad. I want to go back already.