Syria's capital : DAMASCUS
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Syria's capital : DAMASCUS |
The Syrian border post : entering Syria from Lebanon
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| We had been in Syria for a
few days on our way from Turkey to Lebanon but only to organise the visit
of Christian's parents and check out on a couple of hotels. The day of
their arrival on the 12th of January, crossing into Syria was a piece of
cake as we knew what to pay for, how much to pay and where to pay ! Not so
the first time around when entering from Turkey. Obtaining an entry slip
that was not in Arabic took Christian the best part of 10 minutes. Not
because there were none but because no-one of the 10 customs officials
behind the counter could bother. Entry stamp in our passport. That's one
thing done. If you have a car, you need insurance. How much is insurance
for a car ? US$ 29 per month ? OK. "Wait a minute", says the
guy. "How many seats does your car have ?" It has 3 seats, ah,
then it's USD 69 ! So that's USD 29 for 5 seats and USD 69 for 3 seats...
Then comes the guy who will solve everything : he can arrange for us to
pay the lower price if we "help" the official. He will do it for
10 dollars only ! Yeah right. Besides the insurance, there's a tax for the Carnet de
Passage and a diesel tax of USD 100 per week ! By then the whole thing was
clearly a scam to help visitors get rid of their money. If only prices
were clearly indicated on a board and offices were labeled, life would be
so much more pleasant. We had no intention to make life easy for them and
just stood there until they took our 29 dollars. Welcome to Syria.
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Damascus' Hamidiye Souq being refurbished : noise, smoke and many obstacles
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| We picked up Christian's parents
from Damascus International airport with Troopie. They arrived 6
hours late and without their luggage and we were thinking that we have successfully evaded the joys of
air travel for more than a year ! They arrived late in the evening so
little of what makes the Middle East so different from the rest of the
world could be seen from the car except for one aspect : the
near-continuous use of the horn in the streets. We must have grown
accustomed to it because they noticed straight away. The next day, we
thought we would plunge straight into the souq and walk. We walked around
for a hole day and must have covered some 10 km in Damascus !
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The great Ummayad Mosque, Damascus
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The Khan Assad-Pacha (left & centre) and a picture of sunbeams streaming through holes in the metal roof (right), Damascus
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Azem Palace, Damascus
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Street life (and shoes made in China), Damascus
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We are doing well (check pic above !)
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