Hello everyone -
Crossing the border from Jordan to Syria was a bit of a worry. In addition to the fact that it was SYRIA, we had also heard some stories about how having any evidence of an Israeli visit would earn you an immediate rejection at the border. So...the night before we had to throw away all our entrance tickets, newspapers, make sure to change all our Israeli money and also refrain from bookmarking or writing comments in the Israel section of our guidebooks - apparently they've checked in the past. Since I've collected money from each country we've visited, I hid a sheckel deep inside my bag and also took the slip of paper they stamped at the border (in lieu of stamping our passports) and hid it inside my shoe. I felt completely ridiculous, but better safe then sorry. I shouldn't have worried. Little did I realize that as we rode over the border (in a taxi with two local gentlemen who knew how things worked and happened to buy FAR more duty-free than they were allowed to take over the border) that instead of dealing with all the hassles of customs and waiting in a line, why not instead just drive to the front, slip the guard some extra cash and breeze on through? The extent of our "check" was the guard opening the trunk, grunting, and waving us through. Gotta love it.
Damascus is a wonderful city. Aside from the propaganda in the newspaper (headlines to the effect of: "US sponsors terror groups in Israel"), people have generally been friendly and we have not been hiding the fact that we're American. We did have a negative experience at the visa office "yes...I know a re-entry visa is expensive, but it's also very expensive and difficult for us to visit America"...case closed.
We paid a visit to an Ummayad Mosque which is the most beautiful mosque I've visited so far. The detail on the walls was absolutely gorgeous and there is a very real sense of serenity within the courtyard - but the real treat was that if you weren't dressed "appropriately" for the mosque (including head covering for women) they gave you a robe to wear over your clothes. I swear the brown robes with hoods looked exactly like Jedi robes so I had the weird feeling of being in a holy place with a bunch of Jedi walking around. And yes...I am taking my medication.
From Damascus, we went to the ancient Roman city of Palmyra and to be honest, it paled in comparison to Jerash in Jordan (mainly because it hadn't been restored). There's nothing like that empty feeling of "that's it?" after traveling for 5 hours on the hottest bus through the desert in 107 degree heat. We left the next morning and took a beeline to the Mediterranean Coast at Tartus.
In Tartus, we happened to sit at a restaurant whose owner heard we were from California and then called his friend - a Lebanese man who had lived in LA years before - to meet us and chat. Sam was an extremely friendly guy who spoke Arabic and English. The restaurant owner(Ghazi) spoke only Arabic and French. Deanna speaks English and French. I, shamefully, only speak English. It was an interesting "conversation" to say the least. But it did showcase for me the famed Middle Eastern hospitality. From our chance meeting and exchanging a few hours conversation, we ended up with:
a. arrangements (transport) to visit a famous Crusader castle where Ghazi would call the driver every two hours to make sure we were okay, and insist that we stop by for a lemonade when we return.
b. dinner at Sam's house (a very imposing modern castle with terraced garden and view over the valley)
c. an invitation to stay at Sam's house rather than book a hotel
d. an invitation to travel to Damascus and stay in Ghazi's villa for a few days
e. a ride across the border into Lebanon - in a nice Mercedes rather than our normal transport of buses manufactured before 1970
Just amazingly nice people...we actually did take a ride to Lebanon with Sam and his brother, and it's COMPLETELY different to cross the border with people that are important and friends with all the borderfolks. First of all, customs checks were pretty much non-existent. Secondly, instead of waiting in any line (not for important people apparently) we walked into the border patrol chief's office and were served coffee while Sam chatted with the gentlemen. In the meantime, someone came and collected our passports and took them for processing. And when we were getting dropped off at our hotel in Tripoli, Sam and his brother took us to a great breakfast and then apologized that they couldn't introduce us to a friend that could show us about Tripoli. Just great folks...but it was also a bit of a relief to be back on our own.
Okay...sorry for ramblings and I hope everyone is doing well. More on Lebanon after I experience the place a bit!
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