Carlton Damascus

... produced 10 SP (about 20 cents) and gave it to the driver. I decided not to announce that one of the reasons I was arguing the price so much was that the next smallest bill I had was a 500 pound note (about 10 bucks). 500 pounds is more than many Syrians make in a day. So, I had been in Syria for less than two hours and I was already rousing suspicion in the streets. Great. After the dispute was settled, the cab driver gave me his card ...

... trying to get taxis. So I spent the rest of the day relaxing in a park next to the Four Seasons hotel, watching the sunset and observing the traffic and passerbys. There was an old man on a bench nearby who started shouting to no one in particular. He seemed a little crazy at first but then out of nowhere stray cats come out to him. He wasnt feeding them or even touching them but they just hung about him. Also one man had come up to me and when I looked at him he smiled and ...

... here as those wearing the robes and head scarves. I've heard European style dance music just as often as traditional Arab tunes. I love this. It's just so much coming at me at once. My first image of Syria ironically was a 1978 Caprice Classic rolling on 24s right there at the border.<br><br>Wandering around I happened upon what is called a souk which is a traditional covered marketplace where daily commerce has taken place for centuries ...

... Cheri Lady, Another Night, and so on.<br><br>Drink of Choice: Nescafe and Black Russians (of course)<br><br>Phrases/Themes of the Trip: "Leiko, Leiko," "Syria, F* Yay," the Blonde, "ya'teek al-afyeh," the Little Man Maid, the Little Man Servant, and the Little Man Waitress (all debauched attempts at guessing The Little Mermaid during a heated game of charades),"Golden Mother F*ing Hamster," the ...

... still speak the language<br>in daily life. When you cap this all off with a visit to the cave<br>where Cane is believed to have killed Able (which is also the same<br>place from where 40 Christian Saints reportedly escaped their Roman<br>persecutors by disappearing into the mountain's crevasses) then you<br>can't help but feel bathed in the calming reassurance of the turning<br>of time and the places and people that have been left to continue the<br>tale. <br><br><br><br><br>

... fauttoush and freshly baked bread. The dancing durvishes were late so we waited a long time, listening to an Arab band play music. Eventually the dancing durvish came and it was a cool sight. The dancing durvish kept spinning over and over again. He would stop after a while and then would continue doing it again. When it was over it was almost midnight.We were all exhausted so we walked the long way back to the hotel and fell asleep.<br><br>

... and Politics in Tanzania, and an Iraqi chap who had lived the last 35 years of his life in the valleys of Wales, so had the most hilarious Welsh/Iraqi English accent. His name was Hassam, and was a real talker and story teller! I on a number of occasions tried to hint at ending the conversation, but he proceeded to chat with me for 3 of the 5 hours of the flight! Some of his experiences of modern Iraq bordered on the shocking, others purely entertaining...... If this is a taste ...

... 75 and also another couple of Aussies I meet did the same seems pretty straight forward these days to do it that way. Getting through the border was quite a relieve and I felt please for Alex. We arrived quicker into Damascus than I expected and I was presently surprised at how nice it was, Damascus is a really nice place. It is alot nicer than Amman and doesn't seem to busy even though there are 5 million people living here. We headed to the backpacker district ...

... That night I met some more guys from Turkey (though none of them were actually Turkish) and after a hard day of trying to cross into Lebanon unsuccessfully, they were ready for a drink. After a hard day with males, I also was. We had a lovely relaxing time, finishing at a café at 3 in the morning drinking tea and smoking nargileh. It was great to hang out with some westerners again, and the next day two of them went to Beirut, and the third joined me on the trip to Palmyra.

... have gotten to wear one of these too. What strikes you about a mosque, is that outside of the normal prayer times people go to just hang out at the mosque. This is perfectly acceptable. Many are there to pray, others are there to take a break or to get out of the sweltering heat. The most outstanding feature of the mosque is its golden mosaics, which adorn several of the facades around the central courtyard. These mosaics ...