Four Seasons (Deluxe) Damascus

... crossed 130ish.

He also introduced me to Phil, a college student from Northern Californian who was just starting his full year abroad in Damascus, which basically sets him up for life at the top of the totem pole in the white people community compared to your typical semester in Barcelona or Prague. Given the rock-bottom prices for cuisine that has yet to be topped so far on this trip and the generally relaxed atmosphere, it's a pretty ...

... trip is all about.

Some of these experiences are just totally unexpected and random. Around sundown last night I was passing through my leafy and nice neighborhood which is lined with late model Mercedes and Toyotas and happened upon a row of trees. Now normally a row of trees isn't anything special but the thousands of birds chirping were. I have only seen and heard this one other time in Kuala Lumpur and the noise is incredible ...

... my mind quickly reminds me that I had read somewhere a while back that Syria is well known for it's frequent power cuts. A few minutes later (and after a somewhat interesting search for my torch) the power is restored – if only for a little while.

How has Damascus been otherwise? It has been quite a while since I genuinely found a city very interesting (having visited so many of the last few years). Wandering the old part of ...

... looking at all the swords. The swords were extravagant, they had designs on the blade, although Noor kept saying don't touch. We took the swords out of their sheath and looked at them. When we finally got out of that shop, we went to buy bracelets. Mine was silver with green eyes, and Hope's was silver with red eyes. That took about five minutes.

After that we went to another souk that sold sweets. We bought all kinds of different sweets ...

... along Straight Street (from the Bible) right to the end, there are some Roman arches in the middle and at the end of the street. The street is full of small shops, all with by-folding wooden doors all the same. Lots of antique, gift, candy shops, some were just opening as we came back. Then to the Azem Palace, which is described as being small, but we thought it quite large. Each of the rooms has a display in it of what the room was used for. The ceilings were ...

... Well, that's Damascus International. Royal Jordanian seems to be an excellent airline. New planes and well-trained staff. Their in-flight magazine was very tastefully prepared as well. It took 20 minutes to get from Damascus to Amman. The shortest flight of my life. $145. The stark contrast between the Amman and Damascus airports is representative of their relative levels of development. The Royal Jordanian flight to Beirut shouldn't take more than 45 minutes. $250.

... avant de tracers vers le nord ouest du pays, jusqu'à Alep où je prendrai lundi 3 novembre le train qui me déposera en Iran. Mais j'en reviens au sujet du jour : la capitale syrienne. La comparaison avec le Caire est immédiate, inévitable, quoi que Damas s'est vite distinguée à mes yeux de son homologue egyptienne. Par la taille tout d'abord, de manière tout à fait frappante : Damas est une ...

... could go to Lebanon on the same Syrian visa, but were told we would have to pay again, the amount depends on the person working at the border the day you cross.............. Decided to give it a try anyways and to see what will happen..........

... She couldn't have been more than 8 years old. She was lying on the steps of a walkway in a sleep position, face dirty, but hand outstretched, by herself. It was extremely sad, and an example of something you would never see in Australia. People would be taking that girl to child services within the day. Whether the girl was a real beggar or not is irrelevant, in Australia the people would not allow it. I wanted to grab her outstretched hand and take her to ...