Damascus All Over Again
Trip Start
Oct 20, 2008
1
30
93
Trip End
Jan 31, 2009
Damascus,
Syria
Thursday, November 20, 2008
After passing through the no man's land, we arrived at the Syrian boarder once again. I tried to convince the officers that it would me meaningless for me to pay the Syrian visa fee of $23 by showing them the receipt of the fee that I had paid only a couple hour ago. For a change, I succeeded. They didn't make me pay again. However, there is no new visa on my passport, but just a stamp. This may be a problem as I try to exit the country, if that day ever comes.
The service taxi dropped me off at a junction from where I took a yellow taxi to the Damascus International Airport. As usual, the driver spoke absolutely no English. I pointed at the taximeter and told him to turn it on. After a couple of minutes, he understood what I was trying to say, and told me that taximeters were not used for airport trips. I remembered that cabs driving from Manhattan to JFK were that way. I believed him. Immediately asked how much. He did not know the numbers. Since I was tired and demoralized, I decided to let go. When we arrived at the airport I gave him 700 pounds. We had only driven for 20 minutes. That was about the time that it would take to get from to the Damascus city center to the bus station. That time, I had paid the driver about 300 pounds. This guy, on the other hand, was asking for 1,000 pounds. At first, I exited the car and grabbed my backpack. He opened the passenger door, blabing words that I didn't understand. I let him blab for a couple minutes. Then I got fed up and gave him what he wanted. If I had just left, perhaps he woudl go to the police or something. Or maybe, I should have just left. I was exhausted. Hence, I gave up.
There were no direct flies from Damascus to Beirut. You can only fly to Beirut from Amman with Royal Jordanian. It took me a long time to understand this, since very few people spoke English. When I arrived at the Royal Jordanian office, it was closed. I was told that it would not open until 9pm. My watch was showing 3pm. Learned that there was a flight from Damascus to Amman, after midnight, for about $100. My other option for getting to Amman was hiring a taxi. I tried, but quickly changed my mind when they gave me the non-negotiable price of $250. All the buses had left Damascus already. What I could have done was to go to the bus station and negotiate a price with the sketchy drivers there. This way I would have paid less than $250 and had arrived in Amman 5 hour before the flight. Unfortunately, I hate Syrian cab drivers and would rather wait for 5 extra hours instead of getting ripped off by them. As a result, here I am working at the departures lounge. There is neither an airport hotel or any decent food. The mortadella sandwich that I tried at the cafeteria was disgusting. Looks like I'm stuck here...
Feels like a nightmare.. There is a Sham Palace cafeteria here with a second floor that looks like a hotel lobby. I have been asking numerous people how I could get to the hotel upstairs. Everybody told me something different. One of them even quoted a price. Finally, I arrived at the conclusion that there is no hotel at this God foresaken airport!
When visiting a country, small towns should be visited in addition to the metropolitans, so that you can get a wholesome picture. Understanding the average is more important than experiencing the exception. In addition, traveling by bus or train is a must, as it allows you to see some villages and the outskirts of the large cities. Although it is tough to arrange, spending some time in the village would really help create a more realistic account.
Is the Middle East dangerous? There is a risk, but it definitely is not as large as the popular media makes you think. The media never mentions the opening of King's Academy or that of Darat al-Funun, but they never fail to report the hotel bombings. Moreover, the risk of terrorism is everywhere. Istanbul, New York and London are at high risk as well. Since terrorists usually do not target tourists, the terrorism risk in these Western cities are quite comparable to the risk in their Middle Eastern peers.
From the tourist's perspective, the issue with terrorism is being accidentally caught in cross-fire or being accidentally targeted by a bomb. Attacks are most often against policemen or soldiers. Therefore, the terrorism risk can be minimized by keeping as far away from government forces as possible.
Another type of risk is one that springs from civil war. In this case, being caught in cross-fire would not be the only risk; some group may target foreigners directly. Therefore, visiting civil-war stricken countries, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, would be an unmanagable risk.
The Damascus International Airport was weird. It almost didn't feel like a real airport. It was run-down and dirty, just like Damascus itself. Moreover, think of an airport in a capital city that doesn't accept credit cards. Hard to imagine isn't it? 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.
