Damascus Daze
Trip Start
Nov 15, 2006
1
161
228
Trip End
Jul 15, 2008
Damascus,
Syria
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Damascus, Syria
Today we traveled from Beirut to Damascus. So we had to cross the border into Syria again. A taxi from our hotel in the Hamra district of Beirut to the International Bus Station cost 10,000LL. The bus to Damascus costs 15,000LL. Actually, we only took the bus as far as the border, because again we have no visas. This time we had to wait 6 hours to get our visas. But we were prepared and made the most of it. While we were waiting we saw a French and an oriental couple go through with no hassles and we know they did not have visas ahead of time because we watched them go through the process of paying for them. However they had to pay $33 each and we only had to pay $16 each.
We took a taxi from the border into Damascus for 600 Syrian pounds. We are staying at the Sultan Hotel for $35/night. The rooms are very small but the staff is very helpful and it has a cozy restaurant and lounge area. We meet Carolyn McIntyre there, an interesting lady who is a tour guide and author. She is currently tracing the route of Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan who traveled across the Middle East to Central Asia in the 14th century for her next book. She has a website which we'll watch to see how her book goes: www.girlsoloinarabia.com
While in Damascus we went to the souqs or covered markets, the Christian quarter, the Azem Palace, Saladin's mausoleum, and the Umayyad Mosque which has the tomb of John the Baptist. The citadel was closed, thank goodness. From here we'll take a trip out into the desert to see Palmyra, then we'll head on to Jordan.
