Syria, on the other hand, was too complex a society to even begin to get a handle on in the few days passing through so I will reserve my opinion until the next time…

(Be sure to check out the Turkey and Syria photo gallery here)

Favorite moments:

• Kebabs!
• Tea
• Friendliness
• Traditional Turkish art
• Cappadoccia
• Turkish wildflowers
• Turkish architecture

Not so great:

• Aleppo
• Expensive prices (Turkey)
• Unequal transport opportunity to Syria
• Being stared at (is there something on my face?)

Total Money Spent Per Person: $555.49

Average Per Day Costs Per Person:

• Lodging: $10.45
• Food: $11.67
• Transportation: $13.01
• Misc: $7.60 (park and museum entrance, internet, etc.)

Total Average Per Day, Per Person: $42.73

Number of Days: 13

Since we are really just in transit to Turkey and don’t have enough time to really see Syria this time around, we checked out early and caught a bus to Aleppo. Unfortunately, we spent most of the day traveling and didn’t get to Aleppo til early evening.

The drive north

Aleppo is a very strange place. It feels unlike any other middle eastern city we’ve yet traveled to. Overall it feels very sketchy and the people don’t resonate friendly warmth. Sidewalks are severely congested and the stares are more than the typical ones. They are a hint aggressive and unwelcoming.

Another thing about Aleppo, it can be incredibly difficult to find any place to eat! There seems to be more auto parts stores downtown than anything else. The hotels are either really crummy and cheap or really, really expensive. We weren’t here to sightsee; we’re just taking a 5AM bus into Turkey tomorrow but we did take the time to wander up to the Citadel and watch the nightlife from a cafe in the plaza.

The Citadel lit at night

The day was slow, uneventful, and really really hot. We wandered lazily through the Grand Bazaar glancing into the doors and windows of the thousands of shops selling everything from duvets to cheap souvenirs to tea and fruit. A man with a mustache dressed in black gypsy pants, a brightly embroidered, ruffled shirt and a fuzzy black hat sold tea from a 3 foot tall samovar making clinking melodies with the tea cups on his fingers.

Syrian Tea Seller

As we were jettisoned out of the mouth of the bazaar back into the street and away from the endless conveyor-belt-like movement of the shoppers, we found a nice little city park. As with so many places in middle eastern cities, there are tons of locals sitting in the park at all hours of the day (there are essentially no tourists here it seems). We got the last bench because it was in the beating sun and had a view of the sprinkler system. With nothing better to do, we tried to enjoy being outdoors despite the heat and rolling sweat pouring from places I didn’t know could sweat.

The park

Damascus is a busy, constantly moving city. There is quite a bit to see; a couple of parks, some very splendid mosques, the bazaar, the citadel with a view of the city, and of course plenty of really small old streets that are a literal maze.

Random (unhappy) Camel Head

“What do you mean you won’t take us to Syria?” We were both flabbergasted at the idea of not being able to get a bus to Damascus. We had tried nearly 10 bus companies and none would take us even just to the Syrian border because we are Americans. Lucky for us, we found one company who didn’t speak enough English for us to explain that it would take a long time so they took us to the border, but when they were told by border officials just how long it would take for us to get visas we were promptly kicked off.

For Americans, getting a Syrian visa is a major pain in the ass and usually involves being sternly directed to at least 4 seperate buildings who then direct you back to the previous 2 buildings who tell you they have no idea why you’re in their building so you go back to the first building who tells you that you didn’t need to go to any of those other places at all and gives you an application form. Once you fill it out (2.5 minutes, maximum) you will then spend no less than 4-6 hours, sometimes more, sitting at sweaty, fly infested border offices waiting on someone to shout your name from behind a muffling glass window thereby indicating that your application has been faxed back from Damascus and you are now free to go about your merry business, unless of course your visa app has been denied. Lucky for us, ours were issued in a mere 3 hours because some poor saps had already been waiting for 3 hours when we arrived and our applications were lumped in with theirs in the return fax. Needless to say, they weren’t very happy that we had only been waiting half the time they had.

So then came the matter of trying to get away from the border and actually into Damascus. We asked around the parking lot where several tour buses were waiting to get their customers’ paperwork back (about half an hour for locals) and within 15 minutes we were on a new bus going to Damascus. We made some friends; 3 old local men who wanted to chat with us (well, with Saben) but spoke no English. Saben knew enough Arabic to have a very basic conversation but bascially there was much smiling and laughing and then sharing of dates that one man had brought along, in a little black trash bag. We politely refused since we both had awfuly dirty hands, not having a chance to wash all day at the border, but the man would not be put off. In the end, he nearly pushed the dates into our mouths (no joke!) and as we were eating the first ones, he insisted we take a handful more.

Travel Tip:

Just say yes! If someone offers to share something with you, it’s best to accept. Of course, use your common sense: If someone wants to give you a terrible venereal disease, go ahead and say “no thanks” but if it’s just a little piece of fruit or a free bowl of rice pudding from the waiter, just take it with a smile and polite Arabic “thank you” (sounds like “shook-ron”) no matter how nasty it looks.

Anyway, we got into Damascus rather late in the afternoon. And had no idea of where or what part of town we could find a place to stay so we just had the taxi drop us “downtown.” We walked around for an hour or so, realized everything was far more expensive than we expected, and went back to the first (cheapest) place we checked. We had dinner at a little falafel place that wasn’t very good (old bread and something off about the hummus) and spent the evening adjusting to the surroundings, which are surprisingly different from Jordan and Egypt both.

Travel Tip:

When you roll into the bus station at Damascus, skip the offers of the taxis waiting inside the bus station and walk 3 minutes down the highway (there’s a big sidewalk along the side) and hail a taxi from the highway. Ask for the meter and it will be unbelievably cheaper than taking one from inside the bus terminal. Ours was a third of the bargined down price.