Syria

Sunday 22nd August

Late in the afternoon we crossed the border at Ramtha, into Syria. We use a fixer at this border so the process was pretty straightforward, although there wre three seperate checkpoints where guys came on the truck to check our passports. No worries. We drove for an hour or so through some small towns. All the locals waved and smiled as we went by. The point is, that in the West we might get the impression that Jordan and Syria is populated by people who would hate us. But they have been very hospitable. Axis of evil?

Arrived here at Bosra. Sleeping on the roof above the restaurant. For dinner we had beef with pitta bread and cucumber and tomato and hummus and tz??? Delicious. The owner let us use the internet but blog sites and Facebook are blocked in Syria, hence the lack of communication.

Monday 23rd August

Slept on the roof of the restaurant here in Bosra last night. Despite ear plugs, woken at 4am by the Call to Prayer. It seemed to go for about 45 minutes. Not impressed. Maybe it goes more often during Ramadan; surely its not always like this?

Made our breakfast of porridge and then fried egg sandwich using the food from the truck, the same as every day. Cooked and eaten in the small square outside the restaurant. After breakfast we had a wander around the roman ruins for an hour. Not many people about and you are free to just wander about.

Then we paid $3 to enter the citadel. It started off as a Roman theatre which is still in good condition. The theatre has seating for 15000 people and is intact and free-standing, as opposed to most whereby the seating is built into the  hillside. When we entered the main arena there were only us few there so We had the place to ourselves. We took turns to stand on the huge stage and pretend to be actors(!) and had pix taken alone, dwarfed by the size of the seating area. Just as we were leaving 40 Italian tourists rocked up! Behind the seating area was a system of tunnels allowing people to easily get in and out of the seating area; it was like a modern footy stadium. Beyond the theatre a fotress was built, like an normal castle with a moat. Anyway, the theatre was immense and we had a great time there; I haven't seen something like that before.

At lunchtime we hit the road. It has got a little cooler as we head north the landscape has become a little more flat and green. We drove into Damascus, Syrias capital and the traffic was pretty crazy and we got a bit lost. So Gav  flagged a taxi, told him where we wanted to go, and we followed him. Luckily we didnt have to follow the signs to Iraq. The campsite is a bit out of town but we have the place to ourselves and the amenities are good. Can have a shower for the first time in a few days.

We were set up by 3.30 so headed into town. 17 of us in a minibus. We went to the Old city part of Damascus. (the new part is all traffic). Went via the post office to the big Souq (market). It is like a tunnel with a metal curved roof, which has holes in it from when the locals were fighting the French for their independence in 1925. We had a walk around, stopping for waffles with chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce and sprinkles (hundreds and thousands). A bit more walking then a taxi back. The taxi driver tried his best but when he missed the junction on a 3 lane highway, he decided to reverse 200 metres back to it. A bit hairy, as soon as we were back on track he lit a cigarette.

Tuesday

A slow, lazy start to the day then headed into the city at 10:30. Phil, Sarah, Katey and I went back to the Souq and surrounding streets and had a longer walk around. Phil and Katey looking to buy sheeshas. We headed to the Umayyad Mosque and were pleasantly surprised when they said we could go in. The girls didnt want to go in but Phil and I did so in we went. But first they made us put on these modesty skirts, because we only had shorts on! Can't imagine my legs tempting anyone! Originally a Byzantine cathedral in AD705, it was converted to a mosque. The courtyard has cool with columns and a fountain to wash your feet before entering the mosque properly. So we had a wash and went in. Obviously, there were lots of people praying so we didn't hang around, but it was good to see. We also saw Saladin's mausoleum (Saladin was a muslim warrior hero who fought against the Pope's Christian Crusaders). Next we walked east beyond the citadel towards the Christian quarter. There are lots of small alleys, and we had lunch in a small restaurant. Chicken and coloured rice, a tomato sauce and baita which is like a cucumber yogurt.

We carried on walking east as far as the Christian quarter which was lovely. Lots of European architecture, looked kind of swiss but there is alot of French influence there. I helped a local old lady with her shopping (ah!) and she spoke french. I didn't realise her car was going to be quite so far away. We stopped and bought some cheap Syrian whiskey and at a bar for some flat horrible Syrian beer. Had a quick walk around the Roman wall, then back to the Souq so the guys could buy their sheeshas. In the souq, as in the rest of the city, it was very calm, just people going about their business; no feeling that we were gone be robbed or frowned upon. The shopkeepers don't hassle you at all and just say welcome. You buy the tobacco for the sheeshas from a kiosk. They give you a piece of card with all the flavours listed and you tick the one you want - strawberry in my case. On the way we took Phil to the hospital to get his near-sepctic finger to be looked at, its a mess. The taxi driver kindly took him in to help with translation, so me, Katey and Sarah sat in the driverless taxi outside for an hour. We came back and Katey set up her sheesha which is really cool, big and ornate. We had a bit of a smoke and got light-headed, very communal. walked east beyond the citadel towards the Christian quarter. There are lots of small alleys, and we had lunch in a small restaurant. chicken and coloured rice, a tomato sauce and baita which is like a cucumber yogurt.