http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/markinsyria/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from markinsyria en-us Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:40:07 +0000 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:40:07 +0000 There is this amazing city in the northwest of Syria unspoiled beaches a more liberal atmosphere and hardly any tourists or so we were told by the Dutch institute. In retrospect we should have been able to tell that this idyllic calm and clean place cant really exist in Syria. What we couldn't have foretold is that it turned out to be a nightmare.After a bus trip and the most expensive sho http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/West/Latakia/blog-427067.html Since I had picked Arash up from the airport Sunday morning at four and we had had a day full of tests we decided upon a short nap before heading out to see some more of the old city we ended up at one of the popular cafes near the Umayyid mosque for some narjeela sheesha supposedly is Egyptian and tea beer is in short supply. More sleep followed but not before we had been elaborately int http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-416428.html ...eat me completely all that I give you you eat tamaam' is how our first lesson in Arabic started yesterday. Wasil is an amazing teacher extremely active and serious about his job. His English is rather poor but he compensates this with a fanatic attitude I have seldom seen in a teacher even though we have four hours of instruction every day we only get to have two three minute breaks and http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-416172.html You look like you speak English What does 'skurmesches' mean This was roughly the first thing that came my way when I set foot on the streets of Damascus. The shopkeeper was reading a lonely planet about his own country. For a second I wondered whether he would be offended when he would find out that the beloved travel guide describes the skirmishes at the Israeli Syrian border. Upon explain http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-415054.html