Istanbul...Constantinople? ...And Points Between

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Ah, the internet! Glorious, unhindered access allows me to once again report on traveling, drug dealers, incidents, and iPhones. Read on.

Getting to Syria was fairly straightforward. I was able to return the rental to its home without so much as a scrape, sorry but I'm kind of proud about this fact. The staffer from the car rental "shack" on the side of the motorway (who shall go nameless to protect the guilty, helpful and otherwise) offered to take me straight to Abdali bus station in Amman. Now, I had grown pretty suspicious of anyone offering anything in Jordan because I usu. found a hefty "tip" to be expected, but in this case I laid my suspicions to rest and figured, why not.

Turns out, this guy actually lived in New Jersey for something like 8 years, and as he opened up during our drive I found out way more than I bargained for. He was a big-time drug dealer (so he says) in NYC, and dealt some crazy intense stuff. He's since given up that life, so he says, and even tried to prosletyze (sp?) me to become a good Muslim like him.

We found a service taxi, and an older Jordanian woman in Burkha, an Aussie named Rachel, and myself headed north with our driver to the Syrian border. The border crossing took forever, with people pushing their way to the front of the line - I'm lucky my elbows are pretty skinny, good deterrents.

Finally in Damascus, Rachel helped me out so much (thx Rach!) - yelling at the next taxi driver (in Arabic) when he tried to overcharge us for taking us to our hotels, then again when he wouldn't take me to mine. So, knowing Damascus better than me, she helped me find the right hotel before heading for some of the best ice cream I've ever had in the Damascus souq.

The hotel courtyard was sweet, the room a little less so. Think Motel 6 with plastic walls and exposed wiring clamped together ad-hoc, with a sweet courtyard. So Saturday was spent in Damascus, a bit more pleasing than Amman in my opinion. The older men all dress very well - at a minimum, a nice button-down shirt and trousers. The younger guys all wear fitted t-shirts and look like they're all trying out for Diesel ads...actually, I think that's the idea here (with amusingly mis-spelled labels like "Armany"...heh.). Didn't expect that one. The Nat'l Museum was ok, so long as you can read Italian or Arabic to understand what you're looking at.

Sunday I headed north to Aleppo, which proved to be one of the best (and most thought-provokingly powerful) parts of the trip. Waiting for the train, I met a family of Iraqi Christian refugees who were living in Aleppo after having escaped Baghdad. The stories they told me about living in Iraq during all this craziness were, are, very powerful. It doesn't even feel right to write them here, b/c they will lose so much of their power. But they are desperate for hope, any hope. But I was really hoping to meet some refugees during this trip, and I was very, very thankful to have run into them.

Aleppo was nice. A little greener than Damascus, and more friendly (though still thoroughly chaotic with the threads of society barely strung together, in a way that makes complete sense only in the Middle East). In a coffee shop (of which almost all are men-only), I met several students working there - though their English was limited, and my Arabic non-existent, we had a lot to share. The people that approached me in Aleppo were almost all college students eager to hear about the US, I gathered from my time here that they're ready to have a bigger world and for more opportunities for themselves. A lot of them are trying to find a way to study in the US.

And now, a word on Syrian taxi drivers...some are almost honest, like the driver that took me from Damascus to the airport yesterday. He even charged me the correct fare...of course, not before a death-defying 15 kilometer race with a fellow taxi, ducking between trucks 5 times our size and even weaving through oncoming traffic from time to time just to test our manhood. And he was a good dancer...he proved this by dancing to his Arabic techno during our drive. My discouraging words only seemed to encourage him further. So it goes.

Other drivers, though...scum and villainy. As in, liars. One guy, who took me to my hotel in Aleppo...we'd agreed on the fare beforehand (since his meter didn't "work"...uh-huh), his English was good, until we got to the hotel and he suddenly couldn't understand why I wasn't handing him more money. "More! Not enough!" Liar. My indignant words were forced to be unleashed once or twice...then again, I don't want to end up in a Syrian prison, either, so they usually didn't get everything they deserved! :-)

K, gotta wrap this up...I had wanted to take the train from Aleppo to Istanbul, but this direct train isn't running, and the alternative between Adana didn't go until Thursday night. So then I thought I'd take a bus...but then I saw the bus "station" in Aleppo and the transport parked there, and quickly changed my mind that a 17-hr trip with these guys would be a good idea. So I ended up taking a train back down to Damascus yesterday followed by a flight to Istanbul, where I find myself now.

One guy (American, I'm ashamed to say) caused a huge scene when he brought his iPhone out to read a book. The Turkish Airlines folks thought he was trying to use his cell phone, so he started yelling at them "IT'S IN AIRPLANE MODE! GET IN THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU BACKWARDS _______". Hilarious.

Anyway, I was too busy nursing my wounds from my "incident" in Damascus before boarding the plane. And it shall hereafter be known only as "The Incident".

Off to buy tickets for Bucharest - steve g

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Comments

[Ruth]

The Incident
Just wondered what happened in "The Incident". I see that your knee is injured, but what happened? Hope nothing too traumatic. Also, just wanted to let you know that I am really enjoying your blogs and pictures. It is awesome that you are making this trip, but I know that I could not do it. It would be rather scary, I think. Stay safe.

[hellina]

cool.. quick question, is it easy/affordable then to travel by plane or train around the region.. u said you wanted to take a train to istanbul which would have been a long ride, but then flew.. so is it simple to book a flight or rail ticket so suddenly? also how did your visa work? thanks, im kinda thinking of the same trip in a while

[Fort Fun Granola Boy]

Travel in the Area
Hellina, It is quite affordable to take the trains throughout Syria, and would have been quite reasonable all the way thru Turkey to Istanbul but the schedule just didn't work out for me. Flights are not necessarily cheap, a one-way flight from Damascus to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines will run about 200 US. Syrian Air may have flights cheaper, but when I checked they tended to depart in the middle of the night. But either a train journey or flight can more or less be booked whenever and you probably won't have problems with availability this time of year. Hope that helps! -steve g