http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Middle East , Syria , South , Damascus en-us Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:39:46 UTC Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:39:46 UTC Arrived safely in Syria pretty much on time despite the best efforts of Heathrow to delay us. BMI flight was even though my screen didn't work. It took some time to get through customs but once through I found my arrival transfer taxi waiting along with two girls who were also on the same tour. Road travel seemed fine until we encountered traffic. No lights no lanes no discipline. I have no i http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-350411.html Be careful of the soma... Whatever they say about Syria and its government donrsquot be fooled. The Syrian people are some of the most generous and lively people you will meet anywhere and the food history and landscapes are unparalleled. The country is one of the safest I have ever been to in great part due to the police that roam every corner and it was a joy to be there. The Syrian pe http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-347522.html No one was hurt in the aformentioned accident although were it not for a ruck sack between my knee and Takishi's crown jewels as he flew out of his benchseat opposite my own this may have been a different story None the less I was glad to be back at my house which incidentally has no address other than on the second street to the right opposite AlWard hammam first black door on the right http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-346821.html Just photos of our latest Hammam. See other blog for a description http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-345641.html Nope the 72k bit is not a joke but fortunately as there is about 2500 Lebanese Pounds to 1GBP and the bill was between 2 of us I'm not broke yet Even with the Pound decreasing all the time My trip to Lebanon last weekend was a nice break from the chaos that is Damascus even if it was only for 48 hours I met an expat in Beirut in a bar who was a consultant for one of the many banks over t http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-345025.html Blog from Damascus. Sunday 11th November.I've now been in Damascus for 10 days and today I am finally sorted and ready to start my course on Tuesday. I've jumped through all of the bureaucratic loops needed to sign up for the course and have also found somewhere to stay I've ended up taking a room that became available in Matt's house. The room is far too large for me and my rucksack 2 empty bed http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-343261.html It was great to meet Matt the first English person I had spoken to since the disastrous Airport incident in Turkey who turned out to be a student from St Andrew's University here on a year long placement year for his course in Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies. Within minutes were out for a bite to eat and then to party that seemed to include around 80 Syrians and 20 foreign students. This wa http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-341637.html Sunset camel ride over the ruinsIt was a rude awakening this morning to quickly pack up my things and hustle along to get on my sunset camel ride tour of the ruins. Trying to change your clothes in a pitch black tent surrounded by 24 of your fellow passengers was never going to be an enjoyable experience not to mention an extremely uncoordinated one. Yes My top was inside out back to fro http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-338977.html Settling inWe arrived in Damascus after a relatively uneventful bus journey to be greeted by the usual hordes of taxi drivers trying to get us to take their cabs. We arranged to be taken in a minibus to our hostel and after a bit of arguing with the taxi driver who wanted to drop us at the corner with our hotel nowhere in sight we made it.Our hostel was a little disappointing but had a great comm http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-338884.html Ok so I finally got my arse into gear and found time to write the next instalmentLife here over the last 3 weeks hasnt been exactly exciting per se but definitely interesting and hard work.Thw whole learning the language thing is definitely progressing though some days pass by with you thinking you've cracked the code and you are really learning something whereas the next day you are in des http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-337737.html It's been a bit of a detour filled journey on the road to Damascus but I'm finally here.The trip to Hama from Beirut looked so easy when I read about it in the guidebook go to bus station get on bus after a border crossing and a few too many hours in a bus arrive at Hama for a couple of days. Well that was the plan anyway the initial part of the plan worked like a dream. I found the honest Beiru http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-336431.html Marhaba all from sunny DamascusThis is my first attempt at being a blogger albeit only in the sense of keeping a kind of travel diary to let people know im still alive. I know that for many of you this will be the first you would have heard of my Middle Eastern sojourn but others will have no doubt been bored rigid over the last 18 months with the constantly changing plans destinations etcI http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-329395.html Heute habe ich endlich wieder meinen Frieden mit Damaskus schliessen koennen. Erschien mir die Stadt in den letzten 2 Tagen eher tot staubig und ueberhaupt so ganz anders als im Maerz was freilich auch mit meinem miserablen Gesundheitszustand zu tun hatte der jegliches Entfernen von einem Raum mit Toilette zu einem risikobelastetem Spiel werden liess so kam heute doch die alte Bekannte in ihr http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-320596.html Nachdem ich mich die Nacht wie Dennis schon erwaehnte mit Fieber rumplagen durfte ging es mir heute erstaunlich besser. Was wir am ersten Tag festgestellt hatten bestaetigte sich auch heute Damascus ist gross laut dreckig und stinkt. Und es gibt tagsueber wenig zu essen. Zum Glueck jedoch ist e shier nicht all zu schlimm denn Dennis und ich gingen auf die Jagd und erbeuteten Brote Banan http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-320189.html Was im einen Titel klingt wie ein schnullziger Film mit Meg Ryan und Tom Hanks der einmal im Jahr auf Sat1 wiederholt oder im anderen Titel wie ein billiger Pornofilm ist fuer eure drei Lieblings Fs bittere Realitaet.Es liegt doch im Schatten waren noch die Worte unseres Fuehrers als Step und ich sofort los noergelten wegen der fehlenden Klimaanlage. Und wer war es der als erster seine Hose aus http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-320180.html 23 Aug after the excitement of the birthday celebrations yesterday today was marred by lack of sleep due to the Syrian skits and severe spasmodic cramping. It had to happen eventually I suppose immodium anyone Great a whole day of travelling ahead of us too. However turned out a lot of the group were 'affected' including the driver so thankfully there were frequent stops during our http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-320039.html DamaskusMal wieder tote Steine und chaotischer VerkehrNachdem wir es gestern ja doch noch bis nach Palmyra geschafft haben und das erste Hotel das wir gefunden haben dann auch noch ein sehr gutes PreisLeistungsVerhaeltnis hatte hatten wir ein klimatisiertes Zimmer mit Bad und Blick auf die Mittelalterliche Burg von Palmyra. Lecker Essen gabs auch noch gleich um die Ecke zu einem eben so gut http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-319837.html Grabados antiguos de Damasco 350am eski gravurler. http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-319255.html Well I managed to get across the border into Syria. It actually went exactly as I expected so it ended up not being that bad of a day. We woke up at 630 am and headed to the bus station. The bus which cost only about 1 US more than the rest was incredible. We're talking airplane first class status big leather seats tons of legroom. As the driver came took the tickets while we boarded http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-317259.html With time running out we have been trying to finish off whatrsquos left of Syriarsquos ancient history for us to see. Thatrsquos involved going to some familiar places as well as exploring some new areas of the city for us.Returning to the National Museum of Damascus was strange. Our guide book recommended visiting when you first arrive and then once again before leaving once you have seen http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-317220.html We have been spending some time in Damascus taking a closer look at some of Syriarsquos history. On the outskirts of the city just off the road to the bus station stands a memorial to a very sensitive event known here as the 6 October War but more commonly known globally as the Yom Kippur War.In 1968 Syria lost control of the Golan Heights during the six day war with Israel. On 6 October 1973 http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-317218.html Kjaere venner naa er det lenge siden dere har hoert fra oss. Vi har hatt travle dager og beveget oss inn i Syria et land der facebook forbys og der telefonene vaare ikke finner dekning. Men naa skal dere endelig faa hoere litt om vaar reise fra Istanbul til Damaskus.Jeg hadde hoert gode ord om bussreise i Tyrkia paa forhaand og vaar foerste lange busstur ble en blandet fryd. Vi trodde vi hadde http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-315997.html after 'ehelen' 'hello' and 'keyfec' 'how are you' the next thing you will hear is 'jowa'an' 'are you hungry'haha look at the similarity between my name and hungryyou may also hear 'why aren't you eating and 'can you eat'i have eaten some amazing food here. we have been to 'damasgate' the world biggest resturant where i had raw lamb so smooth and spicy and delicatly oniony.i declin http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-314569.html damascus is hot. its like being in front of a hair drier the whole time. im staying with grandma al shibahie known as 'tettah' she is great. smaller than and can speak five languages a brilliant cook comediean and beholds a deep sprituality.the apartment is full with 4 of jalal and shani's cousins their dad and their aunt and me staying. maybe it was because i was privilaged enough to get a http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-314568.html Je crois que nous allons dfinitivement tomber amoureux du monde Arabe La Syrie c'est comme Marseille en gratis Tout nous est offert les rencontres amicales se comptent par centaines et les rencontres difiantes les plus rares par dizaines Premier jour Alep trois tudiants Bassel Ymard et Elias nous accueillent et nous prennent intgralement en charge bires comprises Puis viens le s http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-310450.html Now that it's confirmed we won't be staying in Syria we thought we'd best try to get the rest of cultural Damascus done quickly For those who haven't yet heard we have taken a contract in Baku Azerbaijan from September and will be there for a year initially. Exciting times and we look forward to blogging from there as there doesn't seem to be a lot already on travelblogWe ventured back into http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-308228.html So summer school 1 is over and today we begin the second of the three intensive English courses. We had some great students. Russ was invited to go out for the afternoon and smoke some hubblybubbly with some of the guys he taught. They took him to a local caf which seemed to be men only where he was treated to a couple of hours of strong Arabic tea fresh fruit salad and a long puff on the wa http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-301007.html A la sombra de la pared este de la Mezquita de los Omeyas ' la fuente ' es el caf con ms solera de de Damasco. Aqu es donde se puede escuchar a Abu Shadi el ltimo de los hakawati cuentacuentos profesionales. Cada tarde a eso de las 1900 h. Abu toma asiento para contar los cuentos de la poca de los mamelucos.Umayad caminin bati duvarinin glgesinde ldquoesmerdquo Samdaki en g http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-296508.html Damascus is proving to be a fascinating place to live. For us itrsquos our first experience of living in a Muslim country. Mosques are everywhere and at prayer times the sound of the muezzin calls are haunting as they echo around the city.Working every afternoon and evening isnrsquot leaving much time for exploring the city. Thatrsquos why we try to go somewhere new at every opportunity. Th http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-296035.html