Blogs from South, Syria, Middle East - page 14

Welcom to Syria! Not viewed to favourably in the west, but come here and you'll see what a fantastic place it really is. Our stop in Damascus was really characterised for me by haze and polluting smog, but also by how close we are to the Iraqi border, as evidenced by the photos... As I used Damascus as a base to travel elsewhere, I've got little to say, but wait until the next stop! ... read more

Wieder bin ich in Damaskus (oder kurz Schhhhammm wie es hier jeder nennt), diesmal aber richtig: Zwei Tage werde ich hierbleiben. Mein Hostel liegt in einer netten Altstadtgasse, leider ist meine Reservierung verschütt gegangen und ich muss im dorm schlafen, ist aber alles sehr sauber und es wimmelt vor Backpackern und vor allem Deutschen… Eigentlich wollte ich mir heute eine Genehmigung besorgen um morgen nach Qneitra, einer im Sechstagekrieg zerstِrten Stadt, zu fahren, aber ich habe das richtige Büro nicht gefunden, sondern bin irgendwie in der Universitنtsbibliothek gelandet. Nun werde ich morgen wahrscheinlich nach Bosra fahren, das ist auch schِn, obgleich wesentlich unspektakulنrer. Auكerdem hab ich mir mein Zugticket für Donnerstag besorgt, da mein Flug nach Aleppo wegen des Gipfels der Arabischen Liga gestrichen wurde. Schade um die Tupolew 134, allerdings auch ein guter Grund... read more

This is the first and will be the longest section of a three-part section covering the Eid Break that I just got back from yesterday. This post will be on Damascus, the next one will be a short section on Aleppo and the final part is going to detail my trip to Aqaba and Wadi Rum. This is going to be a long entry because this was a packed trip and I don't have this amount of free time again so we went all out. Read it in segments or just look at the pictures, but enjoy. So now, onto Damascus...sort of. Day 1 I started my trip on the Thursday after class and took a taxi up to the Syrian border with three people who I was going to be staying with, one from the ... read more

...and three continents! Greetings dear reader, From a couple of mad Kiwis a long way from home, we bid you hello! We have said goodbye to the Middle East and are heading north to cooler climes, but that's a story for another time. I won't mention our three intermediate days in Cairo. Suffice to say we spent far to long in the McDonalds on Talaat Harb since it had good aircon and free wi-fi and got hustled by a very nice old man to buy some perfume. On the other hand, after that I was able to perfect my techniques for dealing with hawkers. A bit late, I know, but if any of you are coming out this way, let me know and I'll share my top travel tips for Egypt. I should give you a ... read more

We spent the day quietly as Ian’s toe was still bothering him badly and Gail and Chris had sensitive tums. A doctor came to look at Ian’s toe and took him off for an X-ray after which he gave him all sorts of pills to take. Hopefully this will sort it out, but it does cramp Ian’s movements somewhat. Milla, Jeremy and Hamish meanwhile went into the centre of Damascus to see some of the sights, particularly the mosque and Azem Palace - now a museum - which were most interesting. We did the duty walk through the Souk too. We met a very erudite owner of a bookshop who was keen to discuss politics with us. He was delightful and, when we told him of the troubles we had had over fuel and the black ... read more