DAY 23
I thought
that I lost a day but I was confused (how unusual??)
Up at 6am
and ready to leave Jordan
for Syria
by taxis.
We managed
to squeeze 12 people and all their luggage into 3 ordinary taxis & I mean
SQUEEZE for the 3 hour journey ahead.
The border
crossing is in sections and you need to pay tax here, get your passport stamped
there, get your passport stamped again, and fill out the blue card , get that
stamped, get your luggage checked, then your passport again.
Finally, we
arrive in Damascus,
the oldest, continually inhabited capital city in the world.
It is much
larger and busier than I imagined.
Our
international taxis which we caught in Jordan can not take us to the hotel
so we have to stop just outside the city and get into local taxis from there.
There were
several local taxis where we stopped and the drivers were basically surrounding
us and some were even hanging in the windows of the taxis screaming for our
business. There was mass confusion and how we all managed to get to the hotel,
and with our luggage I will never know.
The hotel
was quite old and interesting and in the middle of everything. We do however
have wireless internet in our room YEA!!!
The traffic
and driving is almost as crazy as Cairo
(if that is at all possible??)
Dinner was
at a local recommended restaurant with lentil soup, pita bread, hommus, etc.
and fantastic salads.
DAY 24
Today is
the Sabbath (Friday) and it is like our Sunday. Damascus is almost deserted until late
afternoon.
Families
walk together late in the day after church, dressed in their ‘Sunday best’
Most of the
market stalls are closed and all of the outside shops including take away food.
We did find
a fantastic restaurant for the group to do dinner with great food and loads of
history and atmosphere (see photos)
DAY 25
A much
busier day today than yesterday. People working, shopping and just out and
about in general.
The market
or souk is amazing, there are streets and alley ways leading off all the main
market aisles which seem to go forever.
You can buy
everything from soap powder to wedding dresses and all things in between.
There is an
amazing ice cream shop included in the photos where they just slap the vanilla
ice cream in a huge pile almost directly on the bench. It is sold very quickly.
The spices,
lollies, dried fruit etc. are piled high in large open containers (again in the
photos)
We had the best
and cheapest lunch! 5 mini, fresh, homemade pizzas for a total of $1.80
Australian. They were delicious!
After lunch
we took a 3 hour public bus ride to Palmyra
(a touristy town famous for roman ruins)
An
expensive, not particularly exciting set menu dinner at a nearby restaurant and
then back to the weird, cave bar downstairs at our hotel (see photos)
