There and back. Two weeks in Syria with a three-day Jordanian episode
We arrived at Damascus airport on Saturday afternoon. Our adventure began
after arrival. A friend of mine who promised to pick us up from the airport did not appear. Moreover, it turned out that the Polish Plus GSM mobile network is not accessible Syria. So we decided to take a bus and go to the city center.
At one of the stops we bumped into a Russian woman who lives in Syria for quite long and knows Damascus quite well. She showed us the place on the map where we could find some cheap hotels. We jumped out of the bus together and Anastasia – our new acquaintance showed us which way we had to follow to find a decent accommodations. We thanked her for help at went towards a place to sleep. The district was called “Faktoria” and it bordered with the old city. In fact, there were a lot of cheap and two star hotels.
From the jungle of these cheap hostels emerged an exclusive five-star “Semiramis.” Hotel. But we chose the “Alhambra” where we took a triple room. The receptionist told us that we had to pay $ 60 per person, so we started to negotiate as Arabs and we pushed the price down to $ 40 per person. Our room was not too roomy; the space between the beds was so narrow that we couldn`t move freely. We had the bathroom, which was not the cleanest and what is more the bathroom shower made the water splashing all over the place, a local water contraption. We had to keep the bathroom door closed not to sleep in the pool. After having a bath and just before sleep we started to plan the next day. We decided to go from Damascus to Amman – Jordanian Capital.
We hit the road after breakfast. We caught a taxi and went to the “Sumarije” international coach station. As soon as our driver stopped at the nearby public car park, a one-legged dude welcomed us, saying “Hi I am a f … – ing American, where do you want to go sir”. We told him that we wanted to go to Jordan. He asked us whether we preferred to take a bus or a taxi. At first thought we wondered over the bus, but the bus was leaving at four in the afternoon, so we would have to wait two hours.
Finally we chose a taxi and our “F … yanki” as he called himself, disappeared as fast as he appeared before and then returned with a guy who was our new taxi driver. One-legged dude introduced to us his friend Muhammad and said that the trip from “Sumarije” to “Abdelije” a bus station in Amman shall cost 2000 SP that is Syrian pounds. Fortunately, the Syrians, in contrast to the Egyptians are more amicable and we managed to beat the price down to 1800 SP and that is about $ 40.
So we packed our luggage on a taxi and started our trip. After half an hour drive Muhammand asked as to take a rest and not even listening to our respond he stopped at the gas station to fuel the car. When he returned to the care, he asked us to pay him all money, but we were less than happy with such proposal. Finally we paid him just half of the agreed sum and promised to pay the second half when we get to our destination. Two hours later we were at the border.
Before crossing the Syrian border we had to spend there about two hours on filling up different emigration forms. And the after crossing the Syrian border we spent there also a couple of hours to fill in other forms but it went on a bit faster.
If we compare Syria and Jordan we can see many differences.
Starting from cherishing hopes that it would be enough to exchange a hundred U.S. dollars at the Jordanian border for our three days trip. Unfortunately, prices in Jordan are comparable to those in the EU, one U.S. dollar equals 0.7 Jordanian dinar. Better tourism infrastructure is a big plus. There are more hotels with the European standard.
We arrived to Amman about six o’clock in the afternoon. From Abdelije bus station we took a taxi, which cost us much more than in Syria. So having in the
budget 70 dinars, we had to be tough negotiating the price. We went from Amman
to Madaba where we decided to spend a night. We took a room at the “Sallumi” hotel. Our triple room was more convenient and cleaner than in Alhambra, Damascus but the price was also incomparably higher.
The night passed quietly, so we slept well and woke up full of energy. Just after breakfast, we decided to go to the Dead Sea. At the parking lot of
our hotel we met two taxi drivers with whom we began to negotiate.
The first driver turned out to be a refugee from Palestine and was more
cooperative, so we decided to take his taxi.
The Dead Sea is located about 420 meters below the sea level and it is the biggest depression in the world. Going there we drove down the narrow and winding roads. Changing the altitudes I could feel the pressure in my ears. Finally when we reached that place we could feel that air was heavier and the temperature was higher.
After paying the taxi driver for the course we went to look for some place to bath. Not far from the car where we stopped, there was a hotel with the fenced beach and we went there. It turned out that the price for using that swimming area, a changing room, and a shower was about $ 15 per person so we decided to go for that.
Not long later we were ready to go into the water and we did that.
The water looks like the regular water in the sea but when you go into that sea if you feel like being in the oil because of the high salt level and liquid density. You can lay on that water without any efforts. So you cannot drawn. The only disadvantage is that you should be careful with your eyes. If not then the salt can get into the eyes and this is very painful experience. According to the Biblical story, there were two cities on the place of today know Dead Sea. Those towns were Sodom and Gomorrah where the sinners lived. But God decided to see how it actually looked like that, so he sent two angels in the form of travelers. They found shelter under the roof
Lot, who hid them from harassment from other residents. YHWH
(From the Hebrew Jehovah is God) found Lot and his family as the only honest people and decided to save them before punishing the cities and destroying them.
Lot`s wife as a “woman” was a bit curious and inquisitive, so she could not follow the God`s warning not to look back. When she turned back she was immediately changed into the slat pillar. Since that moment the place is called and actually it is the Dead Sea, and one of salt pillars is called “Lot’s Wife.”
After a sea bath we took a shower to wash the salt out and then
got dressed. We collected some salt from the shore as a souvenir.
We learnt from the guide book about the hot waterfalls and springs in Hammamatmain in the mountains.
So we decided to get there by hitchhiking. Immediately after leaving the hotel
we met Khaled, a driver who was planning to get to Madaba where
we stayed the night before. Unfortunately, our plan was different and it was to go to Hammamatmain which was opposite direction. Fortunately, Khaled agreed to give us a lift to the hot springs.
Not long later, we travelled along the winding and narrow mountain roads. Our
the driver was driving at a speed of about 130 km. per hour. Apart from the roads
which could not be called the motorways, there was a precipice on the one side of the road. Khaled did not bother much with the road conditions, being occupied with his whisky and holding the steering wheel with his knees. As his hands where busy with making and smoking cigarettes. In his generosity he offered us some alcohol and a smoke.
Despite little fear we faced, we had a jolly good time: mountains, wind
and Arabic pop released from the radio at full volume. After about half an hour of
travelling we reached the place. Khaled took us to the resort with hot
springs, where he usually rests.
It was much cooler in Hammamatmain then at the coast of the Dead Sea what we felt after leaving the car. Then we went straight to the hot springs. Price per
person was high, but there was nothing we could help it. We changed
and went to the baths.
The water was really hot there, and when we went to the stone “pool-fountains,” the cascades of water started spurting on us from the top somewhere. Besides pool-fountains there were also some kind of European saunas where we could take a bath. There, we really experienced the Oriental Sauna which is somehow different from the typical European sauna. Hot water dripping from the ceiling motivates you to keep walking around the room to avoid being burnt and to experience the pleasure of the hot steam bath. We spent in a resort Hammamatmain about two hours, when we left the place we decided to go back to Madaby by hitchhiking.
There was a complete and deafening silence on the road. The fresh mountain air was refreshing and we started walking slowly. The first car appeared so suddenly and the driver was driving so fast that we barely noticed him. But we waved to stop him and he did. He agreed to lift us a bit on a way to Madaba. Before we got to the place of our destination we benefited from a few such opportunities.
On the last day of our stay in Jordan, we visited three places:
Mount Nebo, where Moses saw the land of Canaan, Church of Sts. George and
Gerash – these are the ruins of a Roman amphitheater. That same day we returned
to Damascus.
The next morning we checked out from the hotel and went to the
Semiramis Hotel, where an office of “Europcar” – company leasing cars
was located. We rented Chevrolet with automatic transmission; the price
for hiring such a car was much lower than in Poland. The same car in Poland would cost 100 Euros per day whereas in Damascus it was only 45 USD per day. My comrades managed to bargain and beat the price to $ 43. Immediately after receiving the car we set out. Our first stop was Maaloula, village inhabited mainly by Christians who speak Aramaic.
Maaloula is not so far away from Damascus, about 50 km. and is bounded by Alwit Mountains. You can find there holy places regularly visited by Christian pilgrims. We stopped at the St Tecla`s Monastery of Orthodox rite. Sisters who serve there asked us if we were from Russia as the place is regularly visited by Russian pilgrims.
There is a cave with spring water, where St. Tecla lived. Today this water supply serves the monastery.
In the evening we strolled around in a town which does not resemble
bustling Damascus. We had a chance to listen to a local band established by the sisters from the monastery. The band consisted of orphans who were brought up at the holy place. There was a beautiful mixture of sounds produced by drums, trumpets and tympanis. Musicians jolly played the hits from eighties like the Bony M`s ”Rasputin. People liked that regardless of age and creed. Before returning to the monastery for a sleep, we stopped at the local shop to buy some food. Bassam Hilal who was the shop owner and a Syrian Christian who spoke Aramaic. He taught me even to count in that language, it was not hard for me because names of numbers are similar to Arabic. Next morning after breakfast we went for the morning
Vespers, which to my disappointment, were conducted in Arabic. After the prayer we paid for accommodation and hit the road directing us to Krak de Chevaliers. Our next stop was Castle of the Crusaders’ Krakdeshewalie, which we called ”Crack.”
The castle is situated on the top a hill, it is a great fortress built in the Middle Ages. I must say that the enormity of that architectural design was really impressive.
When we climbed to the top of the castle walls, we could feel the wind which was so strong and piercing that we could hardly walk. Besides us there were many tourists especially from France. At the exit we met two Poles: Paul and Emilia, who
as it turned out, planned to go in the same direction. So we decided to go
together.
After an hour, all five of us – travelers arrived to Hamma, where we planned to stay a bit longer.
Hamma is administrated by the Homs or Hims province, where the administrative capital of the province is also called Homs or Hims. Hamma lies on the Asi River bank. The most interesting monuments are called Norie - huge wooden water wheels with a diameter of up to 20 m., which supplied water to the system of aqueducts delivering water to the city and the surrounding fields. These technical and architectural solutions survived till today. The city, unfortunately in the 80′s, met a bad fate, starting from the 1982 outbreak of anti-government insurgency. General Hafiz Al - Assad, who held the presidency in Syria, sent heavy armed troops to subordinate the city. After several weeks of severe fights in the city, the rebel was suppressed and the place was declared as a restricted zone. The result of artillery shelling was the destruction of some historical places. We spent one night in Hamma, the next day we went to Latakia, which is the largest Mediterranean port in Syria.
Again, we drove to the Alwit Mountains. The journey proceeded smoothly
so long until a few men stopped us and asked us to show them our documents. Men were dressed in “long pajamas” resembling galabije. Martin, my cousin suddenly began shouting through the window “papieren papieren” which meant ”Documents” “Nee panimaju!” – which means in Russian “I don`t understand”. Possibly one of the natives understood that and showed him a Kalashnikov ready to use. Fortunately, everything finished well and our five arrived safely to the place of our destination.
Latakia is known as a liberal place and city. There you can meet more
women dressed like Europeans and men who drink different alcoholic drinks in public places. City got its freedom thanks to the Alaouite community who lives here.
This wing of the Shiite Alawite, gathers the followers of Ali, who was one of
Muhammad’s grandsons. They are more liberal than the rest of the Muslims
world. Their religious customs based on prayers differ from other Muslim communities.
They don`t prohibit women to show their faces. There are also not so tight restrictions regarding the alcohol. Assads Clan come from this group as the former and current president of Syria . We spent one night in a hotel in Latakia, avoiding the cold, winter wind from the sea. The city is worth visiting in summer, because the Mediterranean climate prevails here like in Sicily and the Côte d’Azur.
Next morning we said goodbye to Emilia and Paul, our traveling companions who decided to go to Lebanon. Unfortunately we could not join them because the Syrian Law prohibits foreigners to leave their country in a rented car. Our next goal was Aleppo or Halab in Arabic. It is the second largest Syrian city after Damascus situated about 50 km away from the Turkish border.
But first we went to Ugarit, the mother of modern alphabet. Ugarit was a Phoenician trade city called “factoria” by the ancient vendors. It was place were people traded and exchanged the news about their world like Carthage in Tunisia, Tyre and Sidon in Lebanon. We didn`t spend much time there, but we bought at a local store the chart with history of the modern alphabets development. Vendor of that store was also determined to sell us cassettes with local music, unfortunately the price was higher than for good CDs. To change the subject and avoid buying cassettes, we suggested having some tea.
In fact the tea trick worked, after no long, and to my surprise I got a cup of this beverage. Then we talked a bit and leaving the place, asked for a way to Aleppo.
Again, we drove back to the Alwit Mountains, looking for the proper way
four times, as people who we asked on a way gave us different directions, but this seemed quite normal in this part of the world. The only person who finally gave us a proper direction was a Turk, working in a local restaurant. After driving for about one km. we got a puncture or rather punctures as both car tires were flat.
Then our film just started. As soon as we got out of the car and went to the side of the road, people from the vulcanization workshop appeared out of nowhere. They jumped out of their car with tools and asked if we needed help. We were obviously desperate to have out car repaired. So those local handymen took the wheels with flat tires on their car and disappeared. When we started thinking that now we have a car with no wheels, they appeared and charged us well for the service. We were glad that we could continue our journey. We got to Aleppo late night where we found a hotel and being extremely tired we fell asleep.
In the morning we went to the city and ate traditional Arabic breakfast at the local restaurant. Then we asked a young little entrepreneur, having his one person shoe cleaning company to clean our shoes. The boy appeared to be a Turk who spoke some Arabic. We paid him well and set off.
We visited the fortress in Alepo, Here Jozef Bem, who adopted Mahommedanism, and under the name of Murad Pasha served as governor of Allepo, at which place, at the risk of his life, he saved the Christian population from being massacred by the Moslems. Here he died on the 6th of September 1850. The tiny, withered, sickly body of Bem was animated by an heroic temper. Few men have been so courageous, and his influence was magnetic. Even the rough Szeklers, though they did not understand the language of their “little father,” regarded him with superstitious reverence. (source: encyclopedia)
There we also visited the soap factory where we bought five bars. The factory was quite impressive but I had to be careful not to fall into one of the tubs with boiling soap.
Then we went to the Arabic flee market, where there was plenty of
everything as usually happens in the Orient. You could buy spices, perfumes and Arabic sweets, all kind of gimmicks. Obviously, presented as “Sir that is
a good bargain, Sir, look Sir.” We spent two days in Aleppo.
Our trip started finishing slowly so e had to start approaching Damascus. Our next goal was Palmyra or Tadmour in Arabic. We spent one night there, frankly speaking there was nothing to see there and nothing really gripped our attention.
We came back to Damascus next day where we spent
the last two days of our stay in the Levantine – the are with countries bordering on the eastern Mediterranean Sea from Turkey to Egypt. Our main job
was to wonder through the old town and buy some souvenirs.
But in fact there was one impressive moment when we went to go there to the public baths called in Arabic Hammam which means bathroom. The place was divided into two parts, one for men and one for women. We left Syria on the 27 II 2010.
Syria can be described as the highly recommended place to visit. Single entry visa costs 25 euro, 40 euro for unlimited number of entries in the period of three months. If you are interested in visiting neighboring countries, you should definitely obtain the 40 Euro visa. The only condition to apply for a visa is the lack of stamps from Israel and the Palestinian Autonomy. Greetings to all Middle East Travelers!
Wadim Procel. Student, glob trotter and great traveler, speaking English, Arabic, Russian and Polish.
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