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Read my Travel Diary and other articles from a six week trip to Syria, Jordan & Egypt during October and November 1998

The Middle East

Si_lad
2004-03-26 20:27:02

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and battered but quick & we sped into the heart of Damascus in about 20 minutes. – All for just S£10 (about 15 pence).

We decided we would stay in one of the popular backpackers hotels and chose the Al-Haramain .Our friend, Zaid, showed us to the street and we dropped our stuff in the reception. It’s a nice place – an old townhouse that has been converted into a hotel. It’s rickety and quite run down, yet clean and friendly. All rooms were full so we paid S£150 each to bed down on a mattress on the roof.

After a glass of tea and a good chat with the owners and a tailor, who worked across the road, we took a wander around Damascus. We just strolled around the nearby streets, soaking in the atmosphere and attempting to get our bearings. The first few things I noticed were that there were lots of people and vehicles on the streets, lots of blatant horn blowing and lots of police about. When we got hungry we stopped at a kerbside Shwarma "joint" and had a lamb Shwarma (a bit like a donner kebab). It went down very well and we both agreed that eating kebabs for 6 weeks would not be a problem! On the way back a Police guard waved us over. He was young, with an AK47 and looked bored. He didn’t speak any English. I couldn’t understand what he wanted and I got a bit worried (this was my first night in Syria remember). I soon sussed out that he just wanted a chat and we were soon laughing and shaking hands and telling each other our names.

We retired to our roof and collapsed into slumber at about 10:30. It was a warm, pleasant evening.

13th October 1998

Sleeping on the roof wasn’t bad at all – quite warm and comfortable. We both slept pretty well & although it was a little noisy at times it wasn’t too bad. Of course, the call to prayer from the local Mosque wakes virtually everyone at 5:30 (or some unearthly time like that). We headed to Martyr Square ...