Leg 03 - We Made It, Cracked The Code To Enter Syria - Amman, Jordan to and through Syria

4 Nov 09 (cont)

Bethany may have been a disappointment, but Jerash our next stop is one of the best Roman sites going.  I spent a few hrs there 20 yrs ago, but Chris has not seen it and I want to show her. Arrive in town 2 ish, not well signposted and end up, as it turns out, round the side by the diplomats entrance. Before even locked the truck, a kindly (1) local is offering to "look after" the truck. Haven't had this for a few years. Offer to have the tourist police look after him. He's reluctant to change but eventually sees the light of day and wanders off. We discover we're at the wrong entrance and are pleased to move the truck. I'd already taken plenty of photos of this geezer, but on return see him climbing into his own motor (so not exactly a povvy gypsy) and driving off. We go around to the punter's entrance and better security. There is only some much I can carry in the rucksack, a lot of valuables remain in the truck.

Jerash - a close run thing with Palmyra, Syria (which is a vast site) but stunning and very complete. Collonaded streets - yes and in good nick.

The day is late and we press to Irbid our planned night stop. We have a few things to organise before tomorrows border push for Syria. Anticipating at least 48 hrs camping out at the border, we need rations. The truck needs a tidy. Tomorrow is a Thursday, with possible delays if the visa saga drags into Friday - the holy day of the week, we want to get to the border fairly early. We bin all the other planned Jordan visits. Irbid

 - you have to read LP generously to expect much in Irbid, though it is an active town and the student influence makes it more free flowing socially than other towns. We fail to find the hotel we've booked - a kindly local taxi driver takes us to it, no cost, and we are in a v ordinary Middle East arabs business 2/3* hotel. We walk out and eat in a local street restaurant. Some guidance from the proprieter produces a fresh and reasonable price meal - when presented with the bill it is £30 ... £3 wouldn't be enough - where's that decimal place? Good grief, it is £3, bargain. Breakfast ordinary - like the town.

5 Nov 09

Fairly early start and off to the border. Chris getting really wound-up, little I can do till there, then we'll take it as it comes steadily and persistantly ...

Out of Jordan easy enough, make sure tryptique signed off , 5JD car tax and 5JD ea visa stamp required - every country seems to turn a dollar on every concievable transaction. We are out of Jordan and so if we have to re-enter we will have all those expenses again - even the car insurance wil have expired. So to Syria, with some trepidation we enter the visa hall. Ther is a local desk, diplomats desk and foreigners desk. The latter 2 are next to each other and run by the same guy today. We are v particular to stand at the foreigners position. No discussion of previous attempts - I'd telephoned Mohammad, my contact at the Syrian Embassy in Kuwait twice earlier in the week, Chris had phoned their Embassy in London. Mohammad always offered a cheery welcome, welcome, maybe in 2 weeks. But I'm there tomorrow; maybe, welcome, welcome. I will go to the border. No, no. Maybe I will try the border tomorrow. London - no we can't help you, try this (wrong) number. You can get one at the border - unquote the most bored, disinterested, woman you can imagine. There we are at the border desk, trying to look relaxed/chilled and expectant of visas. David Attenborough did a recent programme on basic body language and the eyebrow and smile expressions - we would have been good examples for him. The guy on the desk is friendly and doesn't appear to have any reservations, even tho' he sits under a huge sign which correctly states the Syrian position, that if you are from a country with a Syrian Embassy, that is where you get your visa; one will not be issued at the border. There are enough blogs that suggest that the rules are incorrectly applied both positively and negatively. I was confident there woud be no record of our previous attempts - 6 visits to the Embassy in Kuwait over 7 weeks and 3 international phonecalls. I recalled last year when we were issued visas in 48 hrs - my visa had the wrong passport number and tho' this was punched into a computer at the airport on arrival and departure it was never picked up - I deduced that the fancy looking computer system did not go anywhere! As we completed, the nastiest officer arrived the other side of the desk - we were thro' in time.

1hr 15min - done and dusted. I did allow a willing young lad help me thro' all the offices and that saved lots of time for us at a cost of about $5. All payments US $ ! Visas $52 ea, car insurance (3rd party) $70

Well Syria is interesting - can't even access own blog! Police blocks are v effective. (Good news - got a visa at the border, will wait to tell you how.) Arriving in Bosra - capital of Nabatean empire after Petra fell. was like a WWII movie - car of 3 leather jacket clad feds surreptitiously parked on the entry roundabout. Just like a Kuwaiti nut stall - in the middle of the roundabout. This is a Druze area so a different atmosphere, generally the Syrians are v friendly and mis-represented by Western media. Even in the poor areas here not really threatened by anything.

6 Nov 09

Still not able to access the blog to check, so another up-to-date shorty. Now in Hama. I've got into the habit around the World of judging a local character by their driving style and aggression or politeness on the road - driving body language. Well in 10 minutes approaching Hama we saw the worst and most aggressive driving in Syria - worse than the rest of Syria put together. Hama has great potential, it is famous for its waterwheels (norias) along the river and there are some giant examples still working, its ruins and a v pleasant centre. There is an undercurrent of discomfort with life though. A sense of threat on the street, Chris was touched up by a begger today and more gangs of youths than we have seen elsewhere. The town, like most of Syria, is uncared for - some fantastic renovation of ruins dating back a couple of millenium and more, the centre piece of which is a Roman aquaduct. Rubbish piles up all over and plastics bags are a scourge on the landscape, as they were in Jordan. This is all rather sad, but the tourist outlets all still charge Western prices even when there cannot be any maintenance overheads. Despite this, we continue to relax and are more on top of events now. All great fun.

7-8 Nov 09

At last a day to chill, in Aleppo (written 8 Nov 09) with nothing to do except catch-up on some dobie and do a little forward planning. The sites worth doing are the “new city”, only a couple of hundred years old and the neighbouring souk 1000 yrs + old. We are staying in the new city, so that bit is easy.

Getting to Aleppo was not so easy. Yesterday (7 Nov 09) from Hama was a late start and a full day. The day is not quite aligned with reality here and in Jordan. The setting of the clocks back in both countries, the day before we arrived in Aqaba, has put daylight from 5 in the morning to 4.30 in the afternoon, whereas 6 o’clock for both would be more correct. The working hours are still from 10 and so the useful day is very short. Many of the roads are a bit slower than we expected and so many planned visits are being cut out and we are arriving at places to stay in the dark – not the easiest way to find unknown hotels. Yesterday saw us at the Musyaf Castle – the origin of the word assasin, from a group of rebels who occupied and developed it. Then Apamea a Roman site to rival Palmyra – a large city area with dozens of columns – forming collonades - still standing. Some locals were hassling us tourists, but a couple of ”no thanks” would send them away – ungraciously and unlike similar touts we’ve met elsewhere, these guys would then curse us under their breath. A planned route to visit several abandoned cities – eerily still standing but peopleless – came to little as darkness fell and the country roads we not quite so straight forward. I’d hoped to avoid night driving ... Unlit country roads with unlit cars, trucks, tractors and working folk rushing home inblack/brown clothing proved quite exciting, but not nearly so much as the same on the following motorway into Aleppo – oh I almost forgot, plus vehicles going the wrong way down the motorway with or without lights. Why – ‘cos its shorter than going the extra 200 metres to the U-turn. The hardest tospot were the trucks with just the one headlight working, always on the otherside to give a motorbike impression ... until the shadow of the full vehicle shot past in the dark. You (and Chris) might think that is all very exciting. Try putting the Kuwaiti driving style into a continuous form of the death roundabout, a continuous traffic jam and sqeeze it into lanes the size of a small souq – that was Aleppo at night. Oh and where were we going? An old renovated house in the old (new city) part of town with lanes approx the width of the Pajero and we don’t know where we are! To Chris’cries of mind that man’s cabbage stall, don’t run over his legs and the general white knuckle ride of battling taxis that should have been condemned a long time ago we found our way into the right area. A torchuous one-way system was a pain tho, but nothing that a 4x4 ride with 3 locals pushing to help us across a couple of kerbs didn’t put right. I was ready for that 1st beer and Chris was exhausted ...

The Aleppo souk is deservedly considered one of the best true Syrian souks. It is large and has narrower lanes than any I can remember for a long time. Being more original also makes it less touristy and so actually has less stuff that we might be interested in. All swings and roundabaouts. There wasn’t the same joi d’vivre and chattiness we enjoyed in the Damascus souk last year and so it gets a lower vote from us. Still, worth a good look. Chris didn’t enjoy the fact that it took a long time to get out of it – they are a bit claustrophobic – whilst I loth doubling back to get out as it is just repeating everything. Yes, an intimate souk! We didn’t labour the citadel – wot, another castle ... It is recommended though. We retired to our hotel and neighbouring favourite square to people watch, have a drink and chill – we’re paying for this old courtyard house to stay in so we should enjoy it. Late booking (day before), we probably got the last such room in town, so it was smaller and darker than we would have wished; indeed we spent the evening before chatting to a German couple from Dubai who had refused the same room and were in the Sheraton. Elevensis in the Sheraton had reminded us of true 5* luxury – a nice well run hotel for a change in these parts. Well, our place – dark and a bit dingy, not well run or expecially clean and a surliness about the service. They charge the top rate tho’ – Aleppo was the first Syrian town to do boutique hotels in these lovely old courtyard houses, so these are the earlier examples and not as bright and cosmopolitan as more recent ones. Though some were new and bright – Yasmeen d’Alep for example. Overall, we reckoned the Damascus ones, of which we looked at half a dozen last year ,were a better bunch. The attitude in Aleppo also led to a surliness – plenty of people around to do the jobs, but no organisation or drive to serve the customer. There was more interest shown in the blame culture and having effective power over those around them than pleasing the punters – us. This was rounded off by the hotel staff gabbing noisily in the reception area at 2 in the morning and Chris having to tell them to be quiet.

Oh, following a relaxed afternoon late lunch – French style we were not hungry in the evening so retired to our favouruite drinking spot in the square and, to return the pushing us over the kerbs favour, to their silver shop to buy some presents. Half a dozen knick knacks came to an expensive £S 208,000. Surprised that the sense of comradeship from the kerb incident did not kick us in at a discounted rate we pressed on to achieve a £S 125,000 purchase of said items. Thye still made a healthy profit from us and we bought at less than the UK boutique would charge.

So a lovely town with potential, but not too tourist orientated, we didn’t mind leaving.  Some Syrian roads were smooth enough for me to pick-up a little sound like rubbing in the truck - could it be the beginning of a wheelbearing going?  No, surely not in a Japanese vehicle; it's only 4 years old with 25,000 km on the clock - a mere youth.

9 Nov 09

Early start to: St Simeon – a bloke who slept on top of a stone pillar. His antics created a pligrimage tourist trade and the upspring of surrounding villages, churches and basilicas. One of the top 4 to do spots in Syria. We are still suffering the haze that has ruined all the good viewpoints since Wadi Rum, so poor views, but this site was well kept, tidy and a pleasure to wander around despite a couple of coach loads of Italians and Brits and what seemed like the World forum of Italian motor-caravaners. A v pleasant morning. Finding the route to some minor sites in the area proved too difficult; after we’d enjoyed a few local Druze and Kurdish towns and there being no views to be had, we pressed for the Turkish border. One of the slower borders and seriously clogged with lorries waiting to be cleared. At the Syrian side, I accepted help again which hugely speeded-up the process of finding the right offices – paid £S 300 for this in the end (£4) – costs and process: visa stamps £S 550 ea, visa/car, de-reg car, tryptique £S 300. Turkish side – not helped by not having enough Turkish lira and the border exchange rate for US$ having a 20% cream-off :- temperature check (H1N1), passport, visa stamp, bank, visa stamp US$ 20 ea, passport, toilet, car 3rd party insurance US$ 60, customs, car tryptique, customs, passport check and out. Attitude – mme, help from other mid-Eastern drivers good, little English spoken and difficult to relate the spoken words to the written Turkish; the lady in Bank for example couldn’t tell us where the toilets or visa office were – both were next door to her! Rather similar to the N Syrian attitudes. So what will Turkey offer, is it to be like Syria in these parts.

Just as we are mulling these questions, well I am,Chris is asleep already after her disturbed night before, and a rock thrown by a kid at the roadside thumps into the side of the truck!...

PS. Websites no longer blocked so will try to tidy-up the blog tonight in Cappadocia. Still behind with Saudi/Jordan stuff but getting on. This Alleppo hotel is wireless in most parts but not our room!!! so ...