Syria & Lebanon

Benefits: Lebanon - Food even though 3 days was not so much to taste this well known cuisine; good wine; all currencies are accepted (Lebanese Lira, Euros, dollars) - the ATM machine even asks you if you want money in LL or US$

Concerns: Syria - Get alcohol at the main restaurants; Cannot access Skype (as some of other middle east countries)
Lebanon - Check points everywhere; the way they drive (here is really where the only rule is not to follow any rule)

Number of Days: 6 - from 2nd till 5th May (Syria) and till the 8th May Lebanon

Places visited (& days): Damascus (3), Beirut (3) with a visit to Baalbek

Transport (time or distances): Bus from the border at Nasib to Damascus (100 km); Bus from Damascus to Beirut (3 hours); shared taxi (small bus) to visit Baalbek and return

Currency: LBP (Lebanon Pound): 1 Euros = 2 LBP; S£ (Syria pound): 1 Euros = 69,7 S£;

Funny Experiences - Arriving and crossing the Jordan/Syrian border; Get caught by the police while taking pictures to Hezbollah (for the first time I was really scared because I still had some pictures from Israel on my memory stick and they asked me to give them the camera - Hopefully after going through the first 10 pictures they stopped and gave back my camera


Just arriving to the Syrian border I realised that I still had some Israeli coins. I asked the taxi driver to stop immediately (going to the toilet was the excuse) to get rid of my coins. There is no way to get in Syria with any signal that I had been in Israel.
I had no Visa to get in Syria and I thought I could get it at the border. When I arrived they told me that I could not get in since the Visa should have been applied in advance. I tried to convince them but there was no way. They told me to call one of their offices in Damascus 2 hours later. I said no way and I started to get very angry and told them how it could be possible after travelling for more then 2 months, crossing a lot of countries without any problem and now suddenly when I arrive in Syria there is a Visa issue! I asked them, what kind of different country they were to have such strange requirements. And I added that if they didn' t give me a Visa I would immediately make a claim. I don' t know what really happened but it worked out (and by the way, of course, I was the one who was wrong since in fact for Syria a Visa is needed in advance!)
Damascus - old city as Jerusalem, traffic chaos as Cairo and it also reminds me of Rio de Janeiro by night since the city has a big hill on the back (the Kassion mountain) which , with all their lights on is wonderful. No doubt that I enjoyed Damascus by night better!

View over Damascus from the Kassion Mountain

Damascus' traffic - Guess what colour are the taxis?

The main attraction is of course the old city with the impressive Umayyad Mosque and the Azem Palace. Here I met Eyad, a Syrian guy who gave me some more hints about the city, the Syrian culture & Muslim religion. It is really difficult to understand how they can manage with all the arranged marriages . In fact it works like that.

Umayyad Mosque (Old City)

Enjoying a juice prepared by a young boy


As Amman, Beirut is also a city of contrasts. The new part, could be Europe mainly with the French architecture with very nice buildings and very clean. On the other hand, a poorer part where probably a lot of Palestinians lived.

Beirut Central District (downtown)

Status signs seemed to be very important in Beirut. The quantity of luxury cars around was impressive. I visited the National Museum, did some sightseeing along the beach at the Corniche and of course enjoyed the night-life which is a must in Beirut, specially around Rue Monot.

The Pigeon Rocks (Raouche - Beirut)


The last day, I decided to visit Baalbek another Roman site in the Middle East. Baalbek is known as the Sun city (although the day I visited it was really dark). It was 86 km northeast from Beirut but it took me more than 2 hours just to go there. On the way, I could see some of the damage done by previous Israel attacks (one year ago)

Bridge damaged by Israel attacks

 

Temple of Bachus - Baalbek