DAMASCUS

Damascus, another chaos of city, with a dense traffic, taxis crossing in front of you, the loud sound of the horns... We had to move by buses up to the centre, a work that requires a lot of patience, because there are dozens of minibuses, where the people shout the destinations, and everything is written in Arabic. This time we had to look for a hotel, something that we are not used to; first we locate the cheap area, and after visiting 9 hotels, we found the cheapest, with the bargaining we got it for 8 € the double room. The city is of the style of Aleppo, very, very, old, Damascus is divided in several quarters, Christian, Jewish... We saw lot of mosques, churches, luxury palaces; and a market of extraordinary dimensions. We also saw the car of the firemen…

In the interior of the walls is the mosque of the Omeyas; it has a big interior courtyard, with a much decorated facades; and inside a tomb, where like always, the people fight to touch and kiss.

Before leaving the country we must go to the immigration office, although the visa is for one month, we have written on the stamp 15 days, and we are already 21 days in the country... We know that it is simple thing, only is a stamp for another 15 days and finish. But when we arrived... we saw the people doing the papers over the cars on the street, and in the office, a big pile of people with papers and passports everywhere. We were lucky to find a translator that helped us; without his help it would have been very complicated. We did as everybody; pushing and putting the papers in front of the officers to be attended. In a moment we only saw passports all around us, most of them of Iraqi nationality. Finally, almost two pages of passport only for Syria...

To go out of Damascus we were well prepared with the name of the next city written in Arabic to find the minibus, but once in front of all the minibuses, we started to compare the symbols…, and it is impossible, we have to ask to the people.

Near Jordan, we stopped our last day in Syria in the city of Bosra, where there is one of the best preserved Roman theatres, and an ancient Roman city where even the people live. Casually we met here Zacarías, who has a restaurant, and he let us sleep in a Bedouin tent that has outside; and not only that, he took us to his traditional house in the Roman city, to eat with his friends.