We spent most of the second day recovering from the late night (I will forever associate the scent of Turkish coffees - espresso sized with cardamom and thick gooey grounds all mixed in - with this trip) and journeying to Syria. Americans weren't guaranteed visas at the border, but we had read on a few travel sites and heard from a few brave souls that it was possible, and so we left Beirut (after a feeble attempt at feeding ourselves in Gemayzeh on Sunday morning . . . no luck. We were so pathetic looking that a Lebanese cop offered us a ride to the bus station as we attempted to hail a cab in the rain). The view of the Mediterranean going inland from Beirut was spectacular.
Crossed out of Lebanon, refused to be screwed over by a cab driver, walked around in no-man's land, crossed into Syria, etc, etc. The epic Border Crossing is a tale best told in person, I think, but suffice it to say we enjoyed the duty free shop/cafe at the Syrian border so much that we stayed an extra few hours (six total), ended up in Damascus at maybe 12 or 1 in the morning, and I left my passport in the taxicab. Botch. This was complicated by the fact that you are not allowed to stay in Syrian hotels without a passport, or a police report of a stolen passport, the latter of which is terribly difficult to obtain late at night over a holiday weekend with no knowledge of Arabic. We were guided by Russ, an American studying in Egypt whom we met at the border - what a gem. Crashed finally after getting a hand-written note from our eighth police station and making angry faces at the heartless hotel receptionist as we handed it over and he finally let us into the room.
Here is the beautiful Syrian/Lebanese border.day 3: monday, september 21
Of course the American embassy was closed for Eid, so we were told by the Marine on duty (after he expressed his shock that we were tourists in Syria of all places) to come back later in the week. So then we walked around Damascus, drank a lot of tea, and I took some photographs.
A street in the Old City, on the way to the Christian district, that I found particularly charming.
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