Michael’s trip to the Middle East

Aqaba is the final destination of the Middle East portion of my trip. After a bit more research last night on the option of visiting Eilat in Israel I decided not to go mainly because of the very short time I would have to enjoy the city. Other travelers told me that it would be an extremely fast border crossing; significantly different than what I heard yesterday.

Anyway, snorkeling and enjoing the Red Sea beach seemed a much better option. In a good upselling effort, the hotel mentioned the scuba dive option. I was more than happy to do it, the only issue is that I did not mention the detail that I’ve never scuba dived before.

If you are a certified diver the going rate is 26 JD for one dive or 40D for two dives during the same day. In my case it was 42JD for one.
There are many diving sites and companies around Aqaba. I went to Royal Diving Club and was very happy with the service. Judging by the large numbers of divers that were starting their dive there it looked like a good option.

The club is located about 10 minutes outside of Aqaba, and it provides a shuttle that runs every hour and a half, for only 1JD.

Considering that this was my first dive I am quite happy that I was able to pay some attention to the coral and wildlife and not focus only on breathing or operating the air vest. We reached a maximum depth of 12 meters and by far the most difficult part of the whole experience was to equalize the pressure in the ears. I guess a bit more practice will help.

I asked the question if any of the life forms were dangerous or poisonous, and the guide assured me that none would be. I chose to believe him however stayed far from any of them.

I am not really used to having a slow day, but I admit I needed one and today was a perfect relaxation day.

Tommorow I will fly Royal Jordanian to Amman and continue my trip from there.

Before wrapping up a final note that Jordan is a lot more expensive than Syria. Many prices are comparable with what you would pay in North America. There are still some deals to be had. If you visit, be prepared and enjoy.

In closing the highlights of this trip through Lebanon, Syria and Jordan were:

– Byblos, Jeita Grotto and Beirut, great views and history, much safer than most people are willing to believe. Driving back from Beirut through the mountains and a visit to Beitadine is priceless
-Palmyra, impressive Roman ruins a great sunset and unbelievably good fresh dates
-Krak de Chevaliers one impressive castle.
-Old Damascus and its many souqs and merchants
-Dead Sea
-Petra
-Aqaba
-Jordan in general.

Not only is Amman located on 23 mountains the whole country is mountainous and that makes for some spectacular views as you drive around. From Al Abdali Hotel in Amman that was at 850meters above sea level we started to drive towards the Dead Sea. It is abut 1 hour drive. On the way there, took the must have picture with the Sea Level marker and continued the descent all the way to 407 meters below sea level. This drive is pretty nice.

Getting in the Dead Sea is a very unique experience. You will feel all of a sudden a lot lighter; if only loosing weight will be that easy. Worth mentioning the experience of lifting your feet of the sea floor and quickly flipping on you back. Hard to describe how much of the body is actually above water. When standing in water though, I was out of the water from above the chest; that was impressive.

The water is about 30% salt and getting any of it in your mouth or eyes, is a bad idea. As you walk on the shore you will see salt crystals shining in the sun; later on driving on the highway hugging the shore, it is impossible not to notice the salt build up on the rocks on the shore.
It was very humid and the sun was very strong, sunscreen use is a must.
The one little detail that interferes with this unique experience are the large amount of flies that buzz around.
In order to actually get to the sea you have to get to one of the private beaches, 15JD, lunch included. If you do not have a towel or want to rent a locker, no problem 1.5 JD each.

After a few dips in the sea and the hotel pool we kept driving towards Petra.
The drive across the mountains through small villages is absolutely spectacular. In a short drive you get from -407m to close to 1800m. Humidity is gone and the temperature is just perfect. Taking the drive through Tafila is a much better alternative than driving the highway, mind you, much more demanding on the clutch and brakes.

Getting to Petra was a treat in itself. 3 hours from the Dead Sea.

Next day we visited Petra starting at 7AM. The site actually opens at 6AM, and in retrospective getting up that early is not such a bad idea. You would avoid some of the heat and some of the tourists. Getting a guide is quite important as there are very few plaques describing the site.
From the Siq, Treasury and continuing to the Monastery it is absolutely fantastic.
While in theory you could ride or be carried through the entire site by horse, donkey or camel, at least for the ascent to the Monastery riding is a pretty risky proposition. Our guide actually witnessed one accident, and let me tell you, falling of the horse on that section is the least of your worries. The really bad fall will follow all the way to the bottom of the gorge below.

Petra is a definite must see.

Moving along in the afternoon we went to a “Bedouin camp” in Wadi Rum. Very commercial, I am not quite sure how many real Bedouins were around. The camel ride ( 8JD) and the jeep ride( 15JD) through the desert were worth it though.

Right after, we drove into Aqaba which is only 1 hour away.

Aqaba is very nice, and with massive investments in its infrastructure will only get better. There are plans to invest about 80billion USD in Aqaba in the next 10 years. With Aqaba area designated as a duty free zone things will likely move in the right direction.

Only a 20 minutes taxi ride is the Israeli border. As tempting as it sounds to visit Eilat, I think I will pass on the opportunity. This border crossing could take quite a bit( 2 – 3 hours accorinding to a local) depending on how busy it is.

By far the highlights of the whole trip were the Dead Sea and Petra. Both were absolutely impressive.

Lessons learned:– Driving through Jordan is spectacular through most of the country
-There are many checkpoints through out the country and you will be frequently asked for your passport
– Bus ride from Aqaba to Amman 5.5JD and 4 to 5 hours. Flights 35JD and 45 minutes.

More to come

The last day in Syria I visited the National History Museum; it is nice, but small, worthwhile to see the first alphabet and to get a recap on the region’s history.
This museum, like the whole country is undergoing changes; display cases are modified and English descriptions are added.
Also, did a lot of wondering through the streets and markets of Damascus; the sights, sounds and smell made it a memorable experience.

Yesterday we jumped on a bus headed to Amman. It was a 4 hour ride of which 1.5 spent between the Syrian and Jordanian customs and Immigration.
Right from the Jordanian Immigration office you see a major difference, well groomed officers speaking good English and with big smiles on their faces. Even more surprising was to see a woman in the immigration office, wearing traditional dress and ranking signs according to her position. In Jordan women can, and do have a wide variety of jobs as opposed to other Arab countries. Walking through Amman you will see a lot of women in uniform and realize that this is no longer Syria. Roads and buildings are very well maintained and there is significantly more orderly traffic. Cops are on the roads in large numbers and you can quickly see that they mean business as they seem to write a lot of tickets.

After being able to eat easily at lunch time in both Syria and Lebanon it came as a big surprise that there is no place available to have lunch around downtown Amman. Off I went to the market and did a bit of shopping so I can put together a snack.

Amman is not a very touristy destination from what I can see. A tour of the Citadel and of the Roman theater took about three hours. In the afternoon, we visited Jerash, 45 minutes away from downtown Amman. It is a large roman site quite well preserved, according to our guide “the best in the Middle East”. He must not have visited Palmyra…

Traveling towards Jerash it became apparent that Amman is a very modern city and the west side is really nice. Nature helped as the city sits on a number of mountains. The old city sits on seven mountains. As Amman grew it now covers some 23 mountains and the most fashionable districts are on the outskirts of the city.
For good or bad the influx of capital over the last five years as well as the influx of rich Iraqis fleeing the war made Amman the most expensive city in the Middle East overtaking Lebanon and Dubai.

Lessons learned:

-Jordanian Dinar (JD) is quite strong and the prices are significantly higher than in Syria.

-cell phones are the way to go. SIM on Orange JO, 6 JD including 2 JD credit. You can also buy calling cards and call from your cell international destinations. North America is cents a minute. Other countries are pricier.

-a meal in a regular restaurant, nothing fancy, will set you back about 7 – 10 JD

-During Ramadan there are very few places that serve alcohol, and the hotel I stay in, Abdali, is not one of them. If you really have to have a drink bring your own or find a fancy hotel.

-Great selection of fruits in both Syria and Jordan; must haves include fresh figs (my favorite), fresh pistachio, fresh dates and peaches.

Cheers

After two days in Aleppo we took a minibus to Krak de Chevaliers and then to Hama.
It is an amazing castle towering 500 meters above the valley below. Its purpose was to control; the access of goods and people from the Mediterranean to the interior of Syria. Going up 500 meters in a very short distance is hard work. I can only imagine how hard it must have been, hundreds of years ago, in the heat wearing armor and with heavy weapons…. Just like the other castles visited the history of this one goes back a long time. The main fortifications have been built by the crusaders in the 11th the century and in 1177 lost to Arabs. The castle has been occupied till 1932 when the French paid off the last occupants to move in the nearby village thus allowing the reconstruction work to take place.
Great story, great views, a must see!
Moving along to Hama, the city of the waterwheels. Tiny city with beautiful gardens, great pictures.

Next day we had a 6AM start towards Palmyra, the city of palms. We got there around 11AM and it was already very hot and the sun was extremely strong. Finally, I figured out why the Arabs completely cover themselves. Over the next two days I wore long sleeves and long pants during the day. Sunscreen will not quite be enough here.
During the first day we visited the citadel and watched the sunset from the top of it.
Next day we visited the vast roman ruins. The Syrian government has done and is still doing a great job of restoring the many historical sites they have over here. Palmira is no exception. Particularly impressive were the temple of Ball, the roman theater and the family tombs.

About 1pm , everything slows down to a crawl around here and everyone is looking for shade or the lucky ones for AC. I drinked close to 4 liters of water and perspired almost all of it. This place is hot.

Last thing about Palmyra; if you forget your hat or cap at home, just buy a koufia and avoid the headache you would get other wise form the sun. 100SYP well spent.

Moving along to Damascus this morning and here I am back in front of a computer.

Lessons learned over the last few days:

• Things are not always cheap around here. Every price has to be negotiated; sometimes quoted prices are 10 times the local price. Most of the time they are 4 – 6 times higher. Forget paying as little as the locals, it will just never happen.
• Cell phone coverage is excellent; just make sure you silence your phone during tours and even better while in a mosque ( oops)
• There are some calling cards that can be used for international calls but they are still expensive by any standards. Even more difficult will be to find a land line from where you can use it. I still suspect I lost a lot of minutes just trying to go through. Is very possible that buying a local SIM card is a better option for international calls. Not sure though.
• Food is great and cheap. Local restaurant are very nice and service is impeccable everywhere
• While available in other cities, with the exception of Damascus internet connections are slow and unreliable ( at least the one I come across)

Cheers
More from Jordan

After spending on more night in Damascus it took a 4.5hours bus ride and we made it to Aleppo.
Aleppo is a 4.5 million people commercial and industrial city. It is much larger than I
thought. The traffic is just as bad as in Damascus. What surprised us all is the fact that we have-not seen even a single accident.

The highlights so far:

-Visiting the souq in Aleppo, 12 kilometers of merchants selling anything and everything
-visit to St Simeon cathedral, 20 km out of Aleppo, great history and sights
-visit Aleppo Citadel, great history, (site history goes back to 1800BC) and great
example of a military fortification.
-visit a local hammam (Turkish bath)

Food was great all along and really really cheap. Last night we went to a restaurant in the Armenian quarter and for a three course meal with some alcohol for four people we paid 2085 SYPounds, or about 42USD. This was a really nice restaurant. On the street you can eat with as little as 2 USD for a quick meal

Lessons learned:

It is not as easy to find pay [phone as you would think. I was able to find a calling card is just hard to use….

There are not as many internet cafés in Aleppo

Not too many people speak English around here, an that makes very difficult to communicate and to fully understand what local life is all about

On the same note I really have a hard time configuring key board back to English

Excellent cell phone coverage so far in Lebanon, Damascus to Aleppo and Surroundings

People are very friendly and willing to help, if only they could speak English, or some other language I understand….
Traveling during Ramadan is not as difficult as people think; there
Are many restaurants catering to the tourists and locals are really understanding of
foreigners. However is very bad etiquette to eat or drink on the street.

For a country that is famous for its trading history and skills Syria is doing a very poor job of promoting itself. Some more marketing would really help as there is definitely a lot to see and do over here.

Another poor marketing example is the hammam I visited this evening, Great و architecture and experience, however very hard to find. If you visit Aleppo do not miss: HAMMAM AL SALLHIA on BAB AL MAKKAM street phone 0988014848 (you can call them but unless you speak Arabic …..)
ُEasier to get there is to find Ismail, he sells “special” olive oil soap in front of the Citadel and get him to take you there. His English is “excelent”, all 50 words of it…
More from an internet café with a better keyboard
Cheers

After arriving at Damascus International around 6:50PM I went through Immigration in record time; I have to admit they were pretty efficient. I was out of the airport by 7:10PM.
Once out I was surprised that there were almost no cars on the road. If you ever traveled through Cuba at night you know the feeling. September 13th was the first day of the Ramadan and so right after 7PM everyone is either home or in a restaurant to serve their meal. They call it “FUTUR”. That made for a quick drive to hotel Afamia.

After I had something to eat I went straight to bed, probably a good idea considering the long trip.

Next morning my driver Miro (short for his Armenian name) picked me up and we went into Lebanon. No longer were the roads empty this time. My first instinct was to buckle up, to the disappointment of Miro that saw it as a sign of me questioning hid driving skills.

First lesson of the day was that in both Syria and Lebanon the road signs are purely a suggestion. The double line in the middle of the road is to ensure that you really drive in the middle. When you pass get very close to the car in front of you, honk and go for it. Having a car driving right at you from the opposite direction is not a good enough reason for you not to pass as he will most definitely avoid you…….Joke aside it is a very entertaining type of driving as long as you are not involved in an accident. By some miracle I have en ot seen any…

Any way moving along to the actual trip, the crossing in Lebanon was pretty smooth, thanks to a bit of “BACSHIS” to the custom officers. This method of solving differences of opinions seems to be quite wide spread here. My Romanian friends know exactly how it goes.

First Stop was Baal beck, where I visited the three temples; Jupiter, Bacchus and Venus. Hiring a local guide was a good idea as there is limited information made available to the visitors. By the way there are not too many of them….
Once well on the way to Ball beck Miro told me that we are in the heart of Hezbollah territory. To tell you the thruth I did not see any difference from the rest of the area.

Moving right along went to Jeita Grotto. AWESOME is the proper word describing this cave. You are not allowed to take pictures inside but the”bacshis” solve this inconvenience.

Moving along to Byblos, where we stopped for dinner. Great restaurant in the “oldest” port in the world. There is evidence that the port has been there for 8000 years, and is still in use.

Off we go to Beirut and on the way there I visited the church of St. Harisa. Great view of the city and spectacular ride with a cable car.

Stopped at Holiday Inn, the site of the most fierce fighting during the civil war that lasted between 1975 and 1990. took some pictures until a guard told me that is not the best idea. They are really suspicios of everuyone these days…

Moving right along I got to the hotel around 8:00pm and let me tell you the heat and humidity made it a really long day.

Next day took a tour of downtown Beirut; Talk about check point and army and tanks and guns on the streets. Well they have them all.

Moved right along to Beitadinee and Arjar and then crossed the border back to Syria.

I am not sure why but the driver had to use the law of “bacshis” one more time with the Syrian guard.

I really have to go as they close this internet café in 3 minutes.

More to come … I wish I could share some pictures but I just do not have the tools to modify them. You’ll have to wait till I get back.

Cheers everyone.

I will do the unthinkable and try to write a brief blog. I will be really happy if I’ll be able to keep my promise and get in front of the computer on a regular basis while on vacation.

On another note, this blog will have to be in English and Romanian. So just to get it over with I apologize in advance for my spelling mistakes in both languages

After planning my 2007 trip since January, and some crazy busy months this summer, I am ready to go, without any doubt whatsoever…

Below is the plan:

Am sa incerc imposibilul si am sa incerc sa scriu un blog. Cei care stiu cit nu imi verific emailurile vor intelege de ce as fi foarte fericit daca mi-as tine promisiunea si as scrie cu oarece regularitate in timpul vacantei. ( sau in general….)

Blogul va fi in engleza si romana. Ca sa clarific de la inceput imi cer scuze anticipat pentru toate greselile tipografice.

Dupa ce mi-am planificat excursia anului 2007 din ianuarie, si tinind cont ce program innebunitor am avut in vara asta, sint fara nici un dubiu gata sa plac in concediul asta.

Mai jos am listat itinerariul.

September 12 & 13: Toronto – Paris – Damascus
September 14: Cross into Lebanon, visit Baalbek and spend the night in Beirut
September 15: Tour of Beirut and Byblos, drive back to Damascus
September 16 & 17 : Allepo
September 18: Hama and Crac Des Chevalier
September 19th & 20th: Palmyra
September 21st& 22nd: Damascus
September 23rd& 24th: Amman
September 25th : Dead Sea & Petra
September 26th: Petra and Wadi Rum, spend the night in the desert./ Dormit in desert.
September 27th: Camel trek to Aqaba
September 28th: Visit Aqaba and enjoy the beach
September 29th: Transfer to Amman and fly to Bucharest, Romania
September 30th to October 7th – visit Bucharest and Galati
October 8th: Bucharest – Paris – Toronto
October 9th: Start planning the next trip!/ Incepe planificarea pentru urmatoarea excursie!