Lent is a time of reflection...

...and it's almost over. So before Easter Sunday is finally here, I'm going to take a brief moment to reflect (review is probably a more appropriate term but I'm in the Easter spirit!) on my amazing spring break journey thus far. I'll provide links to pictures where available (I have a whole bunch basically from Aleppo onward that I haven't been able to upload yet).

Tuesday, March 23
Ben and I woke up in the early morning and caught a cab to Cairo International Airport. A couple of hours later, we were on board an 11:50 Middle Eastern Airlines flight bound for Beirut. After touching down in B-town and going through (the perplexingly challenging) customs, we caught a cab (that was way overpriced) and headed into town. After checking into our hotel we explored the beautiful campus of the American University in Beirut, and then wandered into town as the sun set and got a little lost.

Wednesday, March 24
Our classmates back at AUC were still in school, but Ben and I were on to our first attraction. We took some public transportation to Dawra, a circle in Beirut where buses congregate, and were soon on our way north to the Mediterranean town of Byblos. There, we explored a beautiful crusader castle, strolled through the quaint cobblestone streets, and I even took a dip into the beautifully blue sea. A short time after noon, we were on to our second destination of the day: the Jeita Grotto. We caught a bus back toward Beirut and it drop us off at the junction where the road to Jeita began. We caught a cab up the hill and through a valley and were soon at the grotto. The caves inside were truly captivating and its a shame we couldn't take pictures. We finished our time at Jeita with a subterranean boat ride in the lower cave aboard a vessel powered by an electric motor. After that, we said screw the taxi, and walked an hour and half back to the main highway, passing by some of the most gorgeous valley scenery I've seen in my life.

Thursday, March 25
We woke up very early and took a taxi to the Cola transport hub in south-side Beirut. From here, we took a minibus east, passing over some of the most treacherous mountain highway I've ever encountered. Our destination was the ancient Roman ruins of Baalbek, located two hours from Beirut, squarely located in Hizbollah territory. Upon arrival in Baalbek, we entered the site and spent the next four hours or so making our way through what certainly must be some of the most impressive Roman ruins in the world. When our sightseeing was over, we grabbed lunch, headed back to Beirut, and prepared for the evening. After a couple of overpriced drinks at a bar called The Blue Note (which charged us a hidden fee of $15 for the live music!) we tried our luck at getting into one Beirut's trendy night clubs, BO18. No luck. Those bouncers were some cold-hearted SOBs.

Friday, March 26
On our last day in Beirut, we explored the National Museum and discovered a treasure trove of artifacts and displays. Following our time at the National Museum, we set out in attempt to locate two more, the Robert Mouwad Museum and the Cirsock Museum. After searching for over two hours, we discovered that the Robert Mouwad Museum apparently no longer exists, while the Cirsock Museum was closed due to construction. We used the rest of the day to re-explore downtown Beirut, including its posh shopping areas, fancy eateries, as well as the imposing Al-Asin Mosque and its neighbor, St. George's Maronite Cathedral. After this, we rested up in preparation for the unpredictability that the next day held.


Saturday, March 27
Ben and I were at the Charles Helou Bus Station in time to catch a 7:30 am departure bound for Aleppo, Syria. When we reached the border some three hours later, the bus went on without us as we were left to deal with the Middle Eastern tourist rite-of-passage that is acquiring a Syrian visa at the border, something technically not allowed. However, the process was fairly painless, and only took three and half hours, certainly less than the five we had been anticipating. Once on the Syrian side, we caught a minibus to Homs and then a bigger bus to Aleppo. It was dark and rainy when we arrived, but nonetheless, after checking in at our hotel, we started exploring, a move that proved fruitless until we realized we'd been interpreting our map wrong for the past hour.

Sunday, March 28
Sunday was an all-day Aleppo day. We began with a visit to the plateau-topping Islamic citadel, an impenetrable structure with a single bridge for an entrance that evoked images from Lord of the Rings. After this, we explored the medieval bazaars of Aleppo, the Great Mosque, and then followed it up with a healthy does of churches in the Christian Quarter, most of which were unfortunately closed.

Monday, March 29
Our final destination for the day was Syria's capital of Damascus, but before that, we had an important detour: the legendary crusader castle known as Krak des Chevalliers. We took an early morning train from Aleppo to Homs and then caught a bus to Krak. We spent the next three or so hours exploring the massive structure. It was a bit cold out, but the gloomy skies added to the mystic of the place, and gave us a sense of foreboding that must would-be-siegers had to have felt when approaching the castle. Following Krak, we went back to Homs and then to Damascus. Night began to set in as we briefly explored this unfamiliar city, but we had an extremely memorable night. A visit to St. Anthony's Catholic Church yielded a meet and greet with Father Mark, a Spaniard who actually used to preside at the church I attend every Sunday in Cairo. Another exciting religious experience soon followed, as we were invited into a mosque to celebrate the Birth of the Prophet. We were provided with candy and nuts, given a front row seat, and listened to the entrancing song and fiery speeches for nearly two hours. After this, we returned to our hotel where I found out what sleeping on a roof means in hostel-speak.

Tuesday, March 30
 We woke up early this morning- apparently too early for many of the attractions in Damascus's legendary walled Old City. We walked around for awhile before begining our sight-filled day, which included stops at the House of St. Anias (who baptized St. Paul) and St. Paul's Chapel (where St. Paul was lowered out of a window in a basket in order to escape the Jews). Following this, we entered the massive complex of the Ummayid Mosque, which was not only the biggest mosque I've been in yet, but also one of the most ornately designed. The mosque was also home of the final resting place of the legendary Islamic leader, Salah al-Din, a personal favorite of mine. After we'd exhausted all the Old City had to offer us, we took a minibus 40 minutes north to the sleepy little town of Malula. The main attractions here were Saint Takla's Convent and the Convent of St. Sergius and St. Bacchus (which boasts the oldest altar in the world), not to mention one of the few communities on earth that still speak Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke.

Wednesday, March 31
Our goal for the day was to get to Amman, Jordan, but on the way we stopped at Bosra, Syria, which has the world's only freestanding amphitheater, a truly impressive structure. After Bosra we made our way to the Jordanian border, where the entrance process was relatively smooth. We had planned to see the Roman ruins at Jerash on our way to Amman, but we were in for a rude surprise: Jordan was an hour ahead of Syria, meaning we wouldn't be able to make it before the site closed. A little disappointed, we made it to Amman, checked in, and wandered around for a bit before turning in for the night.

Thursday, April 1
We were up at the crack of dawn, and caught a taxi to the JETT Bus Station, where we bought a ticket to Wadi Musa, the modern day town located right outside the ancient stone city of Petra, which is one of the "New Seven Wonders of the World." We entered Petra at about ten o'clock and proceeded to hike and climb in grueling fashion across nearly every square foot it had to offer, finishing our day off at the legendary Monastery nearly eight hours later. We returned to Wadi Musa, ate some dinner, found a place to sleep, and then collapsed into bed, nursing our tired feet and our severely sun burned shoulders.

Friday, April 2
On the agenda for the day was a visit to the crusader castle at Karak, followed by a trip north of Amman to Jerash, which we had missed a couple days earlier. There wasn't actually a bus straight to Karak from Wadi Musa, so we had to settle for one that dropped us off at a junction 36 kilometers east of our destination. We waited around for a few minutes before flagging down a bus, and in a few minutes we were at the foot of the cliff where the legendary castle of the dastardly Reynaud des Chatiollens (spelling!)  stood. Apparently this guy used to take prisoners and throw them off the walls of the castle 400 meters to their death, even going to the trouble of putting a wooden box around their head so they wouldn't pass out before they hit the ground. After seeing the views from the castle, we could understand why one would pass out if the bottom of the valley was rushing to meet them. After Karak, we attempted to find a bus to Amman, where we would find transport to Jerash. Unfortunately, because it was Friday, transportation options were all but nil. We located a bus after awhile, but it took over two hours to get moving from the time we got on! Needless to say, we didn't make it to Jerash, and were lucky to make it to Amman before five. We spent the rest of the evening walking about and lounging in the hotel, still coping with the sunburn and exhaustion that Petra had doled out a day earlier.

Well, that's about it. It's 5:33 am, local time here in Amman, Jordan on Saturday, April 3. We're just over an hour away from boarding a bus that will take us to the Israeli border, where we will hopefully be granted entry. I'm looking forward to celebrating Easter in Jerusalem and exploring the Holy City for a couple of days before making my way back to Cairo on Tuesday.

Talk to you then, if not earlier.

Oh, and have a Happy Easter!
 

A brief update from Amman..

Hey everyone...it's been awhile. Between the spotty internet access and the excessive traveling, it's simply too hard to keep this thing updated. Anyway, I am currently in an internet cafe in Jordan's capital city of Amman. I'll be able to do posts and updates once I'm back in Cairo, in about a week. Talk to you then.

Operation: Syria...

On the morning of Saturday, March 26th, 2010, Benjamin Gavel and I woke up at 6:30 a.m. on the dot, ready for the challenge that lay before us. It was go time- we were crossing the border into Syria in a matter of hours.

Crossing the Syrian border is something of a rite of passage for Middle Eastern travelers. It’s a process that is shrouded in mystique and uncertainty (if you can name where the italics portion is taken from, you’ll win a special gift). Although you are officially required to obtain a visa from the Syrian embassy in your home country prior to reaching the border, many travelers have shared tales of successfully acquiring visas at the border. However, though most people we talked to felt we had a fair shake at getting visas at the border, our Lonely Planet guide book, as well the US government, went to great lengths to stress that this option was a significant gamble and nothing was guaranteed.

Nonetheless, Ben and I were determined to get our visas at the border. We’d heard a Syrian visa was only $18 at the border, as opposed to the $130 one would drop if they went through the embassy. This bargain, of course, did not come without a sacrifice: we’d been told to expect to wait for about 5-7 hours to get your visa at the border station. Some waited this long only to be rejected, apparently at the whim of a Syrian customs agent.

Ben and I took every precaution we could think of in order to assure that our chances for getting a visa and crossing were as high as possible. We printed all of our hotel reservations in Syria, as well as ours in Jordan, so they knew we would be out of the country in a few days. We even printed off ferry information from Jordan to Egypt to hide the fact that we were, indeed, proceeding to Israel after Amman, a travel detail that would have surely gotten us denied if it had been revealed. We were even prepared to wait for as long as it would take to get a visa, and had set aside the duration of the day for just that purpose.

So with an emboldened sense of purpose, we grabbed our bags, left the Regis Hotel, and caught a taxi to the Charles Helou transport hub. We arrived in time to catch a 7:30 a.m. bus that’s final destination was Aleppo, forking over 17,000 LL for our tickets.

Our bus headed north, along the Mediterranean coast. The scenic views of the sea from the mountain side roads were stupendous, but Ben and I became more and more concerned with the impending border crossing with every mile traveled. When we reached Tripoli, a mere half hour from the border, our anxiety reached panic levels. Will the bus wait for us if we have to wait 5+ hours? Can we get half our money back? What if the bus takes off with our bags still on board? What if we get completely rejected, where too then, Cyprus? Needless to say, I was feeling a little pessimistic at the time, and was prepared for the worst.

Our first order of business at the border was getting our Lebanese exit visa, a painless process that took all of five minutes. We got back on the bus and drove forward, officially out of Lebanon and into Syria.

At the Syrian customs office, we approached the agent under the “foreign arrivals” sign, not exactly sure what to do next. A big sign displayed on a wall to the left, that read foreigners “must obtain a visa from the Syrian embassy prior to arrival at the border” certainly did help our high levels of anxiety. The officer took our passports looked them over, and told us it would be five hours. He then indicated that we should take a nap to pass the time.

But that was it. No cross-examination or intrusive grilling about the purpose of our visit or where we were going next. No questioning as to why we didn’t already have a visa. The agent took our passports, told us it would be awhile, and that was that. So much for “official” government policy. The bus we’d come on wouldn’t be waiting for us (and its driver refused to even give back some of our money), but that was no longer a concern.

We sat on the floor of the building for a while, people-watching the stream of Arabs that would pour in with each incoming bus. I grew restless after a while and wondered outside. The little border crossing village we were out was a bit of a dump. I entertained myself for a while by mooing loudly at a grazing cow.

At the two and half hour mark, what we thought would be the half-way point of our wait, Ben and I grabbed lunch from a local vender. For 50 Syrian pounds each (about one American dollar), we each had a wrap containing hearty eggs and veggies as well as a delicious chocolate ice cream treat. After four days in Lebanon, one of the more expensive Middle Eastern countries, it was nice to be back in a place where an entire meal was attainable for around a buck.

We returned to our waiting place in the customs office, prepared to wait another two and a half hours or more. But to our delight, a mere half hour after lunch, a customs agent came out from behind the counter, directed us to another office in the facility where we paid our $16 visa fee, and returned to the office where we received our stamp. The total process took about three and half hours, significantly less than we had been expecting. We had also spent a couple less dollars on the fee than we’d been told as well. Boy were we feeling good.

Our next order of business was getting to Aleppo for the night. We couldn’t find any direct routes, but found plenty of minibuses headed to Homs, a town that serves as a major crossroads for inter-Syrian travel. We paid 100 SL (think $2) for one, and settled in for the ride.

The Syrian country side was impressively green and lush. Most of the landscape alternated between tall, rolling hills and open, flat prairies. I’m not sure what I had expected, but this was nice. We got to Homs after about an hour and a half and then quickly caught another 100 SL bus headed for Aleppo.

The bus ride took just under three hours, and I attempted to sleep for most it. I awoke as we made our way into the outskirts of Aleppo. It was dark and rain was coming down hard. We had reservations at a hotel, but at this point we realized we would probably be dropped off at a location we weren't familiar with, in an expansive city of 4 million, on a dark, cold, and wet night.

Normally Ben and I attempt to walk everywhere, but we both came to a consensus that getting a taxi to our hotel was certainly appropriate in this situation. We found a cabdriver and agreed to have him take us to our hotel for 200 SL (four dollars-ish). His friends apparently thought this was a rip-off because the burst out laughing upon our acceptance of this price, but we really didn't care at this point. We got in the taxi, joined by an Austrian guy headed to Turkey, and were on our way.

We got to our hotel, Al-Gawaher, about 20 minutes later, paid the cabbie, and checked in. It was a small place tucked away in an alley, but it certainly had some charm. Our room was triangular shaped and was nice and cozy. Outside our room was an open area with couches and chairs lining the wall and interesting Arabic artwork and trinkets scattered around. The accommodations were similar to those at the Regis Hotel, but the price was better (1,000 SL a night for the room, so about 10 dollars a piece) and the staff was much friendlier, though the lack of free wireless internet was a bit of a drawback.

After leaving our bags in our room, we decided to brave the weather and do a little exploring. We headed out into the street and began to determine our whereabouts, based on the map provided by Lonely Planet. Our first priority was discovering an exchange so we could get some serious Syrian currency, so we consulted our map to find one, and headed off in the what we thought was the correct direction. To no avail. Wherever we went, we just couldn't seem to find anything we were looking for. We'd come to place that were clearly represented on the map, but when we headed up a street we thought would take us one way, it took us somewhere completely else. It was baffling and infuriating, and I was considering ripping up the book.

An hour later, something brought about an epiphany of sorts. We had had our directions screwed up the entire time. What we thought was west was actually north. When we came out of the hotel we had misjudged which way we had turned to get to a central landmark, a giant clock tower, and had based our internal compass on this mistake. After discovering this, things started to click, and we were easily navigating our way around the city (though none of the exchanges were open). I was both relieved and a little embarrassed. I had been moments away from giving up on the guide book's map when in reality it had been my own error (though, to be fair to myself, the map occupies to pages and our hotel is marked right at the crease in between the pages, making it tough to see exactly where it is situated in relation to the places on the other page).

When our wandering had concluded, we returned to the hotel and got headed to bed. It had been an interesting day, marked by moments of high anxiety and sheer terror, followed by relief. We had made it through the Syrian border in record time, and had even gotten ourselves familiar with Aleppo, allowing the next day's exploration to proceed more smoothly. All in all, "Operation: Syria" was a success in my book.