Camels for Breakfast: The Syrian Border

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April 23, 2005

The Syrian Border

If you need a Syrian visa, I'm definitely the person to talk to. Well, really any girl who is willing to smile at the border guards and bat her eyelashes a bit will do.

Yes, this weekend Rob, Haley, and I made our first trip to the Syrian border to try and get visas. It is easy to get them at the Embassy in Amman but the $150JD charge that goes along with them is a bit expensive. So, we had heard that if you go to the border and wait around a while they will fax your information to the Embassy and only charge you $16USD. So, Wednesday afternoon we headed up to the border and decided to wait it out. After 7 1/2 hours and a lot of eyelash-batting we finally got in! It was quite amusing to sit in the processing room playing cards and eating the snacks we had brought. Rob and Haley passed the time comparing choir repratoire and making paper airplanes as I sat trying to read a book that I had read already. At about 11:30 that night we were given the thumbs up and we paid for our visas entered Syria.

I didn't have many expectations about Sryia being a wonderful place before I left. I had heard that it could be uncomfortable for foreign girls and that it was very different from Jordan but I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. We picked to go on a holiday (the Prophet's Birthday) so I didn't know if anything would be open but it was acutally better because everyone was out enjoying themselves. There were banners and balloons everywhere as we wandered through the Souk (market). I felt like I was on the travel channel because everything was just so interesting. The souk is really old and the streets aren't wide enough for cars so there are just tons of people wandering around doing their shopping.

We also went inside the Ummayad Mosque and an old palace that has a museum in it. They were both incredibly beautiful and I have tons of pictures that I can't want to get developed. I was really impressed with the city and can't wait to go back. Even if it is just to see the flash-back-to-the-Soviet-Union army uniforms.

Our trip back to Jordan was quite uneventful and I was glad to crawl back in to bed after a long day. It is supposed to be easy to get in to Syria a second time so next time we will get to enjoy the city without an 8 hour wait. Although I think it is worth the wait.

Posted by rcollins at April 23, 2005 8:39 AM