Come back to Syria again!

And so ends our trip through the land of cultural treasures and scenic wonders that is ash-Sham. A hearty thanks to the people of Syria, and their warm hospitality and generousity!

Make your next trip to the Arab Republic of Syria!

Sugarcane juice

A raw sugarcane juice stand in Amman Jordan (photographed the day I left).
The guy in the grey is sticking a sugar cane into the machine to be crushed and the juice extracted.
Some of the alleged benefits of the juice.

Maps of Syria and Jordan

Syria is a country of 20 million (mostly Sunni Muslim) where I spent a month trying to learn more Arabic.

To the south is Jordan, the country I landed in and departed from. It has fewer people, more affluence, more tradition, more Western tourists and has a pro-Western government.

Back to Jordan

You can take an overnight sleeper from Aleppo to Damascus for less than $7!

The catch? .... They don't have any "smoking or non-smoking" in Syria. Maybe 80% of the (male) population smokes. Mustapha here my cabin mate, was friendly and helpful like almost all Syrians, but probably a four-pack-a-day man. He had to get up at night to smoke and had four or five cigs first thing in the morning (and not some wimpy filtered cig either, Syrian cigs are HARSH).