Category: Journal
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Busing in Syria
Read more: Busing in SyriaTaking a long-distance bus in Turkey is a very civilized experience. Buses in Syria are less refined, but much more of a cultural experience. We never know quite what we’re getting into. We have not yet (and likely won’t) perfect the ability to catch the best bus between two places. We did managed to avoid…
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The desert oasis of Palmyra
Read more: The desert oasis of PalmyraThe bus out to Palmyra proved to be another opportunity for cultural exchange. We arrived at the North bus terminal in Damascus and entered the first place that offered a bus to Palmyra. We were immediately rushed to get on a bus – this is a sign that we should have slowed down and analyzed…
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Wandering about Damascus
Read more: Wandering about DamascusWe really like Damascus. Becky thinks that our image of a place is certainly nicer when the sun is shining. Like Aleppo, Damascus also suffers from daily power cuts. When the power is out, you can see the pollution in the air – which is a real shame because otherwise, Damascus is a very neat…
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Christmas in Damascus
Read more: Christmas in DamascusWe took the early morning bus from Amman to Damascus, and arrived at 10:30 am tired. Unfortunately, Becky wasn’t thinking and Scott didn’t effectively clue her in, such that we spent too much on a “taxi” to the first hotel we wanted to look at. As the driver ripped us off, taking way too much…
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A brief Servas visit
Read more: A brief Servas visitWe had planned a short time in Amman in order to arrange our bus tickets to Damascus. Amman was a farming village until it was declared the capital in 1924. Because it is such a new city, there really is not much to see in Amman. Rather than spend the whole day on the Internet,…
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Wandering around Western Jordan
Read more: Wandering around Western JordanHaving the car meant that we could take our time exploring different areas and enjoy the desert like the locals – with a picnic. We enjoyed the Dead Sea and stark desert vistas while soaking up the sun and munching away at our lunch. We have been in Jordan for more than two weeks, and…
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Wonderful Petra
Read more: Wonderful PetraOur first impression upon entering Petra was “wow, look at all the tourists”. We have been lucky so far, that most of our visits to tourist places have been empty. With the nice weather in Jordan at this time of year, we guess it is not really that surprising to see so many tourists –…
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Starhawk’s comments on Gaza
Read more: Starhawk’s comments on GazaWe spent the today at Petra, but we’ll tell you about the fabulous monuments tomorrow, after our second day here. Today, we’d like to look again at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which continues to occupy our thoughts as we travel through Jordan. A friend of ours forwarded this letter to us, and it has helped us…