Syria to Jordan

SYRIA TO JORDAN 02.04.06 - Entry - Compare to the Turkish boarder the Syrian is very convenient. The people are nice and very helpfull. First the passports had to be stamped. The Cow (our bike :-) ) is registered at Chri's passport. For the sustoms we took a facilitator. He would speak english fluently and did know how to handle the carnet de passage and what else we had to do. The whole thing took us 45 minutes and was totally relaxed. The entry to Syria costs about 50 US$ which is reasonable. Than came the first meters on syrian roads - it's a dream compare with the turkish ones. At this day wnt went to Aleppo. A city in the north of the country. The scenery was just a dream-what a relief to the eye: dark, red-brown earth, fresh green meadows, lots of olive tree plantations and flowers everywhere. Unfortunately it started to rain here as well which made the trip into the city exhausting. It also took us a while to find a hotel that we could afford ($15.00 per night) and that met our cleaniliness expectations. We checked in and didn't do anything else that evening. 03. and 04.04.06 - Aleppo and surrounding area: the first day we just tried to get to know the city, all the Souks, the Citadelle, the old part of the town and the beautiful Umayyaden mosque (here I, Rita, had to cover myself up with a shawl). The old part of the town is nice but we had imagined everything a lot smaller. That's when we decided that one day here is plenty.On the second day we took a trip to the ruins of the Simeon cloister- which was really impressive! That must have been a huge buliding at some point in time! In honour of the occasion (3rd wedding anniversary) we enjoyed a Falaffel from a roadside stand in the evening- very delicious and cheap. In addition, we each took a beer up to our room. While buying the beer we were able to observe how the locals bought their rations of alcohol- you either receive it in a black plastic bag or you drink it right there and then, i.e. a neutral bottle is filled with liquor which you then drink down all at once in front of the store. All right.... 05.04.06 - What a day! Originally we were planning on going via the Hama (water-wheels) to the Krak of the Chevalliers and stay overnight there. But things happened quite differently. We started out taking the motorway (Autobahn) from Aleppo heading south. On the way we had planned to visit the ruins of Ebla- what a joke! Then we searched for a side road/ countryroad to get away from the Autobahn and to look at some more ruines (Al Bara, etc.). Unfortunately our map of Syria wasn't as good as we had hoped: all the city names are written in Latin and not in Arabic (by the way, the map is from our 'beloved' guidebook "Reise Know How"). However, all the little towns here are spelled in Arabic. Needless to say, we never found the side road and had to stay on the Autobahn. Later on we found a different side road that led us at least to the ruines of Apamea. After touring it we drove on to Hama. Unfortunately we had problems here as well to find the big water wheels as there were no signs at all. At any rate, we did find some in the city centre where one wheel was definitely powered by a motor and made a huge noise. We were pretty sure that there had to be other water wheels in the area but gave up and decided to head on towards Krak. Here we were also planning on using side roads but, again, that didn't happen as there weren't enough signs posted. On top of that it started to rain, then we had thick fog and we got lost. Great! By that time it was already 5:30p.m. and no hotel in sight. So we turned back around and decided to drive to Tartus, over by the ocean; surely there would be some hotels. By the way, the route was fantastic: hills and everything green. At about 7p.m. we still had a chance to enjoy a view of the ocean but then things got quite merry. There was no hotel in sight! It got dark and we noticed that neither the dimmed headlight nor the rear light was working (!) and on top of that it started to pour. Luckily we had just found a hotel and checked in. And just in time before the huge cloudburst! The hotel was impossible, the beds were actually clean but otherwise... There was some sort of voltage on top of the water so that we received a small shock every time we washed ourselves (it was able to be repaired after a while), we couldn't lock the door to the balcony and the door lock wasn't working either, etc. But at least it was dry, especially since we had a huge thunderstorm and lots of rain the following night! Breakfast the next day wasn't great either; actually it was downright a disgrace! The table was wiped 'clean' with a very filthy rag, the tea was foamy, the omelet looked disgusting and, worst of all, the silverware was dirty! There was still old food from meals before stuck in between the prongs of the fork. We lost all our appetite and after 2 bites of dry bread we left the hotel... On April 6, 2006 we took the Autobahn from Tartus and headed towards Krak. We had the most beautiful sunshine and we didn't get lost either. This time the speedometer shaft broke; now we had no way of knowing how fast we went and we had no mileage indicator. Since we definitely needed the mileage indicator, we stopped at a 'repair shop' on the side of the road and were immediately surrounded by 10 people. The shaft was able to be repaired; we couldn't get a new one but the old one was welded back together. After 2-3 teas we were on our way again. We got to the Krak of the Chevallier (a massive, great crusader castle), beautiful sunshine greeted us and we found a nice hotel with a view of the castle. We toured the castle in the afternoon- also a great experience. The castle -located beautifully on top of a hill, surrounded by nothing else but green- is still pretty intact and very interesting to tour. We liked it a lot. When we woke up in the morning of April 7, 2006, there was thick fog which cleared after breakfast. Today we drove via Hims (which we didn’t' tour, didn't seem to be much of anything) to Palmyra. At the beginning the area was still green and full of life, and then we reached the desert. Fascinating at first, then pretty boring as it is a stony desert and completely flat! The route is dead straight which meant we had to be careful not to fall asleep. We were startled by the speedometer shaft braking for the second time. What a nuisance! Once we reached Palmyra we checked into a hotel and relaxed. We also realized unfortunately that our rear tire was starting to deteriorate. The wire started coming through, thanks to the Turkish roads:-(. The new tires were waiting for us in Egypt (Sharm-el Sheikh) and now we're not sure whether the tire is going to last until then. We'll have to look in Damascus whether we can find a used or new moped tire; very unlikely, though. Well, somehow it'll work. April 8 and 9, 2006 We stayed 2 days in Palmyra. On the first day we visited the ruines of this fascinating old city; its prime time was in the 2. and 3. century. An arabic city that even in roman times conducted its independent trade. It served as meeting place to all caravans who were on their way on the silkroad. What a fantastic feeling to walk through these ruines and to be amazed as to what people have accomplished over 2000 years ago! We visited all the ruines all day long! In the evening it was for the first time so warm that we were able to sit outside. The second day we just relaxed, the speedometer shaft was being repaired, we did some laundry and send some e-mails. We also visited the museum and some graves. In the evening we happenend to meet a couple from Slovenia (see www.ravbar.t-media.si/en) who have been on the road now for 2 years and just came back from Cape Town; it took them 4 months! We exchanged some interesting news- they liked Africa a lot but thought it was also strenous. They are on their way home now; 2 years is a very long time. April 10, 2006 Journey to Damascus: with lots of wind we drove slowly ( about 70/80 km/h) towards the capital. Always very cautious, not to put too much pressure on the tire. The route took us again through the desert- insane! The entry into Damascus was ..., because everybody over here drives like crazy! So far we couldn't say that about the syrians. Chri was on the verge of hitting someone:-). After just a little while we found a simple, old hotel where we could also park the bike in front of the door. Early in the evening we started our search for a tire shop- unfortunately without success. We enjoyed the city a little by night, had a Falaffel and went tired to bed. Today is the 11th of April, 2006, and we are in Damascus. We explored the city: Omayyaden mosque, souks, the old part of town, Saladin mausoleum ... very interesting, there are a lot of old houses here but most of them are unfortunately very dilapidated. We searched unsuccessfully for the much expressed charme of the city; it is simply a city with lots of traffic and people. The old part of town is nice to visit but there aren't e.g. any cafe's or something similar where you could sit in peace. Tomorrow we are going to go on- nice and slowly; keep your fingers crossed that the tire will last. April 12 and 13, 2006 Leaving Damscus turned out to be rather difficult- we wandered around for almost 30km until we finally found the right direction toward the south. Phew! Then we stayed on a comfortable country road all the way until Bosra. Except for the theatre there is nothing else here to see. We also didn't find a hotel that we liked; we had a choice between a bathroom, a day room of a restaurant or a 5-star hotel (EUR 150,00..) That's when we decided that all we were going to do here was visit the theatre which, by the way, turned out to be really interesting. Then, unfortunately, a group of syrian schoolchildren joined us who started playing soccer in the antic (!) theatre and bothered all of the tourists with phrases like "whatsyourname", "picturepicture" and lots of yelling. It was so bad that Chri all of a sudden started yellling back at them (I've never seen that side of my husband:-) ). Of course they weren't frightened too long so that we finally fled and continued on towards Dar'a, located at the syrian-jordanian border. Luckily there was one hotel. After unsuccessfully trying to find breakfast the next morning (April 13, 2006) we left to go to the border. Everything on the syrian border would have been processed a lot sooner but... first of all there was a tractor who wanted to tow us and then 3 busses full of spaniards handed in their passports just before we did. That was just a little too much for the customs men. Especially since the chef was the only one allowed to work on groups and foreigners. Therefore the whole procedure took about 60 minutes and cost us again US$ 5.00- for whatever. Summary of Syria: RITA: Definitely an interesting country! I didn't have a clear picture in my mind as to what to expect, hence, I was pleasantly surprised. The country side is varied, from fertile red-brown earth all the way to the desert. I liked the scenery of the north-west the most, the area by Aleppo and around the Krak of the Chevalliers. In addition, the visit of Palmyra was the absolut highlight and a 'must' for anybody visiting Syria. I was also very pleasantly surprised by the people in this country: very friendly and helpful. Here, everybody accepted a 'no' already the second time around without being mad and feeling insulted. Very pleasant! The only thing I didn't care for and that was embarrassing every so often were the looks I received from men and women alike; I'm assuming because of my short hair which also seemed to be the reason for laughter... but if that is the only fault they can find with us- then I can (and did) live with it. The country is fairly cheap: a Falaffel from the side of the road costs e.g. EUR 0,20, the cheapest hotel (which we took, by the way) cost US$ 8,00. The food was most of the time delicious: Falaffel, Humus (mush made from chick-peas) and salad. And pickled gherkins are always served-hmhm!! Yup- I liked Syria. CHRI: I do think, that Syria is a very interesting country. I was surprised from the fertile earth. I didn't think that it's like this over here. The people are also very friendly and kind. Specially with the repair of the speedometer shaft. It was done in Palmyra. Made out of one out of a car and ours. For the small motorbikes here at this country the speedometer shafts are much shorter and didn't fit at the BMW. Palmyra is because of the ruins a verr pleasant place. I like it that the touristy places are not ruined and too touristy. Here in Syira I was also positively surprised of the food. It was no problem at all to get something vegetarian. You can get Falaffel and Humus everywhere. A nice country and worth a visit. +++++ JORDAN 13.04.2006 – Entry After all this coldness over the last several weeks we were finally greeted with heat at the Jordanian border. We got through all the formalities rather quickly. Before we started running from one counter to another, we asked a police officer who was kind enough to inform us about the necessary steps: get the customs documents, obtain permission to get the passports stamped J, exchange money, have passports looked at, get Visas (Jordanian Dinar/JD 10,00 per person), now go get passports stamped and then I went to relax in the shade while Christian went to get the papers for the moped. That did take a little longer but only because nobody knew how much toll had to be paid. All in all we finally paid JD 11,00. In addition to that we also had to take out an insurance of JD 21,00, the “carnet” was stamped and we received a 14-day driving permission for the moped. Plenty of time, since the most we wanted to stay was 10-12 days. We drove all the way through hilly countryside to Jerash. While refueling, the attendant was so enthusiastic about us that he first of all invited to his house for a meal (which we politely declined) and then took photos with his handy. Very nice. Once in Jerash we took the first hotel we could find because meanwhile we were pretty soaked in our clothing (we are still wearing everything!). The hotel was great and cool. After a short break and a change of clothes we went to scout the ruins of Jerash (antic Gerasa). Jerash has a great reputation of being the best-preserved Roman city. Fantastic- we even liked it better than Palmyra! Just before we visited the countryside, we met 2 Germans whom we’ve already been e-mailing with. They are on their way in a truck and are doing the same as we are. Oh how small the world is! We were actually hoping to get together with them after our reconnaissance expedition but unfortunately they weren’t there anymore when we came back. Perhaps they weren’t able to stand here overnight with their truck. Oh well, we are sure to meet again sometime. This evening we had a nice meal in an Arabic restaurant and a good night sleep in a cool room. 14.04.2006 A Friday! We still have not gotten used to the routine of the week: Fridays and Saturdays are days off or rather the weekend. Which means every Jordanian is leaving for the weekend and everything is full. And it’s the same today. We left Jerash and drove towards the nicely described Jordanian valley- a bitter disappointment, besides plastic greenhouses there were nothing much there. All green and blossoming- no way… The route led us to the Dead Sea where we had intended to camp. But first of all there was no camping and secondly it was so full of locals that we decided to keep on going towards Madaba. On top of that it was also very hot - we had taken our little thermometer and put it into the tank backpack, and it climbed quickly above the 60-degree mark. Then again, it was lying in full sunlight and was exposed to the hot air stream. But it was at least in the mid 30th. We found the last available hotel in Madaba, i.e. B&B and after a cold and refreshing shower we spend the remaining day in our room i.e. the dayroom of the B&B, relaxing and being lazy. 15.+16.04.2006 2 days in Madaba: on Saturday we strolled through this small city and looked at all the beautiful mosaics. Definitely worth seeing but otherwise there’s not much else to do. In the evening we met in the B&B an Austrian with whom we quickly got into a conversation with. She had already been “through Africa”, started 14 years ago, with a truck from Vienna to Cape Town. Then she stayed 5 more years on that continent and drove trucks for Overland Tours. Cool thing, there was a lot to talk about and we sat together until 1:30a.m. Sunday we drove, once again, to the Dead Sea in hopes of less people. We were lucky but we were very disappointed of the "beach". We were only supposed to enter the water form one specific beach because that’s where they had something similar to showers to wash off the salt. And that’s what we did. Well, I thought the whole thing was a complete disaster; Chri was at least fascinated by the weight –bearing water. So, we had to pay JD 5,00 (= about EUR 6,00) per person admission to sit on a garbage dump! On top of that, the water wasn’t the greatest, it rained off and on and it was extremely windy. The water was dirty as well… We went in, nevertheless, to test the experience of not sinking. It works… but that’s really it. I didn’t like it at all. And you were told exactly where you could and couldn’t go into the water: "go over there, it is better for you, it is for tourists." What ever he meant by that, we felt like we were on show. Chairs were all lined up, occupied by fat men with hookahs, watching the foreign ladies. The same thing happened over by the "showers" – and their wives had to go completely covered into the water. I thought it was all very hypocritical. Oh well, since a huge rain cloud approached the Dead Sea, we headed back to Madaba after only 1 hour there. On the 17th of April, 2006, we decide to drive to Dana, a National Park located just above Petra. The weather had completely changed and it was now very cold again. We loved wearing the warm, insulated motorbike gear. We headed south on the Kings Highway. A great route with some spectacular on- and off ramps into different Wadis. Fantastic route, even though not the greatest for our tire with all those curves. And then we had to cancel our trip to Dana since the only way to get there was on a gravel road. We did end up going all the way to Petra today after only a small stop at the castle Shobak. Unfortunately, there was no camping available here either so that we had to stay in a hotel again. 18.+19.04.2006 We stayed 2days in Petra! A Nabataer city, cut into the rock and definitely worth seeing! On the first day we stayed there all day, from 9a.m. –5p.m., we saw everything worthwhile, the Siq, the treasury and the graves. Luckily all the tourists dispersed themselves and the Bedouins listened to a “no” when we declined their offer to ride on a camel or donkey. We were able to enjoy everything in peace and with lots of sunshine; apparently it had rained a lot a couple of days before. Well, when angels travel… We got up early on the second day; we were out in the country from 7:30 a.m.- 10:30 a.m. and then again in the afternoon form 3:30p.m. – 7p.m. We also climbed the 800 steps all the way up to the cloister, one of the most beautiful buildings in Petra. This way we were able to see the city at all times of the day. Even though all the guidebooks suggest planning 3 days to tour the city, we found that 2 days was plenty for us. Another highlight in Jordan! The city Wadi Musa that belongs to Petra is unfortunately completely “destroyed” through tourism. The sellers have rather arrogant manners and gamble wherever they can. E.g., the first night we decided to go to a restaurant to eat something different than Falafel. The meal was so-so and the waiter couldn’t calculate. He wasn’t able to add 16% taxes to the total, not even with the calculator. First the total came to JD 22,00, then to JD 16,00. When we checked it later on we got to a total of JD 13,00. Oh well, it seems to work with some tourists. 20.04.2006 Today we continue heading south. We stayed on the Highway and had beautiful views. At some point this highway turned into the Desert Highway- the highway of Jordanian, so to speak! Traffic was ok. We had now reached the desert and the temperature went up suddenly. We wanted to reach the Wadi Rum today- a nice desert area about 40km before Aqaba. We bid go there but we weren’t too enthusiastic about the city and the camp ground- located right next to the bus station. We couldn’t drive alone into the desert; we didn’t want to risk it with our rear tire. And we’re actually not really sure that that would have been possible because you had to book jeep tours. And we didn’t want to do that either, so after plenty of thought we decided to keep on driving until Aqab. We were still able to see the entire desert Wadi Rum - it sure looked great! Once in Aqaba- the furthest city south of Jordan and located at the Red Sea- we couldn't find teh camp site and all the hotels were booked. Exhausted from the heat and traffic we finally found a place to stay . The hotel was still under construction but our room was already finished and, besides the bath, it was actually o.k. And: they had TV with english movies. That proved to be important for the next coming day. It was a weekend again: a lot of people came from the capital Amman to go swimming. And for us it also meant that we had to wait for 3 days since the egyptian embassy was closed until Sunday. 21.+22.04.06 We were forced to take a break in Aqaba for the next 2 days. and there was nothing to do!This city doesn't have anything to offer except for city beaches. But they were, once again, too crowded and also dirty- nothing that appealed to us. Therefore we watched a lot of TV and laofed. 23.04.06 Today we got up early in order to be at the embassy on time. And we did it; we got in at 9a.m. and then it took us until 9:30a.m. until we were finally allowed to fill out the necessary documents, hand in a passport foto and pay a fee of JD 9.00 per person. And then we were told to come back around 1/1:30p.m. When asked why it takes so long we were tolf that the consul doesn't sign Visas unitl 12p.m. The consul!! Yeah, yeah... We went back to the hotel, layed down with the A/C on, waited and packed. We were back at the embassy by 12:30p.m. We thought that by bieng there right in front of them it might speed things up but, haha, they were CLOSED! Probably on lunchbreak or so... but of hours of business were suppposed to be betweeen 9a.m. and 2:30p.m. We could do nothing but wait. At 1p.m. they let in other Westerners, that's when Chri just let himself in with the others and we received our Visa for Egypt for 1 month. By now the last ferry for the day to Nuweiba was unfortunately already gone, which meant another night in Jordan. But this time we didn;t stay in Aqaba beacuase by then we had finally found out that the nice, free campsite at the oceanwas located about 12km south, toward the Saudi-Arabian border. we wanted to check that one out and we were hoping to meet 2 Germans (Karin and wolf with the truck). When we got there, we didn't see any truck nor a nice camp site. All it was was a lfat stony beach with parking facilities and no shade. What a disappointment- we didn't want to settle down here. We went to the Bedouin Camp Village instead and got a room. The operating authority was unfortunately very arrogant and everything was actually too expensive but we really didn't want to go back to Aqaba. Luckily they had a pool which we took advantage of. It was hard to fall asleep since they were playing "great" arabian schmalty songs as loud as possible-grrrr. Strange, in the end all people of the respective country seem to become more impossible and we more annoyed... Tha positive impression that we received at the beginning and throughout the first couple of days of Syria nad Jordan got destroyed through the behaviour of the respective people living in the South. 24.04.06 The last days in Jordan. We left for the harbour early so that we definitely wouldn't miss the ferry; especially since we heard of different departure times. Any time between 10:30 a.m. and 12p.m. was possible and in the end the ferry left at 12:30p.m. We were flabbergasted when we entered the harbour area: there were 15(!) Mercedes G. Wow - all from the best quality and all from Germany and Switzerland. They had all taken part in an off-road tour, organized by Mercedes. We were impressed by the cars and all the G'lers were surrounding us in amazement. Everybody we spoke to thought our plan was great. But most of them had already been everywhere themselves with their own cars. What sheer madness. They took care of us by providing us with drinks such as "Apfelschorle, Almdudler and Blockmalz". HmHm. And we were done with the border formalities a lot quicker than we had anticipated:-) All we did was pay the exit fee of JD 5,00 per person and moped, received a stamp in our passports, purchased the tickets (US$ 40,00 per person and US$ 30,00 for the moped) , got the Carnet stamped- and we were done! Didn't even last one hour. Then we had to wait again but talking to the G-people made time pass quickly.What happened after that you can soon read under "Egypt"- it'll get exciting. Summary of Jordan: RITA: Jordanian-gosh, I had imagined it to be such a great country. And on top of that we had seen and read all the great brochures and heard so much from friends about it. Unfortunately my expectations were not met. The only really interesting places were Jerash and Petra. Those I liked a lot. I was also looking forward to the Dead Sea and the Wadi Rum- well you already read the results of those experiences. The people are very nice, they show more of a cautious friendliness which was very pleasant. Unfortunately I have to admit that I would not travel to Jordanian again just because there is not enough to see. CHRI: I was somewhat disappointed from Jordanian. We received a brochure at the border that praised its land and tourist attractions highly. Hmmm. The only place worth seeing was Jerash and Petra. Very beautiful and still in good shape. There I would have liked to have a time -machine to be able to travel back a couple of centuries. The people in Jordanian are very nice. Even more pleasant than the Syrier. What really bothers me about the country is all the trash (and I am sure it is only to get worth). Everybody just throws everything outside. Even while driving, half full plastic coffee cups get tossed. It is not impossible to all of a sudden feel some coffee being splashed on you. Well, I don't really feel the need having to come back to Jordanian.

SYRIA TO JORDAN

02.04.06 - Entry - Compare to the Turkish boarder the Syrian is very convenient. The people are nice and very helpfull. First the passports had to be stamped. The Cow (our bike :-) ) is registered at Chri's passport. For the sustoms we took a facilitator. He would speak english fluently and did know how to handle the carnet de passage and what else we had to do. The whole thing took us 45 minutes and was totally relaxed. The entry to Syria costs about 50 US$ which is reasonable. Than came the first meters on syrian roads - it's a dream compare with the turkish ones. At this day wnt went to Aleppo. A city in the north of the country. The scenery was just a dream-what a relief to the eye: dark, red-brown earth, fresh green meadows, lots of olive tree plantations and flowers everywhere. Unfortunately it started to rain here as well which made the trip into the city exhausting. It also took us a while to find a hotel that we could afford ($15.00 per night) and that met our cleaniliness expectations. We checked in and didn't do anything else that evening.

03. and 04.04.06 - Aleppo and surrounding area: the first day we just tried to get to know the city, all the Souks, the Citadelle, the old part of the town and the beautiful Umayyaden mosque (here I, Rita, had to cover myself up with a shawl). The old part of the town is nice but we had imagined everything a lot smaller. That's when we decided that one day here is plenty.On the second day we took a trip to the ruins of the Simeon cloister- which was really impressive! That must have been a huge buliding at some point in time! In honour of the occasion (3rd wedding anniversary) we enjoyed a Falaffel from a roadside stand in the evening- very delicious and cheap. In addition, we each took a beer up to our room. While buying the beer we were able to observe how the locals bought their rations of alcohol- you either receive it in a black plastic bag or you drink it right there and then, i.e. a neutral bottle is filled with liquor which you then drink down all at once in front of the store. All right....

05.04.06 - What a day! Originally we were planning on going via the Hama (water-wheels) to the Krak of the Chevalliers and stay overnight there. But things happened quite differently. We started out taking the motorway (Autobahn) from Aleppo heading south. On the way we had planned to visit the ruins of Ebla- what a joke! Then we searched for a side road/ countryroad to get away from the Autobahn and to look at some more ruines (Al Bara, etc.). Unfortunately our map of Syria wasn't as good as we had hoped: all the city names are written in Latin and not in Arabic (by the way, the map is from our 'beloved' guidebook "Reise Know How"). However, all the little towns here are spelled in Arabic. Needless to say, we never found the side road and had to stay on the Autobahn. Later on we found a different side road that led us at least to the ruines of Apamea. After touring it we drove on to Hama. Unfortunately we had problems here as well to find the big water wheels as there were no signs at all. At any rate, we did find some in the city centre where one wheel was definitely powered by a motor and made a huge noise. We were pretty sure that there had to be other water wheels in the area but gave up and decided to head on towards Krak. Here we were also planning on using side roads but, again, that didn't happen as there weren't enough signs posted. On top of that it started to rain, then we had thick fog and we got lost. Great! By that time it was already 5:30p.m. and no hotel in sight. So we turned back around and decided to drive to Tartus, over by the ocean; surely there would be some hotels. By the way, the route was fantastic: hills and everything green. At about 7p.m. we still had a chance to enjoy a view of the ocean but then things got quite merry. There was no hotel in sight! It got dark and we noticed that neither the dimmed headlight nor the rear light was working (!) and on top of that it started to pour. Luckily we had just found a hotel and checked in. And just in time before the huge cloudburst! The hotel was impossible, the beds were actually clean but otherwise... There was some sort of voltage on top of the water so that we received a small shock every time we washed ourselves (it was able to be repaired after a while), we couldn't lock the door to the balcony and the door lock wasn't working either, etc. But at least it was dry, especially since we had a huge thunderstorm and lots of rain the following night! Breakfast the next day wasn't great either; actually it was downright a disgrace! The table was wiped 'clean' with a very filthy rag, the tea was foamy, the omelet looked disgusting and, worst of all, the silverware was dirty! There was still old food from meals before stuck in between the prongs of the fork. We lost all our appetite and after 2 bites of dry bread we left the hotel...

On April 6, 2006 we took the Autobahn from Tartus and headed towards Krak. We had the most beautiful sunshine and we didn't get lost either. This time the speedometer shaft broke; now we had no way of knowing how fast we went and we had no mileage indicator. Since we definitely needed the mileage indicator, we stopped at a 'repair shop' on the side of the road and were immediately surrounded by 10 people. The shaft was able to be repaired; we couldn't get a new one but the old one was welded back together. After 2-3 teas we were on our way again. We got to the Krak of the Chevallier (a massive, great crusader castle), beautiful sunshine greeted us and we found a nice hotel with a view of the castle. We toured the castle in the afternoon- also a great experience. The castle -located beautifully on top of a hill, surrounded by nothing else but green- is still pretty intact and very interesting to tour. We liked it a lot.

When we woke up in the morning of April 7, 2006, there was thick fog which cleared after breakfast. Today we drove via Hims (which we didn’t' tour, didn't seem to be much of anything) to Palmyra. At the beginning the area was still green and full of life, and then we reached the desert. Fascinating at first, then pretty boring as it is a stony desert and completely flat! The route is dead straight which meant we had to be careful not to fall asleep. We were startled by the speedometer shaft braking for the second time. What a nuisance! Once we reached Palmyra we checked into a hotel and relaxed. We also realized unfortunately that our rear tire was starting to deteriorate. The wire started coming through, thanks to the Turkish roads:-(. The new tires were waiting for us in Egypt (Sharm-el Sheikh) and now we're not sure whether the tire is going to last until then. We'll have to look in Damascus whether we can find a used or new moped tire; very unlikely, though. Well, somehow it'll work.

April 8 and 9, 2006
We stayed 2 days in Palmyra. On the first day we visited the ruines of this fascinating old city; its prime time was in the 2. and 3. century. An arabic city that even in roman times conducted its independent trade. It served as meeting place to all caravans who were on their way on the silkroad. What a fantastic feeling to walk through these ruines and to be amazed as to what people have accomplished over 2000 years ago! We visited all the ruines all day long! In the evening it was for the first time so warm that we were able to sit outside.

The second day we just relaxed, the speedometer shaft was being repaired, we did some laundry and send some e-mails. We also visited the museum and some graves. In the evening we happenend to meet a couple from Slovenia (see www.ravbar.t-media.si/en) who have been on the road now for 2 years and just came back from Cape Town; it took them 4 months! We exchanged some interesting news- they liked Africa a lot but thought it was also strenous. They are on their way home now; 2 years is a very long time.

April 10, 2006
Journey to Damascus: with lots of wind we drove slowly ( about 70/80 km/h) towards the capital. Always very cautious, not to put too much pressure on the tire. The route took us again through the desert- insane! The entry into Damascus was ..., because everybody over here drives like crazy! So far we couldn't say that about the syrians. Chri was on the verge of hitting someone:-). After just a little while we found a simple, old hotel where we could also park the bike in front of the door. Early in the evening we started our search for a tire shop- unfortunately without success. We enjoyed the city a little by night, had a Falaffel and went tired to bed.

Today is the 11th of April, 2006, and we are in Damascus. We explored the city: Omayyaden mosque, souks, the old part of town, Saladin mausoleum ... very interesting, there are a lot of old houses here but most of them are unfortunately very dilapidated. We searched unsuccessfully for the much expressed charme of the city; it is simply a city with lots of traffic and people. The old part of town is nice to visit but there aren't e.g. any cafe's or something similar where you could sit in peace. Tomorrow we are going to go on- nice and slowly; keep your fingers crossed that the tire will last.

April 12 and 13, 2006
Leaving Damscus turned out to be rather difficult- we wandered around for almost 30km until we finally found the right direction toward the south. Phew! Then we stayed on a comfortable country road all the way until Bosra. Except for the theatre there is nothing else here to see. We also didn't find a hotel that we liked; we had a choice between a bathroom, a day room of a restaurant or a 5-star hotel (EUR 150,00..) That's when we decided that all we were going to do here was visit the theatre which, by the way, turned out to be really interesting. Then, unfortunately, a group of syrian schoolchildren joined us who started playing soccer in the antic (!) theatre and bothered all of the tourists with phrases like "whatsyourname", "picturepicture" and lots of yelling. It was so bad that Chri all of a sudden started yellling back at them (I've never seen that side of my husband:-) ). Of course they weren't frightened too long so that we finally fled and continued on towards Dar'a, located at the syrian-jordanian border. Luckily there was one hotel. After unsuccessfully trying to find breakfast the next morning (April 13, 2006) we left to go to the border. Everything on the syrian border would have been processed a lot sooner but... first of all there was a tractor who wanted to tow us and then 3 busses full of spaniards handed in their passports just before we did. That was just a little too much for the customs men. Especially since the chef was the only one allowed to work on groups and foreigners. Therefore the whole procedure took about 60 minutes and cost us again US$ 5.00- for whatever.

Summary of Syria:
RITA: Definitely an interesting country! I didn't have a clear picture in my mind as to what to expect, hence, I was pleasantly surprised. The country side is varied, from fertile red-brown earth all the way to the desert. I liked the scenery of the north-west the most, the area by Aleppo and around the Krak of the Chevalliers. In addition, the visit of Palmyra was the absolut highlight and a 'must' for anybody visiting Syria. I was also very pleasantly surprised by the people in this country: very friendly and helpful. Here, everybody accepted a 'no' already the second time around without being mad and feeling insulted. Very pleasant! The only thing I didn't care for and that was embarrassing every so often were the looks I received from men and women alike; I'm assuming because of my short hair which also seemed to be the reason for laughter... but if that is the only fault they can find with us- then I can (and did) live with it. The country is fairly cheap: a Falaffel from the side of the road costs e.g. EUR 0,20, the cheapest hotel (which we took, by the way) cost US$ 8,00. The food was most of the time delicious: Falaffel, Humus (mush made from chick-peas) and salad. And pickled gherkins are always served-hmhm!! Yup- I liked Syria.

CHRI: I do think, that Syria is a very interesting country. I was surprised from the fertile earth. I didn't think that it's like this over here. The people are also very friendly and kind. Specially with the repair of the speedometer shaft. It was done in Palmyra. Made out of one out of a car and ours. For the small motorbikes here at this country the speedometer shafts are much shorter and didn't fit at the BMW. Palmyra is because of the ruins a verr pleasant place. I like it that the touristy places are not ruined and too touristy. Here in Syira I was also positively surprised of the food. It was no problem at all to get something vegetarian. You can get Falaffel and Humus everywhere. A nice country and worth a visit.

+++++

JORDAN

13.04.2006 – Entry
After all this coldness over the last several weeks we were finally greeted with heat at the Jordanian border. We got through all the formalities rather quickly. Before we started running from one counter to another, we asked a police officer who was kind enough to inform us about the necessary steps: get the customs documents, obtain permission to get the passports stamped J, exchange money, have passports looked at, get Visas (Jordanian Dinar/JD 10,00 per person), now go get passports stamped and then I went to relax in the shade while Christian went to get the papers for the moped. That did take a little longer but only because nobody knew how much toll had to be paid. All in all we finally paid JD 11,00. In addition to that we also had to take out an insurance of JD 21,00, the “carnet” was stamped and we received a 14-day driving permission for the moped. Plenty of time, since the most we wanted to stay was 10-12 days.

We drove all the way through hilly countryside to Jerash. While refueling, the attendant was so enthusiastic about us that he first of all invited to his house for a meal (which we politely declined) and then took photos with his handy. Very nice. Once in Jerash we took the first hotel we could find because meanwhile we were pretty soaked in our clothing (we are still wearing everything!). The hotel was great and cool. After a short break and a change of clothes we went to scout the ruins of Jerash (antic Gerasa). Jerash has a great reputation of being the best-preserved Roman city. Fantastic- we even liked it better than Palmyra! Just before we visited the countryside, we met 2 Germans whom we’ve already been e-mailing with. They are on their way in a truck and are doing the same as we are. Oh how small the world is! We were actually hoping to get together with them after our reconnaissance expedition but unfortunately they weren’t there anymore when we came back. Perhaps they weren’t able to stand here overnight with their truck. Oh well, we are sure to meet again sometime. This evening we had a nice meal in an Arabic restaurant and a good night sleep in a cool room.

14.04.2006
A Friday! We still have not gotten used to the routine of the week: Fridays and Saturdays are days off or rather the weekend. Which means every Jordanian is leaving for the weekend and everything is full. And it’s the same today. We left Jerash and drove towards the nicely described Jordanian valley- a bitter disappointment, besides plastic greenhouses there were nothing much there. All green and blossoming- no way… The route led us to the Dead Sea where we had intended to camp. But first of all there was no camping and secondly it was so full of locals that we decided to keep on going towards Madaba. On top of that it was also very hot - we had taken our little thermometer and put it into the tank backpack, and it climbed quickly above the 60-degree mark. Then again, it was lying in full sunlight and was exposed to the hot air stream. But it was at least in the mid 30th. We found the last available hotel in Madaba, i.e. B&B and after a cold and refreshing shower we spend the remaining day in our room i.e. the dayroom of the B&B, relaxing and being lazy.

15.+16.04.2006
2 days in Madaba: on Saturday we strolled through this small city and looked at all the beautiful mosaics. Definitely worth seeing but otherwise there’s not much else to do. In the evening we met in the B&B an Austrian with whom we quickly got into a conversation with. She had already been “through Africa”, started 14 years ago, with a truck from Vienna to Cape Town. Then she stayed 5 more years on that continent and drove trucks for Overland Tours. Cool thing, there was a lot to talk about and we sat together until 1:30a.m. Sunday we drove, once again, to the Dead Sea in hopes of less people. We were lucky but we were very disappointed of the "beach". We were only supposed to enter the water form one specific beach because that’s where they had something similar to showers to wash off the salt. And that’s what we did. Well, I thought the whole thing was a complete disaster; Chri was at least fascinated by the weight –bearing water. So, we had to pay JD 5,00 (= about EUR 6,00) per person admission to sit on a garbage dump! On top of that, the water wasn’t the greatest, it rained off and on and it was extremely windy. The water was dirty as well… We went in, nevertheless, to test the experience of not sinking. It works… but that’s really it. I didn’t like it at all. And you were told exactly where you could and couldn’t go into the water: "go over there, it is better for you, it is for tourists." What ever he meant by that, we felt like we were on show. Chairs were all lined up, occupied by fat men with hookahs, watching the foreign ladies. The same thing happened over by the "showers" – and their wives had to go completely covered into the water. I thought it was all very hypocritical. Oh well, since a huge rain cloud approached the Dead Sea, we headed back to Madaba after only 1 hour there.

On the 17th of April, 2006, we decide to drive to Dana, a National Park located just above Petra. The weather had completely changed and it was now very cold again. We loved wearing the warm, insulated motorbike gear. We headed south on the Kings Highway. A great route with some spectacular on- and off ramps into different Wadis. Fantastic route, even though not the greatest for our tire with all those curves. And then we had to cancel our trip to Dana since the only way to get there was on a gravel road. We did end up going all the way to Petra today after only a small stop at the castle Shobak. Unfortunately, there was no camping available here either so that we had to stay in a hotel again.

18.+19.04.2006
We stayed 2days in Petra! A Nabataer city, cut into the rock and definitely worth seeing! On the first day we stayed there all day, from 9a.m. –5p.m., we saw everything worthwhile, the Siq, the treasury and the graves. Luckily all the tourists dispersed themselves and the Bedouins listened to a “no” when we declined their offer to ride on a camel or donkey. We were able to enjoy everything in peace and with lots of sunshine; apparently it had rained a lot a couple of days before. Well, when angels travel… We got up early on the second day; we were out in the country from 7:30 a.m.- 10:30 a.m. and then again in the afternoon form 3:30p.m. – 7p.m. We also climbed the 800 steps all the way up to the cloister, one of the most beautiful buildings in Petra. This way we were able to see the city at all times of the day. Even though all the guidebooks suggest planning 3 days to tour the city, we found that 2 days was plenty for us. Another highlight in Jordan! The city Wadi Musa that belongs to Petra is unfortunately completely “destroyed” through tourism. The sellers have rather arrogant manners and gamble wherever they can. E.g., the first night we decided to go to a restaurant to eat something different than Falafel. The meal was so-so and the waiter couldn’t calculate. He wasn’t able to add 16% taxes to the total, not even with the calculator. First the total came to JD 22,00, then to JD 16,00. When we checked it later on we got to a total of JD 13,00. Oh well, it seems to work with some tourists.

20.04.2006
Today we continue heading south. We stayed on the Highway and had beautiful views. At some point this highway turned into the Desert Highway- the highway of Jordanian, so to speak! Traffic was ok. We had now reached the desert and the temperature went up suddenly. We wanted to reach the Wadi Rum today- a nice desert area about 40km before Aqaba. We bid go there but we weren’t too enthusiastic about the city and the camp ground- located right next to the bus station. We couldn’t drive alone into the desert; we didn’t want to risk it with our rear tire. And we’re actually not really sure that that would have been possible because you had to book jeep tours. And we didn’t want to do that either, so after plenty of thought we decided to keep on driving until Aqab. We were still able to see the entire desert Wadi Rum - it sure looked great!

Once in Aqaba- the furthest city south of Jordan and located at the Red Sea- we couldn't find teh camp site and all the hotels were booked. Exhausted from the heat and traffic we finally found a place to stay . The hotel was still under construction but our room was already finished and, besides the bath, it was actually o.k. And: they had TV with english movies. That proved to be important for the next coming day. It was a weekend again: a lot of people came from the capital Amman to go swimming. And for us it also meant that we had to wait for 3 days since the egyptian embassy was closed until Sunday.

21.+22.04.06
We were forced to take a break in Aqaba for the next 2 days. and there was nothing to do!This city doesn't have anything to offer except for city beaches. But they were, once again, too crowded and also dirty- nothing that appealed to us. Therefore we watched a lot of TV and laofed.

23.04.06
Today we got up early in order to be at the embassy on time. And we did it; we got in at 9a.m. and then it took us until 9:30a.m. until we were finally allowed to fill out the necessary documents, hand in a passport foto and pay a fee of JD 9.00 per person. And then we were told to come back around 1/1:30p.m. When asked why it takes so long we were tolf that the consul doesn't sign Visas unitl 12p.m. The consul!! Yeah, yeah... We went back to the hotel, layed down with the A/C on, waited and packed. We were back at the embassy by 12:30p.m. We thought that by bieng there right in front of them it might speed things up but, haha, they were CLOSED! Probably on lunchbreak or so... but of hours of business were suppposed to be betweeen 9a.m. and 2:30p.m. We could do nothing but wait. At 1p.m. they let in other Westerners, that's when Chri just let himself in with the others and we received our Visa for Egypt for 1 month. By now the last ferry for the day to Nuweiba was unfortunately already gone, which meant another night in Jordan. But this time we didn;t stay in Aqaba beacuase by then we had finally found out that the nice, free campsite at the oceanwas located about 12km south, toward the Saudi-Arabian border. we wanted to check that one out and we were hoping to meet 2 Germans (Karin and wolf with the truck). When we got there, we didn't see any truck nor a nice camp site. All it was was a lfat stony beach with parking facilities and no shade. What a disappointment- we didn't want to settle down here. We went to the Bedouin Camp Village instead and got a room. The operating authority was unfortunately very arrogant and everything was actually too expensive but we really didn't want to go back to Aqaba. Luckily they had a pool which we took advantage of. It was hard to fall asleep since they were playing "great" arabian schmalty songs as loud as possible-grrrr.

Strange, in the end all people of the respective country seem to become more impossible and we more annoyed... Tha positive impression that we received at the beginning and throughout the first couple of days of Syria nad Jordan got destroyed through the behaviour of the respective people living in the South.

24.04.06
The last days in Jordan. We left for the harbour early so that we definitely wouldn't miss the ferry; especially since we heard of different departure times. Any time between 10:30 a.m. and 12p.m. was possible and in the end the ferry left at 12:30p.m. We were flabbergasted when we entered the harbour area: there were 15(!) Mercedes G. Wow - all from the best quality and all from Germany and Switzerland. They had all taken part in an off-road tour, organized by Mercedes. We were impressed by the cars and all the G'lers were surrounding us in amazement. Everybody we spoke to thought our plan was great. But most of them had already been everywhere themselves with their own cars. What sheer madness. They took care of us by providing us with drinks such as "Apfelschorle, Almdudler and Blockmalz". HmHm. And we were done with the border formalities a lot quicker than we had anticipated:-) All we did was pay the exit fee of JD 5,00 per person and moped, received a stamp in our passports, purchased the tickets (US$ 40,00 per person and US$ 30,00 for the moped) , got the Carnet stamped- and we were done! Didn't even last one hour. Then we had to wait again but talking to the G-people made time pass quickly.What happened after that you can soon read under "Egypt"- it'll get exciting.

Summary of Jordan:
RITA: Jordanian-gosh, I had imagined it to be such a great country. And on top of that we had seen and read all the great brochures and heard so much from friends about it. Unfortunately my expectations were not met. The only really interesting places were Jerash and Petra. Those I liked a lot. I was also looking forward to the Dead Sea and the Wadi Rum- well you already read the results of those experiences. The people are very nice, they show more of a cautious friendliness which was very pleasant. Unfortunately I have to admit that I would not travel to Jordanian again just because there is not enough to see.

CHRI: I was somewhat disappointed from Jordanian. We received a brochure at the border that praised its land and tourist attractions highly. Hmmm. The only place worth seeing was Jerash and Petra. Very beautiful and still in good shape. There I would have liked to have a time -machine to be able to travel back a couple of centuries. The people in Jordanian are very nice. Even more pleasant than the Syrier. What really bothers me about the country is all the trash (and I am sure it is only to get worth). Everybody just throws everything outside. Even while driving, half full plastic coffee cups get tossed. It is not impossible to all of a sudden feel some coffee being splashed on you. Well, I don't really feel the need having to come back to Jordanian.