Syria 2007

Route

• Days: 12 days    
• Period: april
• Weather: Mostly sunny around 20 degrees, but we had also colder days and even rain. Also in the evening and night it was pretty cold.

General information:

• Currency: Syrian Pound  

• Internet: Available in a lot of places

• ATM's: for Cirrus, Maestro and Visa in Aleppo,Damascus and Hama

• Creditcards: No experience, we did not use them here

• Safety: Travelling in Syria is very safe

Prices (per April 2007)

• Value Money: €1 = 67 SYP

• Fuel:  7 SYP per liter (about € 0,11). In Aleppo diesel was not available in the City Centre. Outside the centre it was no problem.

• Camping: prices from 300 to 600 SYP per night for 2 persons and a car

• Entrence fees: Entrence fees for the whole of Syria are 150 SP per person for larger sights and 75 SP for smaller sights. Most of Palmyra and the water wheels at Hama are free         

Visa & Border crossing

• We arranged our Visa at the border. In order to get in quickly we paid some bribe money (about 10 Dollar)

• Visa costs 34 US Dollar per person

• Visa is valid for 2 week

• Within 2 weeks it can be extended at any police station

• Dutch people can arrange their visa at the border as there is not Syrian embassy in Holland. If you have an Syrian embassy in your country you have to arrange it there. It that case at the border a visa might not be issued.

• When taking your own car into Syria you have to pay road tax which is 9 US Dollar

• A third party insurance must also be bought (even if you have one yourself you are still obliged to buy one). The price is 36 US Dollar.

• When your car runs on diesel you have to pay a diesel tax. This is 100 US Dollar per week.

• If you are not sure how long you will stay you can pay for one week. When you leave the country you can always pay more in case you stayed longer. Or in some cases you might even be lucky just like us. We stayed more then one week and the did not noticed it.

• When leaving Syria you have to pay 1$ departure tax per person

 

Highlights or not

• Aleppo: was a nice city with a great souk and nice citadel

• Latakia and the rest of the coast: We found Latakia a dirty city and the coastal area was full of industry and building not much nature left.

• Krak de Chevaliers: Great cruisader castle. The best of them all.

• Hama: Although you have seen in very quickly the water wheels are nice. Hama also is a pleasant town.

• Palmyra: The best site in Syria

• Damascus: The old city is very laidback and there is a great souk

• Bosra: Small friendly village with a well preserved Roman theatre

Tips

• Syria is an islamic country. On Friday, their holy day, much shops are closed. Best not to visit a souk on this day.

• If you would like to bring something to give away here, bring hand creme. All the women are asking you about it.

 

Important addresses

 

Dutch embassy in Syria:

Abou Roumaneh, Al Jalaa Street, Tello Building

(Bar Diab Building) no. 116, Damascus

tel: 00963-11-3336871 of 3337631

fax: 00963-11-3339363

email: dmc@minbuza.nl

 

Syrian consulate in the Netherlands

Laan van Meerdervoort 53 D

2517 AE  Den Haag

 

GPS-waypoints

 

Grid: Lat/Lon hddd°mm.mmm"

 

Aleppo	N36.11.961	E037.09.773	Place of interest	Citadel	Citadel of Aleppo
Aleppo	N36.12.719	E037.08.994	Bank		ATM for Cirrus, Maestro and Visa
Aleppo	N36.08.380	E036.52.575	Camping	Kadour	Campsite close to Aleppo, in a small village just off the road to Turkey
Krak de Chevaliers	N34.45.279	E036.17.693	Camping	Restaurant Le Table Ronde	Campsite next to the restaurant and to the castle
Hama	N35.07.845	E036.45.414	Hotel	Riad Hotel	Clean hotel in the centre. Fast internet close and ATM for visa in front
Palmyra	N34.32.766	E038.16.483	Camping	Al Baider	Directly next to the Bel Temple. Campsite also has a swimming pool.
Damascus	N33.32.800	E036.20.867	Camping	New Kaboun	Campsite just outside Damascus on the way to Homs. Good facilities.
Aleppo	N36.07.783	E036.52.802	Junction	Road to camping Kadour	Take this turn and follow the small road or track to reach camping Kadour.
Aleppo	N36.12.323	E037.09.110	Center		This street is in the middle of the area where most of the cheap hotels are located. In front in a good restaurant.
Krak de Chevaliers	N34.45.800	E036.17.809	Place of interest	Krak de Chevaliers	Very impressive cruisader castle
Hama	N35.08.039	E036.46.005	Place of interest	Water wheels	Behind the restaurant are the 4 norias (the four big wooden water wheels)
Palmyra	N34.33.254	E038.15.941	Place of interest	Greek ruins	Beautiful place with nicely restored ruins
Qalat Salahiddin	N35.35.743	E036.03.503	Place of interest	Castle	Castle ruins on top of a hill

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