Sent on Sep. 30, 2004 from @ural Internet Service, diagonally
across the street from Al-Patra Hotel in Damascus. (Use the
pedestrian overpass to cross the street, walk to corner, turn
right, it is 10 meters on your right, down the stairs.)

If you start your tour like mine, starting from Istanbul,
proceed as follows, OR go below Istanbul and pick the
starting point.  Egypt, etc. are not included here.  I am
sending this at the end of the packaged tour of Syria;
tomorrow I am off to a 6-day tour of Lebanon.  I will be
another week in Syria after that, then continue to Eastern
Turkey.

0. MIDEAST GENERAL. Pachatours.com or Gate1 offer very good
tours of Turkey, or Istanbul alone, the latter I believe
for up to 6 days.  If you take it as part of a greater tour
of Turkey, 3 days of stay and tours of Istanbul are
included.  Unless you are an experienced traveler, you
SHOULD arrange your tours in the Mideast thru a travel
agent, like Pachatours that, I believe also handles Greece,
or a combination.  Tours for Americans to Arab countries
are treated by tour agents as a special deal and at high
prices, especially Iran.  This is why I asked a friend to
arrange my tours of Syria and Lebanon from Jordan, which
country I had traversed all over in 2002.

1. ISTANBUL ($ = 1,500,000 TL).  If this city is not THE
most beautiful city in the world, it is certainly one of
the tops.  If you go by Pachatours, they will take you to
the most important parts of the Old Istanbul and possibly
also have n the Bosporus.  However, by size, Istanbul would
put even Los Angeles to shame.  You will miss the islands
in the Marmara Sea, that are also part of Istanbul, of the
Grand Island is the largest and most important.  Beyond
these, there are 3 other excursions that I would recommend.
 Alas, you need to rent a car a do these of your own: 1)
Follow the road on the ASIATIC side north, all the way to
the BLACK SEA. 2) Continue this ride to the fishing village
of (Sh)ile, have seafood at a restaurant there overlooking
the rocks, spend the night there, and return the next morn.
 3) Do the same on the European side. If you can do only
one, do the ride on the Asiatic side.  You will get
glimpses of cozy fishing villages, beautiful views of the
Bosporus, tiny meadows with cows and sheep grazing, family
plots with fruit trees, grape vines, and vegetables, tiny
villages recalling timeless Turkish scenes also from
Anatolia.

2. WESTERN TURKEY & JORDAN ($=.68 Jordanian Dinar). To see
the highlights of my tour of Western Turkey with
Pachatours, later also of Jordan of my own, go to
http://sirman.net/celayirs/2003/ and click on the Asia
album, then on Mideast album, then on Turkey 2002, return
for Jordan.  A report about both is included.  You can get
entry visa to Jordan upon arrival at the airport for 10 JD.
In Amman, reserve a night out at WILD JORDAN, a new
cafe-restaurant in Jebel Amman with a wonderful view of
Darat El Funun and the Citadel.  

3. TOURS TO SYRIA & LEBANON.  My friend Rawan arranged my
6-day tour to Syria (and later also a 6-day tour to
Lebanon) with a tour agency (Al Jazeerah) in Amman, for 190
JD (about $279) for Syria and 149 JD ($219) for Lebanon
with breakfast included.

email Al-Jezeerah= aweidah@index.com.jo

So with a bus-full of Jordanians, started my tour from there,
with the most scenic right front seat reserved for me. I had
obtained my double-entry (one from Jordan, one later from
Lebanon) visa to Syria in Washington.  The formalities at
the border, about an hour north of Amman, took about an
hour.  I stood in a separate line, the officer concluding
with a "Welcome to Syria," after I told him I am from the
USA, so a rare one for Syria.  You have to fill out also a
card with detailed info and keep it with you until exit.  I
should note that the packaged tours by seemingly all tour
agencies from Jordan to Syria and Lebanon skip the
historical sites, even Palmyra and Krak des Chevaliers,
curiously also Aleppo, in Syria, Baalbeck, etc. in Lebanon.
 So I made plans to see these places of my own.  Since I am
writing this report at the end of the packaged tour to
Syria, I should also add this was a fine trip, ALSO because
of the company and friendship of the wonderful group of
Jordanians (and 2 Yamanis) who were my companions. AND
while our tour skipped historical sites along the way, it
included much scenery and quaint villages that foreign
visitors traveling on their own in Syria do not get to see,
as I found out later at the hostel. So such packaged tours
from Jordan to Syria and Lebanon are viable alternatives to
traveling alone, certainly much more culturally enriching,
especially for Americans.  I recommend it. A few words also
about the Syrians.  While our policies in the Mideast have
not made Americans popular in these parts, everyone I met
treated me with the courtesy and hospitality that the
Mideast is famous for.  More Americans should come to these
parts and ascertain this fact for themselves.  (Nice that I
did meet several Americans traveling alone in Syria.)

3. DAMASCUS ($=51 Syrian Lira).  The trip from Amman to
Damascus is over a desert-like landscape, with several
stops at uniquely Mideastern shops and cafes along the way.
 In Damascus, one party was dropped off at the 4 Seasons
Club-Hotel about 18 km south of the city, at a desolate
spot.  Take the higher hotel option at Damascus
International at city center instead, right around the
corner (across the street to the right) from the 3-star Al
Patra Hotel.  If you are of your own later in Damascus, as
I was 2 days waiting for the Lebanon tour to pick me up
from Damascus International, dont bother negotiating a
favorable rate at these hotels; they are invariably high
especially for Americans.  INSTEAD go to hostels right next
Al Patra Hotel: ALHARAMAIN the other ALRABIE.  Facing the
Al Patra Hotel, right to its right there are about 6 steps
that lead to a small street lined with small shops on both
sides.  About 15 meters on the left is the 1st hotel, 10
meters after that the 2nd. There is a 3rd one further up
that street.  The Alharamain was still full this morning
(Sep. 29), so I walked up to Alrabie.  It had a bed
available.  A spotless room with 4 beds costs $4 (less) per
night.  The room has high ceilings, a ceiling fan, and
clean sheets.  The outstanding feature of Alrabie is the
very quaint and large courtyard in the center of the
building, with a round fountain at the center and grape
vines dangling from the metal mesh above and around.  Even
during the day, the place is cool and serene, easy
conversation to be had with all sorts of Westerners, among
them professors, archaeologists, casual travelers.  2
nights ago I was at the 5-star Meridian in Lattakia, the
night before at the 5-star Safir in Homs.  I prefer
this also for its easy-going ambiance.  Right
(diagonally) across from the entry to that small street is
a very good (cheap and fast) Internet cafe called @ural. 
(Pass Al Patra and cross the street to the steps leading to
the overpass over the wide street; take it to the other
side, continue about 10 meters on the same side
perpendicular to AlPatra; see the red Internet cafe sign to
your right; walk down the steps; the cost is 75 SL ($1.50)
per hour, cheaper longer.

a) DINING in the Mideast is a celebration in itself.  On
our last night with the tour most of us chipped in 500 SR
(about $10) for dinner and entertainment at an
old-fashioned restaurant in the old city.  The meze
(appetizers) alone cost more than that.  What was offered
before the main dish (mine mixed grill) was much more than
we could consume.  Indeed, on our first night in Damascus,
for 400 SL ($8), we had a nicer dinner at the Huge DAMASCUS
GATE restaurant, soon with additions of India Gate and Euro
Way restaurants.  This place is a must-see in that in
addition to its beautiful decor, the place can seat up to
7,000 people, 1,200 (in summer) 500 (in winter) serving
them.

b) SITES. Get a guide book about things to see in Damascus.
 The Al Hamadiyeh Souq is a must also because it is part of
the old city with Omayyed's Mosque and Saladin's Tomb. The
ancient sites at Maaula can be reached about $10 by bus.

4. HOMS. Our tour included the City of Homs, about halfway
between Damascus and Aleppo to the north.  The road climbs
mountains that are very similar in looks to the Coast
Mountains of California, with similar desert-like
landscape. Right outside of Damascus, we stopped on top of
a mountain for a wonderful and wide view of the city. 
Alas, the entire hillside (as other stopover sites later)
were polluted with all sorts of discards of plastic bags,
bottles, cans, what have you.  Although the cities,
especially Homs, are kept relatively clean, the countryside
is in dire need of garbage bins and cleaning.  We stayed at
the Safir restaurant in Homs.

5. LATTAKIA.  The landscape, still over the mountains, gets
much more lush towards the coastal city of Lattakia.  The
scenery is typical Mediterranean.  We stayed at the
Meridian, about 9 km outside the city.  Except for the
scenery there is not much in the city itself.