info@discoeverywhere.com

Syria One very important thing with Syria is not to believe the image that is portrayed by Bush and CNN about this country. The stereotype is an evil country that exists solely to train terrorists and as such hates westerners with a passion. The real Syria could not be further from the truth. While it lacks some of the western polish of its slick neighbour Jordan, it is filled with incredibly friendly, helpful and amazing people. Don’t believe the propaganda. Our first highlight of Syria was not having to pay diesel tax. If you bring a diesel vehicle into the country you are required to pay USD $100 per week in a diesel tax. We were asked if our car was diesel (benzene is petrol and solar is diesel) and we said no it wasn’t, it was benzene. We were asked again and again and we kept saying no it wasn’t “benzene, yes benzene”. Even when we had to start it up and Truckasaurus clattered loudly like a proud little diesel, proud of who it was and not prepared to pretend to be anything less than 2.5L of turbo diesel power (mind you I turned the engine off as soon as I could and only started it as soon as I was clear to drive forward) the inspector looked at us critically and questionably. We were asked to open the fuel filler so they could inspect it. We complied, they asked again, we said no it was benzene and finally they signed the form and we were on our way. As we were leaving, a French couple (who were very up themselves and had given us a hard time leaving Jordan even after we helped them out with local money – they haggled over the exchange rate for the sake of a few dollars) saw us leaving and complained. They had gotten through before us but had to park their (diesel) car to the side while they paid their diesel tax. They came up to the inspector who was standing at my window as we drove off asking why we did not obviously have to pay the diesel tax and they did. I took off before they could turn us in and convince him that we had to pay as well. He probably replied “it is not diesel, we have questioned them, thoroughly”. “Wee Wee Yess it eeizz!” They would have argued back. “No No No, it is petrol… Benzene…” he would have said in exaggerated slowness so they could understand while shaking his head. I saw the French couple wave their arms above their head as we left, looking after us in disgust as if we had committed some great crime against the people of France. It is not my fault that they were not smart enough to talk their way out of a silly and very expensive tax. We were doubly glad to have avoided the diesel tax, as there are long cues to get diesel here. You can wait for 3-4 hours. The government is trying to crack down on people filling their tanks and then selling the diesel in Lebanon where the price is much higher (the price in Syria is very similar to Egypt). Their way of stopping this is to ration the amount of fuel that leaves the refinery each day. This leads to shortage, long cues and general hardship for the man on the street. We had decided to treat Truckasaurus to a major service in Damascus. We arrived at the Land Rover dealer to be told that they did not have the oils for the auto, diffs or transfer case for the Td5. They had engine oil and engine parts (but not the oil filter – I had to supply one that I had as a spare). They proceeded to change the oil and they fixed a problem with the ABS/Traction control (The problem has since returned in Turkey). The ABS, Traction Control, HDC and Park Brake lights had stayed on the dash since Ethiopia indicating a problem with the ABS/TC. The fault was most probably a wheel sensor. Land Rover in Addis had just reset the computer. Heavy breaking to avoid a rock throwing youth in northern Ethiopia, thus engaging the ABS system had the effect of reinstating the problem. My efforts to reset the computer (disconnect the battery for an hour or so) failed to rectify it. The problem was diagnosed as dirt and dust in the sensor. It was cleaned, the system reset and we were on our way. We asked the service manager about he diesel problems and he offered to help us jump the waiting trucks and buses. He drove us at high speed, (they all drive at high speed over here) to the front of the line and proceeded to tell the owner that we were from the Dutch embassy (I was the ambassador I think). Suddenly we were the next in line. The truck that pulled out in front of us had been waiting for over three hours. We got 10L into the tank before the diesel ran out. Having only 20L now we headed to the next station, a similar story was told and we managed to fill our 130L tank and the two 20L jerry cans on the roof for about USD $25. We should now have enough fuel to get to Turkey, although if we find a place near the boarder with a small line of trucks we will fill up again as the price from here on will be very expensive. We decided to stay a few days in Damascus to see one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. It is a blend between the modern and the ancient world. An incredibly pleasant city to spend some time seeing the sites. We stayed at the Sultan Hotel; a small but clean hotel with incredibly friendly and helpful staff (USD $40/double). We headed for Palmyra to see more ancient Roman ruins. We stayed at Al Baider, which on the surface was a nice place to stay. The only drama was that one of the guys running it kept sleazing onto Jacinda, touching her, getting close, offering to massage her (All this was done while I was not their, not looking or generally unawares). While we were at the ruins we got caught in a huge sand storm. The sky darkened, the light became a golden Yellow and then the wind and the sand hit us. Apart from being very uncomfortable, it was a beautiful thing to see. Our last item in Syria was Krak de Chevaliers, a very well preserved crusade castle. With a bit of a make over, a coat of paint and some new furniture you could almost move into it (the moat needs a clean and restocking with crocodiles though). While we only spent a week in Syria (we are running behind schedule), it was a beautiful little country. The people were incredibly friendly, the scenery beautiful and we were able to avoid paying the diesel tax even though we were interrogated again at the boarder when we left for Turkey. Costs Road Tax USD $9 Insurance USD $41 Visa USD $33/pp Diesel Tax USD $100 (We didn’t pay this)