I knew I was in Syria because my cell phone told me so. It's one of those tips that I, as a seasoned traveler now, have picked up. As soon as I cross the border my cell phone company is anxious to send me texts about how I can still make phone calls in these far away lands, for merely outrageous prices.
I also learned that moving around the Middle East isn't too bad. An afternoon border crossing may stretch into a late night border crossing, but you get into the country. What to take with you when you leave is another story. I've been having a bit of trouble getting that perfect souvenir from every country I visit. What should I take from Beirut, that sells itself as the Paris of the Middle East? The county is famous throughout history for its trees, which is a bit of a paradox, considering that the Lebanese Cedar tree population is nothing more then a few patches today. They are also famous for their soup, but that's not exactly something I can display on the mantel, at least not on my mantel. The same problem happened in Syria, famous for... inventing civilization? Perhaps the problem stems from the fact the countries themselves were defined pretty much randomly by England after WWII, and it's hard to find a defining national identity. And although the areas have vast histories, spanning millennia, I need something that sums that all up in a portable "chachka" form for a reasonable price. Perhaps they have models of the Eiffel Tower?
Syria was fun, I've already left, by the way. I'm sad at the things I didn't get to see, like the a giant water mill you can dive off, or ancient Roman ruins in a city called Palmyra, but such are the casualties of a whirlwind tour of the Middle East. I did explore the museums and the "Old City" with a windy maze of shops built into the ancient structures. In a place like Syria, in which my youth hostel casually boasts that it was built 600 years ago, it's kind of hard to not run into history. I topped it all off with a trip to the, likely, best kept crusader castle in the world called Crack de Chevalier. It's pretty much exactly what we all hope a castle would be, and it's fun to finally find one that is still standing as if, in a pinch, I could use it today to fend off invading Turks.
I've found that Syria is alive. It really seems that the economy is doing well, and that it has a future. Unlike Cairo, which more or less feels like everything is about twenty years out of warranty and all visitors can think of is how one might fix it.
Now I'm in Jordan and I will probably get side-tracked in Israel, before moving down south to Petra, the city in the mountain. If I go to the holy city today, I'm a little concerned about Shabbat, the Jewish period of rest from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, and I've heard the Israelis take their rest very seriously, so maybe I'll hit up this side of the Dead Sea, before heading over there tomorrow.
