Travelreport 05          Tartus (Syria, 16-07-2000) till As'sweida (Syria, 22-07-2000)

The border wasn't that difficult. The only thing was that they forgot to give me a Turkish visa and the officer wouldn't stamp out my passport when I didn't buy one, even if I was leaving the country. But because it was a multiple entry visa valid for 3 months I had to buy it anyhow once I was returning from Syria so I bought the visa.
On the Syrian site of the border there were no real problems as I had my 'Carnet de passage' (a temporary import document) it was just a couple of minutes. Of course they want to get money from you as well. E.g. it's only possible to get a 2-week visa for Syria but for the insurance of the bike it's only possible to get it for 1 month minimal. At least I can use it for the return trip as well.


The castle of Crac des Chaveliers
The border wasn't that difficult. The only thing was that they forgot to give me a Turkish visa and the officer wouldn't stamp out my passport when I didn't buy one, even if I was leaving the country. But because it was a multiple entry visa valid for 3 months I had to buy it anyhow once I was returning from Syria so I bought the visa.
On the Syrian site of the border there were no real problems as I had my 'Carnet de passage' (a temporary import document) it was just a couple of minutes. Of course they want to get money from you as well. E.g. it's only possible to get a 2-week visa for Syria but for the insurance of the bike it's only possible to get it for 1 month minimal. At least I can use it for the return trip as well.
In Syria I mainly followed the Mediterranean shore with little trips into the mountains to ride along the several castles build by the Crusaders. The most important one was 'Crac des Chaveliers' which was a really well preserved castle and a real joy to stroll around.
From there I went on to Damascus to visit some (former) colleagues who where working on a project there. I spend a couple of days with them and visited the company the machine was standing as well to make some minor adjustments. Because they rented a house it was no problem to stay with them for a couple of days.
After 4 days however I wanted to continue down south to Suweida mainly riding across small and quiet roads.