Attempting Jordan

By the time we were on our way to Jordan, I was really looking forward to getting out of Syria - that being said, Jordan probably wasn't going to be different enough to make me feel better. So we went to get a bus to Amman from Damascus.

Note: If anyone says that there isn't a bus, or they have all finished for the day, or they don't go to where you want them to go and you have to take a taxi...it's a lie. It's always a lie. Basically you can assume that what most people tell you, the truth is the opposite.

So we get to the border of Jordan and Syria and as i'm trying to get my papers done, I get asked why there isn't a stamp on my passport? Well, I'd entered Syria on my Lebanese ID card which meant that I didn't have to pay and it was less hassle (or so I thought) but it also means that I didn't get a stamp on my passport and I couldn't exit into any other country, only in and out of Lebanon and Syria. So they said that they would call the boss and see if he would let them stamp me through anyway - but in true Middle Eastern fashion he was having a nap (at 5.30pm) and so I would have to wait until he woke up to hear the answer. So Phoebe and Zev went on without me and I sat at the border not knowing what was going to happen, completely on my own, in the country that I was trying to get out of as fast as I could.

After waiting for an hour and paying 10SYP to use the toilet, the boss said that he couldn't let me in and I had to go back to the border of Lebanon and Syria, get stamped out and then back in in order to get across to Amman. This sounded rather a ridiculous feat. It was already 6.45pm and I had no idea what to do. I thought about going back to see my Mum and flying into Jordan, but I figured that would cost too much and waste a lot of time. So for $110US I got a taxi whose driver said he would take me to the border of Lebanon and then back into Jordan to Amman. Pretty good deal I think although it wasn't the easiest of trips.

I was waiting in the taxi for about half an hour while the taxi driver was on the phone and then when I thought we'd set off, he stopped again to unload about 50kg of Tobacco that I imagine he was trying to get across the border or something. The whole thing was super dodgy and all the while I was sat there wishing we were on our way so I could just get to Jordan.

In the end, it took 7 hours, two taxi drivers, several marriage proposals and a cup of coffee for me to get to Amman at about 1.30am. I've never been so happy to make it somewhere in one piece.