!الحمد لله

We made it to Syria! Woot!!!! Our bus left Cappadocia a little after 9 PM last night, and we got to Antakya (the Biblical Antioch, where Christians were first referred to as Christians) around 8 AM, after some bus ticket related snafu. Antakya is the general point of departure for Syria when coming from Turkey. It's about fifty kilometers from the border. We got to the border around 10 AM and, when they found out we were visaless Americans, they took us back to a little office to get all our details. As I may have mentioned in a prior blog entry, Syria's official policy is not to award visas at the border to citizens of nations which have embassies, especially where America is concerned (since Bush repeatedly makes stupid remarks about how he thinks Syria is a "rogue state"). Most people we'd talked to who had tried it had found success, but only after waiting as much as ten or twelve hours at the border. We decided it was worth the effort, but as we got closer and closer, our confidence began flagging more. My Lonely Planet guide to the Middle East was no help, as it told us we'd be wasting our time even trying. At least we had a backup plan, though admittedly not a very good one. If we hadn't gotten in, we were going to take a ferry to Turkish Cyprus, cross the border into Greek Cyprus, and pray that we might find a ferry to either Israel or Egypt. Failing that, we planned to resort to begging for passage on a cruise ship headed to either of those locations or, worst-case scenario, booking a flight. Fun though that might have been, it would also have been ridonkilously expensive.

Needless to say we were quite relieved when, after waiting for only five hours, we got our visas. It was pretty rough with how little English the officials spoke and how little Arabic we speak, but after lots of misunderstanding, we got through. We're in Aleppo for the night, and we head to Damascus late tomorrow evening on a sleeper train. So far Syria is sweet. The people are absurdly friendly, and it's even cheaper than Cairo! We just got three (delicious) shawermas, three Fantas, and an order of French Fries for less than three dollars! Whaaaa!?

Anyway, we feel great, and the trip from here on out should go quite smoothly! Catch you on the flipside.