navigate:
Saturday 2004-05-08 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Near disaster!
Taxi was ordered for 4:30 am but the driver rings already five minutes earlier than that; I’m not quite ready. Still, I grab my bags and hop in; with very little traffic we’re soon at the airport. Five minutes later I suddenly say “Oh s**t!” - I have a backpack full of films but don’t have my camera!
I rush outside and ask the first taxi driver I see if he can get me to Amsterdam and back at Schiphol airport again before 5:50. No problem he says. So we go home, I grab my camera, and back to the airport. The driver jokes that for the price of this ride, I could buy a camera — well, yes, but not this one! We still make it back with time to spare. Disaster avoided.
Saturday 2004-05-08 - Vienna, Austria
Are we going to stay here?
We arrive a little late in Vienna where we need to change planes, but the gate is right “next door”. The man behind the counter won’t let us through, though: we don’t have a Syrian visa, and he can’t let us board without one, he says. Our tour companion argues with him that we’ll get the visa on arrival in Damascus but it takes ten minutes before she has convinced him it’s OK and he’s prepared to let us through…
Saturday 2004-05-08 - Damascus, Syria
We’re there, but we’re not in yet!
We’re at the airport of Damascus. Three in the afternoon, a slight delay but nothing dramatic. Arranging the group visa on arrival isn’t the problem … the problem is we need someone from the local agency to come pick us up with a letter of invitation — and he isn’t there. Marie Josee, our tour companion, can’t go outside to see if he’s there, and he can’t know we’re here if he’s waiting outside. Ultimately, she manages to call him: he’s in the car on the way to the airport (he says). Finally, he arrives (it’s quite a way to the airport): he had our old travel scheme (arrival late at night), not the new scheme with arrival in the afternoon.
While waiting, we amuse ourselves looking at other passengers arriving. The variety is enormous, from plain-looking demurely-dressed ordinary people, to very modern-looking young people in tight-fitting fashionable clothes, to chique-looking Arab businessmen in full regalia. As we will find out later, they afford us a preview of the kaleidoscopic diversity seen on the streets of Damascus.
Finally, after three hours, we’re in. Then we find our luggage and one of our suitcases has been forced open. It’s not clear if anything’s missing, but the suitcase itself is damaged. More waiting time, to get a declaration; they can look later whether anything is actually missing. Half an hour’s ride to the city, and then we finally arrive in our hotel where we’re welcomed with a nice cup of tea.
