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Overland to Damascus
17-18June 2010

To travel overland from Cairo to Damascus doesn't involve as many hours of travel as one might think. Here's what I did:

Coach from Cairo to Nuweiba: 8 hours

Ferry from Nuweiba to Aqaba: 2 hours

Coach from Aqaba to Amman: 4 hours

Coach from Amman to Damascus: 3 hours

Total travel time: 17 hours.

That said, you do need more than 17 hours make this journey. What I didn't know was that I had to wait for the ferry for 10 hours in Nuweiba (talking about an unsynchronised feeder bus!). If I had been prepared, I could have planned for a day of swimming/snorkelling or something in Nuweiba, rather than lying on a wooden bench for 10 hours.

Once we were (finally!) ready to leave, getting onto the ferry took about an hour. The shuttle bus that took us passengers from the waiting hall to the ferry, took only a couple of minutes. However, we were locked into this non-A/C bus for 5-7 minutes (around 40C in there, I think), and the driver simply refused to open the doors. The atmosphere in the bus became kind of half-panicky as there were people walking around just outside our bus who all simply ignored our calls to be let out! The Egyptian guy in galabeya to my right frantically banged on the roof window, trying to get it open and I think his frantic banging created a kind of tense feeling as we were standing (no seats) very close together inside the bus. This was in quite sharp contrast to the more subdued, polite calls to be let out in Swiss German from the front. I tell you, 5-7 minutes feels like quite a long time in that kind of situation.

Next, when we finally were let out and could walk onto the car deck (no foot passenger bridge or anything), the Jordanian customs officials effectively blocked the only available door leading from the car deck up to the passenger deck and wanted to see the Egyptian exit stamp in each passport. This procedure took almost 50 minutes, with little kids screaming and running around and mums sitting directly on the floor of the car deck – all this while some vehicles were still driving onto the car deck as well. This is kind of a safety nightmare for people used to a more regulated system (like me).

Once on the passenger deck, it was OK. There was a restaurant/café and a shop and plenty of seating. The ferry I took was the "fast" ferry, which only takes a few cars and is scheduled to do the crossing in 1 hour 15 mins. It took 2 hours in reality, but it wasn't too bad. There is also a "slow" ferry, which takes 4 hours and is $10 cheaper. All travel books say the extra $10 are absolutely worth it.

I really liked Aqaba. It was a cosy town with a great ambiance. Aqaba is obviously an affluent place and the style seemed to be a mix of Egypt, the UAE and Europe. Egypt, because people around you had this relaxed, friendly attitude. The UAE, because of the level of affluence. Europe, because the style reminded me more of a Mediterranean city than the Gulf. Also, I think I liked it because you saw Islamic and Christian historical sites literally next to each other, while at the same time you also saw liquor stores with large neon signs next to traditional Arab coffee shops – something you would never see in Egypt or the Gulf. I think this mix of different lifestyles, cultures and religions created a sense of tolerant co-existence. Also, with Taba (Egypt), Eilat (Israel) and Saudi Arabia all within a few kilometres from Aqaba, co-existence is kind of forced on you I suppose.

I arrived after sunset, so I didn't have much time to explore Aqaba. However, the most interesting thing I did was to visit this site of an old Roman church (now just ruins left) built around 300 AD. I mean, that's before the First Church Council. Incredible! The sign at this site said this might very well be the oldest church in the world. Imagine it being in Aqaba of all places!

There were also ruins from the old Islamic city Ayla, but although I asked several people, no-one could say exactly how old they were.

There is no corniche as such in Aqaba, but there is a public beach with a walkway next to it. What surprised me was to see that there were hundreds of people on this beach even though it was after 10.00 PM. I spoke to this Egyptian guy and he said this beach was for the "poor people". However, it looked clean and well-maintained to me.

In any case, the public beach and walkway seem to be the place to hang out in Aqaba.

The following morning, I boarded a coach (with the coach company JETT), and I was able to buy a ticket for the entire journey to Damascus already in Aqaba. Comfy coach, with a stewardess who took orders for coffee and tea.

I had four hours waiting time in Amman and I took a taxi to the Roman ruins and the amphitheatre downtown. Spectacular!

I spent a lot of time here, enjoying this amazing site.

A young guy who first introduce himself as Donkey but later admitted his name was Mohamed posed as a Roman

statue at the top of the amphitheatre.

Wherever I go, people understand Egyptian Arabic and seem to think it's quite funny to meet a Swede who speaks a bit of Egyptian Arabic.

The advantage of living in the Gulf is that 35C doesn't feel that hot. People around me were huffing and puffing but I thought the weather was quite nice. There was also this museum next to the amphitheatre with the most beautiful mosaics.

While taking a break and taking not a Kit-Kat but my regular Diet Pepsi, I spoke to this family running a small shop next to the historical site. One of them had lived in Sweden for over a decade so we chatted in Swedish for a while. In fact, whenever people asked me my nationality, again and again people told me they had an uncle or somebody in Sweden. Sweden seems to be popular among Jordanians.

The final leg of the journey took just over three hours, with one hour spent at the border crossing. I arrived in Damascus before sunset, which meant I got some time to have a look at the Old City before it got dark. My first impression of the Syrians is that they are like nothing of what I met at the Syrian Consulate in Dubai. Instead, they are very friendly and helpful, and my hotel – The Orient Palace Hotel – gets full marks for character.

With a few hours between each leg of this overland journey between Cairo and Damascus, this trip became really enjoyable. And I really love travelling through this area of the Middle East. People everywhere are friendly and approachable, and it is easy to start conversations. Compared to my train travels through Europe in the summer of 2003, the difference is quite significant in my experience. It's not that easy to chat to people while travelling through Europe. Most of the conversations I had while travelling on the trains in the summer of 2003 were, in fact, with Americans.

OK, I'm ready for Damascus, the mother of all cities.