11-7 (Wednesday)

We decided to go over to the Sheraton Hotel and have something lite in the coffee shop. We had to go through metal detectors and be patted down before we could enter. Because the coffee shop was closed we ate in the main dining room. I had pancakes and fruit for $4. Lynda had something similar plus coffee. When the bill came her 2 cups of coffee were $7.

We took a cab over to Mega Mall where we thought we might do a little shopping. The place was HUGE and four floors high. There was hardly anyone in it, just like at home and the prices were way out of our range.

We went back to the hotel and packed up to go meet Lynda's friend, Fayeez, who was going to take us to Syria. Lynda had the name of the hotel where we were to meet him and what it was close to but no address. It was a long way from where we were staying. The taxi driver didn't know where it was and we kept driving around in circles. Thankfully we had a phone # unfortunately the driver's phone didn't work. I called to some girls walking down the street and one of them let us use her phone.

We finally got to the Hillside Hotel. Fayeez arrived with the Dutch group he had been with for the last 13 days. He was turning them over to a Jordanian guide for the last leg of their trip.

We were on the bus with Fayeez and the driver pulling out of Amman about 6 p.m. in the pitch black of night. We didn't have much trouble crossing the border on either side but the Syrian guard questioned where a certain stamp in my passport was from - of course I had no idea. Finally I said, Myanmar. He wanted to know where that was I told him Asia. Later when we were back on the bus I found my Myanmar stamp. I guess he must have been looking at Laos. Oh well . . .

Fayeez told us that since the bombing of Syrian by Iarael about a mont ago that they are watching all Americans like a hawk. He said we would probably be watched the entire time.

We got to our hotel in Damascus about 9:30 only to find out that they didn't have a room for us. We had to load all our things into a taxi since the bus had left and go to another hotel. It was okay - a big room with three beds. We took showers in the smallest stall I've ever been in but we were so tired we just wanted to get in bed as close to 11:00 as possible.