Spent the morning looking for the world biggest restaurant, Damascus Gate. The restaurant is far away from the city and is close to the international airport of Damascus. Since a cab will cost almost $20, I tried to take a bus there. Got to Baka bus station and took an airport shuttle (45SP, $1). The bus dropped me off on the highway and got to the restaurant after 20 minutes walk.

The restaurant

It’s not that big as I thought, probably they just put more chairs in the restaurant to get the title.

Got back to the city after taking 2 minibuses and one taxi (45SP too).
Went to Al Sumariyeh bus terminal by a minibus (10SP) at 12pm and took a bus to Beirut, Lebanon. Bus was delayed and finally left at around 2.30pm.

At the border, we were required to pay 500SP for Syria departure tax, however the custom wanted more for his own pocket. Got to Lebanon checkpoint

and the immigration were so slow. They told me that I will need to pay 25000 Lebanese pound for a visa but I remembered that I read that I don’t need one. They only took payment in Lebanese pound and I had trouble finding people to change the currency. While waiting, the assistant bus driver took out my backpack from the bus and the bus left without me. So far I don’t have good experiences with Syrians.

Hitched a ride from some Saudi guys at the immigration checkpoint to Beirut.

Got to Beirut and visited the mosque.

A hip area with any cafes in Gemmayeh

Spent a night with those guys in Journieh.

3 Responses to “Damascus to Beirut”

1. Vi-Zanne says:

   September 29, 2009 at 3:51 am

   u’re so detailed with all the numbers! it’s funny how u treat your journal as your money log as well =p

   i hope you’re not running low on cash yet!

2. journey26 says:

   September 29, 2009 at 11:16 pm

   I put in the number because I thought readers might be interested in budget traveling. Actually I have a money log, I just don’t have time to post it.

3. Diego says:

   December 13, 2010 at 1:58 pm

   Well done here,
   I will be doing the Beirut-Damascus ride this weekend, I hope to have better experiences with Syrians than you did!
   Keep going,
   Diego