Road trip to points east

Sunday afternoon Alden and Nate began a search for an automobile. It was a multi-hour struggle, going to several car rental places with no luck. After great frustration, an automobile was finally obtained at 10:30 pm; a little manual no-frills Kia sedan. With less than a quarter tank, the first priority was to get a fill up. The reason for obtaining a car: Alden and Nate were going to attempt a whirl-wind tour of eastern Syria. And indeed, a full tank of gas was needed for heading out of Damascus.

It was about midnight when Alden and Nate left Damascus. Destination one: Palmyra ruins. Palmyra (aka "Tadmor" in Arabic) are the greatest Roman ruins in the Middle East. Arriving at 3 am, Alden and Nate set their alarm for a little before 5 am, and slept in the car on the side of the road for a couple of hours. Awake just before sun rise, Alden and Nate walked down to the ruins, which they had heard are spectacular at sun rise.

Indeed, they were. Long colonnades with enormous columns with temples, houses, tombs, and all sorts of very Roman buildings, sitting near a little oasis, rising out of the sand. All of this was glowing at the sun poked itself above the horizon, and the number of other tourists at the site could be counted on one hand. It was very Indiana Jones.

Next destination: Deir ez-Zur. This is a small city on the Euphrates river, about a 3 hour drive or so from Palmyra. But... first a little car trouble. Actually, the car wouldn't turn on, so, that counts as big car trouble. The car gave a little chug-chug-chug, then nothing. With the hood propped open, instantly dozens of citizens from the town of Palmyra (pop. 3000 or so) came over to offer their advice (most of it involved very dangerous suggestions), or to try and sell various trinkets to their captive tourist audience. The town of Palmyra's auto mechanic was called, and he quickly arrived to diagnose the situation. The car's battery was dead. (No, Alden didn't leave the lights on or anything like that, it was just a crappy battery, ok!?)

The mechanic, Alden, and the car renter back in Damascus engaged in some complex, multi-lingual bargaining on Alden's cell phone, where the price continued to rise from an original 2000 lira ($40) to a grand total of 3700 lira (nearly twice as much as $40). Luckily the renter was willing to reimburse the road-trippers upon their return to Damascus. New battery installed, it was now time to head to Deir ez-Zur. Driving in daylight for the first time on the trip, an appreciation was gained for how very in the middle of nowhere Alden and Nate were. It is the desert. Very much so. Thank goodness that the car trouble occurred at Palmyra, and not on the side of the road during a photo taking stop!

Side note: Alden won the cow game.

Given their lack of much sleep the previous night, and the long morning of Roman ruins exploration and automobile drama, Alden and Nate splurged, and got a room at the second nicest hotel in Deir ez-Zur, the Zaid ($45, includes a breakfast). Deir ez-Zur is a pretty wild town- the demographic include a healthy mix of Islam and Christianity- and every few minutes there would be a gun shot or two in the distance. The out-of-date Lonely Planet guide really skimped on their Deir ez-Zur research, but dinner was found following a healthy nap at the Zaid. Sitting in a restaurant with a patio right on the Euphrates, much food was consumed to the sound of frogs making that crazy frog noise. It was also pretty humid, quite a change from Damascus.

A full night's sleep, and Alden and Nate were off to Dura Europos and Mari. Amazingly, for the first time ever over the entire summer, a Syrian helped Alden and Nate by looking at a map, and pointing out where they were, and which streets they should take. Syrians don't really do maps... It had been a running joke that if lost, the road trippers would simply show their map to a local Syria for directions.

Two hours south of Deir ez-Zur, Dura Europos is a huge Hellenistic/Roman fortress city. A bit removed from the main road to Abu Kamal, the site has an enormous wall on one side of a large piece of land jutting out over the Euphrates. Inside were some ruins in pretty good shape, including the world's oldest known dated Christian church. Nate and Alden were the only people at the ruins; there was no one at the ticket booth either. A couple of hours of exploration and a quick dip by Nate in the Euphrates later, it was time to roll on towards Mari. (Nate smelled like the Euphrates for the rest of the day.) When they were exiting the ruins, a man was at the ticket booth, so Alden and Nate paid their 20 cents, and took off. But they were not alone. A green SUV sitting in the parking lot started trailing them; the friendly neighborhood secret police mukhabarat escort.

The mukhabarat's purpose is mostly to keep goof ball tourists safe, and they followed Alden and Nate as they drove down to Mari. The ruins at Mari are 5000 years old, and the city ended being the biggest in the region following Hammurabi's sacking in 1758 BC. Mercifully in the shade, Mari was explored and photographed.

Now comes a very interesting point in the trip. Alden and Nate are two hours from Deir ez-Zur, and then at least another seven hours from Damascus, where they need to be back that night. But Alden is really curious about the nearby town of Abu Kamal... The road trippers approach their mukhabarat escort, and inform them they are going to head into Abu Kamal, if its ok, to get some food/drink. Begrudgingly, the mukhabarat allow them to continue.

Abu Kamal is the small border town with Iraq. It is filled with all sorts of characters, to put it politely. Pulling over at a small shop, Alden and Nate first check with their mukhabarat escort if they would like any snacks. They decline, but Alden buys them some frozen chocolate bars anyways. The road trippers now ask if the mukhabarat wouldn't mind leading them to the closest gas station.

Topping off their Kia, the road trippers, who now have a bit of rapport with the mukhabarat, ask if before they head back to Deir ez-Zur, would the mukhabarat mind showing them the border crossing? "Of course, we will not take any pictures, don't worry, thanks so much!" Winding through the town behind the mukhabarat, Alden and Nate arrive at the border. They chat with the border guards for a bit. Only 5 or 6 cars per day make the crossing. And the barracks with American soldiers are pointed out on the other side. The road trippers are not allowed to get close enough to say hello to the Americans stationed on the border, and it is encouraged that they had best be on their way, if they don't mind.

Rolling out of town back towards Deir ez-Zur, a new pair of mukhabarat escort Alden and Nate. Lunch is obtained at the same place on the Euphrates where they had dinner the night before, this time in the A/C-ed interior. Before embarking on the seven hour trek back to Damascus, caffeinated sodas were obtained, including two cokes for the new mukhabarat, who then give the road trippers a ride back to their car in the back of their mukhabarat pick-up truck. Fun times!

The trip back from Deir ez-Zur was grueling. Nate can't drive stick shift, so Alden was getting a bit tired with all the driving. Hard-charging through the desert, only once did Alden make a wrong turn, and it happened to be onto the only other road towards Baghdad... quickly remedied, Alden and Nate made it back to Damascus in alive and well just before midnight, extremely exhausted. Alden slept until one pm today, and he will probably take a nap in a little bit.
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The author, as usual, feels bad about all the passive voice, but there isn't much he is willing to do about it right now.