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Traveling in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan is quite interesting, and easy overland touring in comfortable lodges and hotels ranging from 3 stars to 5 stars can be arranged. The vehicles vary from modern comfortable cars and vans to minibuses and coaches. Driving is on good roads and highways with easy access from one country to the other. Maximum drive time from one capital to the other is two and a half hours.

All that you need is a valid passport for six months at least and Visas for each country. You can get a 24 hour Lebanese Visa at the border. Passports should not bear any Israeli stamps.

There are incredible opportunities for photography everywhere you go in these countries even inside some of the mosques and public bazaars (markets) with huge amounts of wonderful Roman and Byzantine ruins in addition to the Crusader castles and other monuments.

In these countries you can use all forms of money like U.S. dollars and other currencies, Traveler checks and Credit cards. Cash machines (ATMs) are available too.

Some of the sites in Syria include:
Damascus and Aleppo
The two major cities of Syria.

Mari, Ebla and Ugarit
Very ancient city states that flourished under the rule of the ancient Semitic people.

Apamea, Palmyra, Bosra, Chahba and Souweida
Some of the best preserved Greco-Roman cities that were prosperous caravan cities along the silk road trails.

Resafa, St. Simeon Church
Very impressive deserted pilgrimage towns from the Byzantine period.

Serjella
The best preserved of the deserted (ghost) villages of northern Syria

The Umayyad and Grand Mosques, the Caravan Seray, Madrases
Great examples of Islamic architecture.

Krak des Chevalier, Margat (Marqab), Soane
Among the best preserved Mediaeval Crusader castles in the world

Click here view an interactive map of tourist sites in Syria (Flash 4 plug-in required)

The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus	The waterwheels of Hama

General Information

Economy
Although only third of the land is good for cultivation, the national economy is based on agriculture. Cotton, Wheat and Olives are among the main products in addition to a variety of vegetables and fruits.

Many of the country’s industries are agrarian like food processing and textiles. The government started a policy of rapid industrialization iron, steel, assembling tractors. Oil is a main product in the economy and accounts about 70% of the total exports.

Syria has a wide net of highways and good roads that connect the entire main provinces and cities together. There are four main Airports covering all the main cities served by many international airlines.

Climate and Weather
Syria, Lebanon are characterized with nice Mediterranean climate. Moderate temperatures during spring and autumn from March till June and from Sept. Nov. Warm summer in July and Aug. and mild cold & rainy winter from Dec. till Feb. Visitors can count on more than 250 sunny days every year.

Food
You’ll enjoy a wide variety of appetizers (mezzas) featuring the region’s staples,such as hummus, mutable, baba ghanou ,tabuleh,vine leaves,kabab abd mix grilled. Also wide variety of seasonal fruits and sweets with honey and pestashue.

Culture
Syria has shared the same roots and culture with the neighboring countries Lebanon and Jordan for many ages .The location influenced their culture since they link old three continents Asia through Iraq and Iran, Europe through Turkey and Africa through Jordan and Egypt. This location made them a bridge for civilizations from East to West and reversed. They also commanded the caravan route Silk Road from Chin and Far East to Europe and from Africa and Arabia to Europe. This what made the culture so diverse and hospitable. Also they were a bridge for the pilgrims Christians and Moslems for many centuries and they are still today. We can imagine what amount of thoughts would be carried and exchanged with peoples along these roads over thousands of years.

Geography
The geography is diverse varying from fertile plains and irrigated by the Biblical rivers Euphrates and Orontes with snowy mountains to dry desert. The coastal plain bordering the Mediterranean, very fertile but narrow and longitudinal. Associated with high coastal mountains with rich vegetation running north south direction called the coastal mountains rising to 1500 m. above sea level and are dotted with some of the best preserved Crusader and Arab castles in the Levant. East of these ranges are the central plains or the Orantes river valley, which are, considered an extension to the Beqaa valley of Lebanon. The Euphrates plains are stretching along the northern part of the country. The rest of the country is basically steppe and semi desert dominating half the land of the country in the east. While the southern part is dominated by fertile volcanic plain and the Mt Hermon from the west.

History
Syria as the heart of the Middle East has one of the world’s longest recorded histories dating back to more than five thousands years. It has been continuously inhabited since the dawn of history. More than twenty-five different civilizations and peoples passed through it and settled for short or long times.

Because of its strategic location at the crossroads of civilizations, was frequently invaded by different groups such as Semitic Babylonians, Hittites, Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantine, Arabs, Crusaders and Ottomans. Ancient Syria has been successively ruled by the Egyptians, Babylonians, Hittites, Chaldeans and Persians. It became prosperous part of Alexander the Great's empire in 333B.C., when one of Alexander’s generals founded the city of Antioch as its capital and three other cities. Struggles between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies of Egypt followed, until 64B.C., when Syria became a province of the Roman Empire. Following the decline and collapse of the Romans and the division of the empire in the 4th century A.D., Syria became a Byzantine province and remained so till 7th century when the Arab Moslems became the new rulers of Syria. This was accompanied with great golden age in the history of the state.

The modern history of the Syria didn’t start till after the World War II when the country won full independence in 1946. It has enjoyed a long political stability since mid sixties till now.

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Maan Al-Sabbagh
Tour Guide-Trip Leader
Mobile phone:(00963)(0)93 252233
Telephone/Fax: (00963)-11-6714252
Email: maan@reuteronline.net