Bonjour,

No, I am not in Paris but the next best thing - Paris of the Middle East.. Beirut. Here, heaven is in the form of a basket of crusty bread and chocoate crossaint, served by a waiter all in white with a rakish white sailor's hat. Ahhhh!
I have travelled over the border from Syria, into a completely different landscape.
But before I embark on the story of Lebanon, I shall fill in the last few days of Syria.
Becoming stifled by the noise and pollution of the city of Damascus I spontaneously checked out of my hotel and jumped onto a bus for Palymra, sight of the Roman solution to a blocked trade route - make a new one through the desert. Palymrya is situated between Damascus and Baghdad, an arbitruary spot if not for the oasis. Queen Zenobia ruled here, for those of you who know her story. The ruins today are situated on the edge of the modern town, and consist of arches which soared up into a bright blue sky when I was there. I spent a night in the town, and then jumped on a bus back to the city.
In Damascus I finally successfully naviagted through the Old City to the Damascus Hostel - an awesome hostel run by a friend of the family. After having been on the road for three weeks it was wonderful to see a familar face and be welcomed so excitedly. There were many friends for me to make at the hostel - Babaganoosh and Fatoosh the pet rabbits and the numerous turtles/tortises roaming around. Additioanlly I found some young men to accompany me nightclubbing! Not what I had imagined on my itinerary when I thought of Syria. Thursday night is the big night out here, as Friday is the holy day of rest. We began the night with a delicious dinner, and then visited our friendly bottle shop owner, of whom we made sure to be well acquainted. We spent a good hour hanging out at the entrance, drinking a lurid pink concoction called "Sex on the Beach" which the owner whipped up in his 3m x 3m wide shop. (Mum and Dad, its a cocktail.. completely harmless I swear).
Then it was off to find a nightclub in the Christian quarter of the Old City (the only place where alcohol is permitted). WE found the nightclubs, but we also found the bouncers. Note to self - nightclubs in Damascus require a reservation!!!
Eventually we found an open door and ventured into a black room with mirror ball, disco lights and all things nightclubby. There were some great points I would like to recommend to nightclubs in Perth - firsly it is table service. And on each table is a bowl of nuts, crispy snacks and ... carrot and celery sticks!!! Highly enjoyable.
I was with four guys, three of whom ventured onto the dance floor only to be told to return to their seats as only a boy and girl could dance together. We pondered the reasoning behind this, whether it created a better atmosphere (no meat market) or whether it was linked to the taboo of homosexuality. Nonetheless, it was up to me to save the day by dancing a dance each with each of my male friends. Well... I could hardly be rude could I?
At 4am we decided it was a good idea to depart, and trekked back to the hostel, shunning the ordinary walk in entrance we made our way to the second entrance - via a rope ladder over the Roman Wall of the Old City straight into the hostel. What a sight - slightly sozzled tourists climbing a rope ladder at 4am!!!
A night of clubbing should always be followed by a trek to a monastery - this si exactly what I did. Deir Mar Musa is a Christian monastery located 1.5 hours out of Damascus, perched on the side of a cliff. To get there I took public transport the whole way and felt extremely proud of myself for navigating there. Just as I was about to embark on the 20 minute hike up the mountain to the monastery an Arabic gentlemen invited me to meet his family who were picnicing at the foot of the mountain. I spent hours with this lovely family, the man, his wife, three daughters and three very cheeky grandchildren. I had planned to say hello and then start the hike, but Arabic hospitality is not easy to refuse - i had to stay for the salad, and then for the kebabs, and then for the roasted chicken and vegetables, and then for the tea. I was ashamed I could not offer anything in return for their hospitality. I tried to repay them through laughter. I taught the grandchildren to do the Hokey Pokey and tehy found it so hilarious they even whipped out a mobile to record it!
The journey to the monastery had been so fantastic I was eager to get to the destination. I soon found the proverb is true - the "journey is better than the destination." I did not find the monastery a welcoming place, and felt slightly uncomfortable during my stay there. It is possible to arrive and stay the night and eat with the community there (mixed Christian and Islamic). In my fairytale I had imagined a small number of priests, nuns and Islamic scholars who would welcome me and we would then spend the evening and morning meditating, solving the world's probelms and baking bread from scratch and making cheese. Instead I found myself amongst many other tourists in basically a youth hostel environment which happended to be in a beautiful old monastery. The religious community kept to themselves and I did not have the chance to speak to them. However, it told me something about myself; that I was too reticent and fixated on a dream instead of embracing the reality.
I am very glad I stayed there though as it was a good experience and I met some great fellow travellers.
On returning to Damascus it was time to prepare for a birthday party! Raymond (the owner of the Damascus HOstel and a friend of the family) had his birthday on Halloween. I busied myself making jelly, finding balloons and making decorations. All the guests in the hostel joined in, as well as past guests who came back to celebrate with Raymond. And of course the staff at the Hostel who all love Raymond lots. Together we demolished the birthday cake and Syrian sweets and pumped up the Arabic tunes to dance along to all night. My dancing style was a source of laughter, apparently a fusion of Arabic and Western and something indiscribible. I think Raymond had a good time - I know I certainly did!!
After a crazy night of dancing it was time for a visit to one of the many churches in the Christian quarter, to observe the Sabbath. The church was very impressive - overwhelmingly ostentatious!
It was then time to say goodbye to Damasucs and head to Lebanon.
I had been in Beriut now for two days and am enjoying the change, as it is a very modern and cosmopitan city. I am right next to the strip of decadent restuarnts and atmospheric bars. Unfortunately the weather has been crazy here though, thunderstorms and lightning and rain for days and days. Having been having a low key few days before the travels through Lebanon, into Syria and up into Turkey.
Next time I blog will be from the land of the Turks!