Damascus to Baalbek

Hi Liz

I did it the other way round - i.e. Baalbek to Damascus and got a big bus thing to the main town and then a service taxi across the border. We were quite lucky with our service taxi as a big family came and joined us immediately, but you can end up waiting for a quite a while. The father of the family was evidently some big gun in the area as we got waved pretty much straight through, but even besides that we met some people who had done it the other way round and taken a bus all the way and it had taken them about 3 times as long as us. The service taxi wasn't the cheapest way of doing it but it was still fairly reasonable and a lot cheaper than a taxi and quicker than the bus.

Don't know about the effect of Ramadan but Eid is a massive festival so you might find it a lot of fun.

When you're in Baalbek you must stay in the Palmyra Hotel where Charles de Gaulle stayed - the weirdest place I have ever been but utterly utterly brilliant. You have to ask them to switch the electricity on in the morning if you want hot water and their tiny tiny bar can sell you little aeroplane bottle of gin. incredible. And there's a bullet hole in one of the paintings from some soldier who got drunk and started firing is gun everywhere

Also, if you get a guide round the ruins ask for "hussain" - as he said "like the king but with better job"

Have a brilliant time though...was one of my favourite parts of the trip