arriving in Damascus

Hi

I'm headed to Damascus to study Arabic there for three months.

It's a sort of bilateral cooperation program-scholarship and the institute chosen is the Mahad-Arabic Teaching Institute to non-arabic speakers.

I've got a number of questions:

• As far as I have understood, the Mahad is not near the old city. The adress is in an area called Mezzeh, Villat Sharkiyya. Is there a map of that neighbourhood available?

• Is the Damascus Hostel open or not? According to their website, it is closed for renovation. Anyway, since the school is not near the old city, is there any good hostel (or cheap hotel) closer to the Mahad?

• I'll be arriving at the Damascus International Airport at 10 pm. Will I be able to find a bureau de change open? My LP guide says that the ATM machine at the airport is frequently out of order...

• Is it ok if I bring my laptop with me? Any problems at customs?

• In general, will I be able to find ATM machines in Damascus?

Thanks a lot to everyone: I'm a bit nervous since this scholarship came a bit out of the blue and I have to arrange everything in less than one month!

1) I'm sure a map exists, but Mezzeh is a little out of the tourist area, so it might be hard to come across one. If memory serves me correctly, Mezzeh is a relatively new and well-to-do part of Damascus where a lot of embassies are located.

2) It's currently closed for renovation, but I'm pretty sure that the owner (Raymond) can sort you out with accomodation with local families during the closure. If I was visiting Syria in the next few months, I'd rather do that than to stay in a hotel/hostel - it'd be a great way to meet some Damascenes. Failing that, there's a lot of cheap hostels and hotels in the area near the Hijaz train station and also in Souk Saroujah, both of which are both closer to Mezzeh than the Old City.

3) The ATMs at the airport seem to be out of order more often than not. The airport is pretty much 24-hours though - there should definitely be a bureau de change open. Failing that, almost everyone in Syria is happy to accept payment in US dollars or euros anyway.

4) Fine. No problems.

5) Yes, there's tons. But you might have trouble finding ones that work, and/or ones that work with your card. My favourite ATM in Damascus is at Banque Bemo Saudi Fransi just near Bab Touma - it always seems to work for everyone (there's always a queue at it!)

Don't be nervous - it's a fantastic place with tons of extremely friendly and helpful locals.

Hi, thanks for your reply

I should have mentioned that I'm looking for accomodation only for the first days: when the course starts I'll hopefully move to a room provided by the school (keeping my fingers crossed...)

One more question: if the hotel or hostel that I'll book offers me a transfer from the airport, should I accept it? According to the LP guide a taxi from the airport costs 700 syrian pounds (that is 11 euros), but I'm not sure if the price is up to date

Thanks again, I'm really looking forward to studying in Syria. My "concerns" are not relative to the people or the place - it's the quantity of paperwork and the lack of information on the net that bothers me!

No worries!

Taxis are more probably much more expensive than that now - prices for everything tourist-related have gone up steeply in the past few years in Syria.

Unless you're staying somewhere rather expensive, you'll probably have to pay for any pickup, so it shouldn't really matter either way. There's a little shack just outside arrivals where you can organise fixed-price taxis into town - I think it's called Julia Domnus? It's easy enough to find, anyway.

Hi
As SPDL mentioned Mezze is the expensive up market area of Damascus.The AlMaahad is not easy to find or reach as the university is however there is bus number 35 runs every half hour from Old walled city from Bab Sharki where many students stay and use it
Some adventrous students stay near Maahad well not quite in around Mezze the poor common ares of Sheik Saad and Mezze Jebel usualy they share a room in a house or may be a small apartment.These small suburbs are much cheaper than Mezze and quality is poorer
The julia Dumna airport taxi cost sp 1500 plus driver's tip no bargaining.

We arrived after midnight and the currency exchange was still open (ATM at the airport didn't work with our cards). Taxi into the city was 1500 SYP.

The Mahad is easy to get from old Damascus. You can use a service bus for only 10 SYP.

If you PM me I will scan a map I have and email it to you

On their website Damascus Hostel will open in March 2010. It depends when you are starting, but I think they can help you find accommodation for the first days.

When you arrive in the airport, you can exchange money from the bank office. Don't exchange a lot as rate in downtown private banks are netter.

No problem in bringing your laptop.

ATM machines are close to banks area. It is not so common as in Europe or the USA to find ATMs everywhere, but it is OK. You may need to locate banks close to where you live. If you hold a US CC, you should try only Audi Bank. Other Atms do not work.

Good Luck with your study

thanks to everyone who has replied so far!

it seems like the prices of taxis (and maybe of hotels and restaurants too?) have doubled, if compared to the ones in the 2007 guide

can't wait to come to Syria!

Yes, we found that all hotel prices had gone up by 50-100%.

Taxi prices depend somewhat on your ability to get the driver to use the meter. We were not very successful at this!

Entrance prices were mostly the same - 75 or 150 SYP.