Passage in customs

A large hall.
It resounds.
Cries.
A soldier, or can be a customs officer. Finally a man in green, comes to speak to me.
The black moustache and hair, teeth yellowed by the excess of subdued and cigarettes, it assoit on the bench where I await Geoffroy who pays the customs duties.
- "Where are you going?"
On this question, I leave a small plan my pocket and I show him France, then, country by country, our way to Cameroun, South America and Asia.
It believes in it with difficulty.
- "With this bus?"
- "Yes, yes, to Cameroun..."
- "and?"
"Afterwards!" And I him MIME with my two fingers a man who walks.
Then it types me on the thigh, smiles me and only leaves me.
A few moments after, on a nearby bench, I intend it to describe my way: "one year" says it in Arabic by making a gesture with its index!
The others do not pay attention. But, gradually, while I observe a nest perched on a standard lamp of the hall, I intend them to say "French" by showing the car of the finger.
He look at me, smiles me and sends a candy to me that I hasten to swallow. Alas, it is a chewing-gum. But not with mint. Not! Rather with nicotine, moreover perhaps this is a nicorette. I sink in the car to discreetly substitute it for a normal chewing-gum. Not to upset susceptibilities.
Here, it is Arabia. I do not know. Different gestures. For example, a man in uniform holds the hand of his interlocutor out of jean, like children.
They speak. I enrage as usual because I do not understand their language.

The cars are there, in front of me. They await the open trunk.
My new friend takes the 100 steps.
Make an attempt...
As everywhere, time is rythmé by ringings of GSM.

Agitation fell down a little in the hall.
A few moments ago, a group of customs officers was around two tourists of which a woman fair, young person, very pretty, which explains the reason this assembly.
Geoffroy returns, I must fill a paper. While negotiating, it comes to divide by two the 60 Euro which one was normally to pay for the insurance and the right-of-way.
It sets out again.
The tone goes up opposite me, I do not include/understand anything.
Many gestures. Then more nothing. Ah if! An alcohol bottle hidden in a plastic bag, circulates between the owner of the excavated car and the customs officer, and disappears in an office. The things are arranged like that.
Not, not yet! The other passenger has also a problem.
It is not serious, another customs officer receives a quill of Turkish beer 5L, which it will put quickly, but in front of everyone, in its car parked not far from there.
Ca is there, they can leave.
On the walls of the inscriptions as tagées by a young person at his lost hours. I always do not include/understand anything.
These, in uniforms, start to ignite a pipe with water.

Carry claquent.
Ca resounds.
Noise of horn, shooting off. I believed insane French in the wheel. In fact it of it is nothing, we are wise, among wisest of the countries which we crossed.

The flags float in the wind, Geoffroy delays.

A last signature on the triptych of this Turk which waits and it can leave. Without turning the head and with ease, it tightens a ticket. My new friend questions it, the Turk is turned over known as some words then continues his race. The ticket, it, already disappeared in a pocket. Ca must be normal here.

They do not make large-thing in this hall, too many, one does not know who is which, and which does what. They go from left on the right and pass by again in the other direction, look at Adrienne by shaking the head, show it finger and speak.
It is shaken, one pianote above like ensuring itself of the quality of this case of resonance, because such a fine sheet cannot be a case of car. For them, it resembles a joke too much.
Geoffroy returns.
Our excavation carried out by my new pal is rather summary. We leave.

The reception

"Everyone is bilingual here!"
"C you speak English?" "Yes! Where are you from?" "We are from France." "Very good, welcome to Syria!"-"Tea?" "Oh yes with pleasure." One smiles oneself, one assoit around a table on a chair, or in circle on a straw mattress. Then, in our more beautiful English, one begins our great tirade to describe our turn of the world, the pupils who follow us, Internet... Médusés our interlocutors listen to us patiently and punctuate our monologue by cordial "a Welcome to Syra", Surpris, Geoffroy questions me glance: "euh... you believe that they included/understood?" One redemande, much less on us: "C you speak english?" The answer is clear, the index stuck to the inch they answer "shouaï" (what wants to say "a chouya", finally "at all" even). Such an amount of worse the tone is launched, we know whereas our interlocutors offer the tea to us right by pleasure of offering something. The pleasure is in a shared smile, in a word exchanged with a foreigner.
Here, the distractions are rare, people never travel apart from their country, even of their city. A traveller is the occasion to see other heads, to include/understand other things and to make divide his daily newspaper. After, it is simple for us to leave some words, drawn from the Neos guide, to ask details on the family of our hosts, their names, their ages; to leave a small chart to show our way; of speaking about Adrienne while tapping gently above to show that it is liked.

"Fans of foreign politics"
Chirac! Ah Chirac! It is undoubtedly one of the most known characters of the Arab world. There low, nobody is not unaware of the name of the famous leader of the camp anti-war, president of French in addition. And us French or Belgian, let us know us to it name of the presidents Lebanese, Syrian or of the Jordanian king? Whether it is liked it or that it is not liked, Chirac and her foreign politics opened to us many doors. Once the finished tea, our hosts easily lets to us leave, they understand that our road is long and besides they spoke to us, they are thus content. Once, in Syria, in top of a mountain where we had come to admire the sight and to direct us, we fell, by chance, on a place of pilgrimage of a branch of Islam: Alalaoiines. Many families of this area of Krak of the Knights, in the North-West of Syria, emigrated in Argentina in the years 1920 following religious fights.
One of these families, returned with the country there is a score of years, accomodates us in Spanish and one offers to us subdued, then a meal made up of chickens cut the throat of on the spot in offering with the Saleh prophet and rice cooked in the grease of sheep. Two weeks later, Cynthia, one of the girls of the family, will be our guide in Damas, while his/her Rim sister, will allow us to have an article in Syrian Times.

And to sleep!
Another cousin family of the first, but of very modest medium (9 children), will offer the lodging for the night to us.
In Lebanon, it is the family of Jean Doummar who will receive us like kings. As of our arrival in Beirut, Jean goes démener to find us a hotel of luxury which it will offer to us during all our stay. It is for this reason that we put the company Doummar brothers in the list of our partners.
Nonglad to receive us Jean kind made us spend one weekend of dream with its beautiful-family in the private village more closed of Lebanon: Faqra.

To help you at all costs!
The reception appears all the time in the Arab countries. Everyone wants to help you, often wrongly and through.
We thus became experts to detect if our interlocutor knows really the way. Often not to disappoint us or not to not say to us, it sends to us in the bad direction. It sometimes happened to us to ask for 5 times of continuation our way before falling on the adorable Syrian who, in his car, will cross all the city to show us the place or the way that we seek. When we walk, much make even a turning to greet us and simply to tell us "Welcome to Syria". To the restaurant, all the waiters come one by bringing something, but especially exchanging two words with us. Sometimes inhabitants, to side of which we parked ourselves, spontaneously come to offer water to us, a fruit or vegetables.
The recommendations of all the doctors are clear, especially never not to drink water which does not leave a sealed bottle and never not to eat fruits or vegetables which you did not wash or did not peel yourself. But there, in this case, to refuse is difficult. How is doctor made? We do not arrive there always. For the moment, we had only one turista, in Lebanon, and our investigations carry us to believe that it is a small restaurant which would be the cause.
Veiled, it is that the reception in the Arab countries, an always opened table, a place to sleep for all the foreigners and a smile that one returns you constantly, finally for the men... but the subject of the women will be studied in with share in a forthcoming newspaper.

On a journey one moves much

The voyage is the occasion to meet many people, to know full with cultures. When we cross somebody who speaks English, French, German or Spanish, attacks it to us questions about the life, the religion, the policy, the condition of the women, etc... You will say to me: "and water in all that?" Ca runs source, we speak about it too.
Often, it is hard to leave a place so much the meetings are strong. The remainder of time, we pass it between us to lead or work. We did not work yet much in the car, we prefer to admire the landscapes. Then it is really necessary to be insulated to work, initially by discretion, not to open our portable computer in front of everyone, then because it is hard to render comprehensible with our hosts whom we have of work.

To eat... and drink
We were full with good resolutions in Europe and we cooked several times with our mini-stove of camp-site. But from Turkey we prefer to buy kebabs or other sandwiches, or to even go in walked good restaurants. We always try to hold us with 5 Euro per day and anybody whom our budget for the 3 meals provides. In Syria, nothing easier, the standard of living is low, the prices too. In Lebanon that proves much more difficult the life is as expensive there as in France. The worst, it is when we want to leave to drink glass with friends, there, the price of a beer explodes our budget and we must be satisfied with an unhappy beer for all the evening (snif...). the Council, if you make a turn of the world, envisage a good reserve to have fun the festival (and then also for the visits who often cost very expensive). Like us, we had not done it thus transformed ourselves into ascetics. Fortunately with Marwan and Leticia, Lebanese and Spanish met at the time of our second passage in Syria, we went to visit the marvellous site of Palmyre in full Syrian desert. Impressive oasis, built on the ruins of a Romain site, we spent one night there to beautiful star to set out again then on Jordan. I say fortunately bus to Lebanon, because of the accident, we did not have any more means of transport and we thus were very disorganized by the need for going to see the daily advance of work on the car.
We nevertheless could meet an ONG, the American University of Beirut, a director of the Ministry for Water and Electricity and a journalist who published an article for us in the East the Day, first French-speaking daily newspaper of the Middle East. In Syria our stay was much shorter (2+3 days, against 15 in Lebanon) but we all the same could meet a journalist of Syrian Times, newspaper Syrian in English.

And to sleep
To sleep we have several solutions: Initially the budget allows us one night per week with 10EUR by anybody in an inn, we did it in Damas for example, where we slept for 2,15 Euro per night and anybody on the roofs of the hotel.
In Beirut we had a hotel **** offered by our new sponsor: the Lebanese company Doummar Brothers Then, we have the car in which we can sleep with the back on the boards (it is hard like support, but one made there...), we make it when we are not sure safety of the area. Finally there remain to us our campbeds which we use to sleep with beautiful star as in Palmyre and in all Syria.

The car and the accident or "For a handle of dollars"

The Syrians roll like the insane ones. They are the worst. Finally they dispute the first place with the Lebanese one.
After the border turco-Syrian woman, we arrive night at Alep, in the north of Syria. It is the horror, it comes from there from everywhere, without headlights, respect of the prohibited directions, fires and even less of the priorities. That which hoots longest, most extremely and makes the most calls of headlights always has priority. The others can wait. The pedestrians them have only to make bullfight between the cars. Enough oddly, all that is done in the courtesy.
One mouth sometimes, then one smiles the second according to.
One hoots like insane, then one thanks by a sign for the hand.
One could have made 200 accidents!
Especially on the motorway, when of night without headlights preferably, tractors, trucks, bicycles or travelling objects not identified go up on the hard shoulder and encroach even on the tape of right-hand side to exceed itself. Eh well Not! We did not even have fixing.
Finally pros what!!! And yet our accident had we it. Arrived in the hotel that us Jean Doummar offered, we leave our car (parked well) in the street and the key with the carrying one. In the night, it moves it and on the other side of the just as easily parked road puts it. The following day, when we have our breakfast, Aline, the charming waitress, comes to ask to us whether we have a Citroen, and invites us to leave because there is a problem.
In the street we let us not believe of them our eyes, the car resembles an accordion, very ready for the guinguette. In a few seconds it is one year of work which disappears, a dream which flies away. As the Fountain would say: "Good-bye WATER, cow, pig, brooded". We are both to look at the scene, ready to cry.
"And that the children will say who follow us, and the sponsors?"
But it is necessary to be seized again! To call the police force which refuses to come because it does not have there casualties. The embassy of France which confirms its usual inefficiency while sending to us to feed.
And finally the insurer who, also, assure him his usual incompetence. But which can help us then well?
Obviously, in this kind of situation nobody any more speaks neither English, neither French, nor even Arabic.
The company of bus, it, sends its expert (a large dishonest person well on....).
Jean Doummar called with the rescue, sends to it his. Lastly, after 45 minutes, the director of the hotel arrives, it asks the company of bus to send his lawyer, gives two slaps deserved well to the driver and begins a negotiation to which we do not include/understand anything. Moreover at this time, we do not know with whom to make confidence.
With the end of the palaver one promises to us that the car will be repaired with the expenses of the insurance company before the expiry of our visa 10 days later.
"And a car of replacement?"
"Hein what, I to speak not French!"
"But two seconds ago you spoke better than Victor Hugo himself!"
"Hein what?...."
"It is good one included/understood, breakage you cannard".
This day there one would have to type it this pseudo lawyer of m.... and to prick his wallet to him, but that one will not realize from there that thereafter. Because the company of bus plays us of dirty tricks.
According to them, we are responsible to 25% and must thus for this reason spend 100 dollars (which will be in fact 125). A fortune for us! But we do not have the choice because it refuses to return Adrienne to us if we do not pay.
In short, here large contrast enters the Arab reception and the dishonesty of some billionaires, for a handle of dollars moreover.
Today the car found its look, it is just a little shorter, it squeaks of everywhere, does not close more, speeds (1st and reverse gear) pass very badly, the nose gear wheel right-hand side is directed towards the interior.
Short all bathes because even if it it claudic a little, it always rolls.

Newspaper of August 1 at August 20, 2003 by Loïc

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