Damascus is a larger, busier, smellier version of Aleppo without the friendly people. There is much to see here, but explaining to the taxi drivers where you want to go is too hard. Half of them can't even read their own language, so the hope of finding one that understands English is at best slim. Two days here in a campsite that lies within easy distance of one of the loudest, most overzealous, early-bird mosques in all of Islam was more than enough. I am not a fan of 5:am wake-up calls at the best of times and this was too much. Lack of sleep, polution and extreme frustration saw me not sorry to leave this place. I am not a city boy at heart and this is a city on steroids!

The one good reason to visit this town is that it affords the opportunity to go somewhere else. A day-trip to Lebanon and Beirut from Damascus is a must and whilst Beirut is these days less a war-zone and more a subscriber to the faceless, soulless, franchise-overrun sameness that are modern cities acoss the world it was a pleasant journey back to normality for a change to sit eating icecream in the Hardrock cafe on the waterfront in Beirut feeling just a little like home.

And besides, what a stamp to have in the passport!