What to say about Syria? It’s enigmatic, obscure, and fascinating. For a start, the Assad ultra-strict regime – where for a while the President had 30 secret agencies that he was playing against each other – closed the country to mainstream tourism. Then, after 9/11 Mr. Bush got the brilliant idea to add Syria to the list of “Axis of Evil” countries, and this killed the little tourism industry that was developing.

Now, as a result, one can explore the fantastic ruins of Palmyra or Apamea alone – with a bit of luck. There are tourists, but so few that they go unnoticed; unless walking around the old parts of Damascus and Aleppo where shop-owners in the souks try their best to sell you scarf’s, spices, carpets, tea cups and others essential things. In simple words: Syria’s history is rich and so accessible that it is one of the only places in the world where one can walk on 2000 years old ruins.

But Syria is also home to one of the most oppressive regimes in the world – or was until not so long ago. When entering by land, the sight of useless and corrupt customs officials is the first indicator. This means that the waiting time to get the visa on the border can vary from 20min to several hours, with the price following the same fluctuations going from US$ 18 to 100. It all depends on the mood of the fat guy working on that day, and on how much baksheesh he gets. Same thing goes for the central post office in Damascus.

Still, people’s warm welcome offsets completely the grayness of the regime. Several people sincerely asked me if I was having a good time in Syria, and took great pleasure to hear that I enjoyed myself. And the fact that this is the cheapest country to travel to in the region – apart form Egypt – makes it a good destination for backpackers.

It has been almost three weeks since Sabrina and I arrived in the Middle East. We have traveled through Syria and Jordan, and tomorrow we should reach the Holy Land for a Holy Week. As I am sitting in the lobby of Palace Hotel in Amman, listening to Telephone (a French 80s band), I thought I should write an entry in the blog of mine.

The Middle East. Since my first experience with travelling in a Muslim country – Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and later Malaysia – I had been looking forward to finally come in this region, where Islam was born.

However, to tell the truth I was slightly anxious. However culture relativistic, informed and open-minded I try to be, the mainstream media has somehow formatted my perceptions; and deep inside I feared Arabs.

Paradoxically, however, I have never felt that safe (apart maybe from China). In the beginning it seemed kind of strange to being shouted at every five seconds; especially when people are not insulting you but are saying “Welcome to Jordan” with a beaming smile on their faces! People are absolutely amazing! Three weeks in the region have only reinforced this feeling.

In addition, ancient-ruins-like Syria is a gem! There are fantastic sites to explore, with the privilege to be almost alone! Indeed, since the great Bush administration has brilliantly added Syria to the list of the fabled “Axis of Evil”, the tourist industry has plummeted. So while it’s sad for the local tourist industry, it is fantastic for those – like me – who despise the sight of tour buses.

Tursun Gul, a local Uighur woman on a crutch, shouts at Chinese armored personnel carriers and soldiers wearing riot gear as a crowd of angry locals confront security forces on a street in the city of Urumqi on July 7, 2009. Click on the image to access more pictures. Warning, some photos are shocking.

I found a testimony on a blog on Le Monde.fr, a French newspaper. Here is an excerpt.

I was in Urumqi on July 5th. The demonstration started at 5 pm. It had been announced on the web the day before. That was mainly students who were asking for justice after what had happened on June 26th at Shaogan. Rebiya Kadeer has nothing to do with that. Around 5 pm we started to gather on the People’s square, in front of the prefecture, with black t-shirts to show our message. I was with my girlfriend. We were around 200, 300 people, mostly students. Then some more came to support us. Ultimately we were more than 3000. Among us were even some Uyghurs officials working for the government.

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