A few more notes

Getting there and away

With Alitalia we flew from Copenhagen to Rome and further on to Beirut; the days in Rome were in fact consequence of a (planned) prolonged transfer. We returned from Amman to Copenhagen with British Airways. The tickets cost about DKR1850 each way (around $320 including 25% Danish V.A.T.).

When to go

Our trip was probably a month too late, the weather was a bit cold and there was rain on some occasions. I think the best time to travel in the Middle East is in March-May/September-October. In the summer it gets extremely hot; also the summer is the tourist season, so the prices may be higher in some places. In the winter, rain and cold weather means that you have to bring more clothes.

Un-sorted price examples

Lebanon:

Bottle of water, 1.5 liter: L£500-1,000
Pack of cigarettes, Western brands: L£900-1,250
Chicken sandwich: L£2,000
One whole grilled chicken: L£7,000
Medium size pizza at Pizza Hut: L£12,000
Hrubbes (flat, round bread), 10 pcs: L£1,000
Orange juice , 1 liter: L£3,000-3,500

Syria:

Argeeley (hubble-bubble) at a café: S£40
Tea at a café: S£5-15
Big glass of freshly squeezed orange juice: S£30
Shwarma: S£25
Entrance at a museum or tourist site: S£200 ; no student discounts
Shoeshine: S£10

Taxis: Many taxis have meters, but sometimes they refuse to turn them on; that's a bad sign, find another taxi. If you have to ride without the meter, remember to bargain and to establish a reasonable amount before entering. A 15 minute ride shouldn't cost more than S£20-30.

Jordan:

A bottle of water (1.5 liter): 300 fils
Felaffel sandwitch: 200 fils
Two rolls of toilet paper: 400 fils

A few other sources of information

Doug Burnett has written several travelogues. One of them is from his trip to Syria, Jordan and Israel.

The Lonely Planet has a web-site. Although they are a bit slow when it comes to updating their pages, it could be worth a try: They have a section on The Middle East where travellers share their experiences.

The last words

A couple of useful words not mentioned in the guide books:

factoorra : bill (at a restaurant, for example)
shway : little
shway-shway : slow
salam-'a : goodbuy/good wishes
mouarfa(k) : good luck
yalla : let's go
yalla-yalla : clear out
yamin : right
schmell : left
dorhle : straight
hralas : enough/stop/finished
daimey : thanks for dinner
kee fak : unformal - how are you (adressing a man)
kee fik : unformal - how are you (adressing a woman)
mi(d)r : fine
helou'e : beautiful/sweet (feminine gender)
helou : beautiful/sweet (masculine gender)

In the guidebook, the pronouciation of some of the numbers is described in a strange way, I think. "Two" is actually pronounced 'tneen rather than itneen. "Three" is 'tlateh (stressing the "la") rather than talata.

Finally: A small epilogue...

Index

About the author


This is not an official university web page. Troels Arvin wrote it.
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