Syrie - Jordanie 2001

July 15, 2001 – From Lyons to Damascus

The Syrian visa in the passport,

Syrian Visa

The trip begins at Lyons St-Exupéry airport (center east of France) where an Alitalia plane (an ATR 42 of 40 seats) is waiting for us direction Milan. The check in is done very quickly, the bag will do all the way directly from Lyons to Damascus. The weather is bad and there’s a delay of 20 minutes. I am happy to go far from these clouds in countries where rain is not common in summer time. Finally, we take off around 6:20 pm for a one hour flight over the Alps and sometimes in the clouds which frightens the little girl in front of me.

For me, the arrival at Milan International Airport is a grand premiere in Italy even if all the airports in the world looks like the same with their English signs. Direction Satellite B and the TV screens to know the gate and the departure time of the flight to Damascus. For the moment, no problem, the departure time is set for 8:30 pm. Finally we have to wait for some French passengers but the flight will only be delayed for 20 minutes.

At 9:10 pm, we take off but it doesn’t matter because our arrival in Damascus should be around 2:00 am in the middle of the night with nowhere to go…

After a sort of lunch and a movie (Enemy at the gates), the Lebanese coasts appear suddenly in the dark night and especially Beirut that can be clearly recognized.