Syria/Jordan/Lebanon

Hello guys,

We're looking at spending about a month doing a tour of Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, with New Year's Night in one of the countries, basically. We're planning to take a Defender 110 SW and a Toyota Hilux along, with roof tents, bicycles, the whole nine yards.

Has anyone been in those parts? What did you visit? What probs did you encounter?

Cheers.

teddy tudoroiu said:

Hello guys,

We're looking at spending about a month doing a tour of Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, with New Year's Night in one of the countries, basically. We're planning to take a Defender 110 SW and a Toyota Hilux along, with roof tents, bicycles, the whole nine yards.

Has anyone been in those parts? What did you visit? What probs did you encounter?

Cheers.

Click to expand...

Ask a NATO commander and the state department, so far a travel ban. Can I take a 5million life insurance for that time frame on you?

As i understood, there's no more travel ban. Neither have i heard of incidents, in terms of kidnapping/vehicle heists/so on, so forth. A couple of mates did Syria two months ago by bike, and he was fine. He even said the bribe levels are far lower than Jordan or Lebanon. So, somehow i am not worried about the dangers, but rather the travel ban.

The situation in the Middle East is always fluid so keep checking both the Foreign Office website and the US State Department website and follow the most cautious one - its surprising how much they differ.
In Lebanon you will have a conundrum - the tourist areas are usually fairly safe, but if you are on an expedition by definition you will not be following the tourist routes. I`d be tempted to compromise the exploration bit and not stray too far from well travelled tourist destinations
Jordan you should be fine unless the Arab Spring turns into an Arab 4 seasons.
If it was me I`d be tempted to try and hook up with some other vehicles, ideally with locals - try the embassies to see if they can point you in the right direction for contacts. If all else fails the local LR and Toyota dealers might have some ideas of local clubs or organisations you could get some advice from ?

thanks for the reply. Indeed, we've heard both sides of the arguments. Syria has been deemed safe by the Embassy. We've explained exactly what we want to do and where we want to go and they were ok with it - apparently it's all cooled down. Lebanon is still unde discussion but is definitely worth extensive visiting really. Your LR and Toyota dealership idea sounds like a very good plan indeed. I might want to contact them beforehand, or even local 4x4 forums. It might be that they'd like to tag along, show us places and go wheeling together. That's def a good piece of advice.

Cheers.

I was in Jordan for a week in May. We hired a car and drove around with friends who lived there (and speak decent Arabic). The country was fantastic and we didnt encounter the vaguest hint of any problems whilst out there.

We followed the tourist trail but I strongly suggest you head to Wadi Rum in the south. We hired a local guide and his 4x4 and travelled round the desert (it's where t e Lawrence - Lawrence of Arabia - built a house). It's a vast area and the commercial drivers probably only cover a fraction. I'm pretty sure you can drive yourself around with your own vehicle.

Petra is touristy but well worth a visit. Also allow a day or two in downtown Amman.

Driving wise, there are 3 main highways that dissect the country north to south. The desert highway runs from amman to the red sea (Aqaba) but is long, straight and boring. The kings highway us further west and much more interesting; it's apparently one of the oldest routes in the world. I suspect off these roads, things would be much more interesting for an adventure.

Safety wise, there are two towns south of Amman that are no go areas but easily avoided. One has very strong ties with Al quida (sp?) and the other considers Hammas to be far too moderate.

Hope this helps.