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| Trip to Quneitra |
I've posted some pictures in the album linked above, and you can even see where the pictures were taken on the Google map. It's a bit bizarre driving around, since there's a check-point a couple of kilometres before Quneitra where they check your paperwork (you need to get a letter from the Ministry of Interior Affairs to visit the area) and where a member of the secret police steps into your car to escort you as you drive. He was a pleasant enough chap and I was very impressed that Flo managed to convince him to wear the seat belt in the front seat... which just managed to fit around his impressively large belly. What I found really incredible though was that he didn't ask for any money when we dropped him off at the check-point!
The UN have a military base within the remains of Quneitra. It was a little odd seeing them there... it's a really sombre place, so hearing loud music blasting from the barracks and seeing the soldiers participating in a "fun-run" through the bombed out remains of the town was really peculiar.
On the way back we decided to explore and drove back towards the Golan Heights... it's kind of weird driving around this area as it's something that we heard a lot about on the news when we were growing up. It's actually a really nice place... much greener than the area around Damascus, full of olive trees, valleys and little streams. Unfortunately, we headed up a road that led to a dead end up the valley. It was also being resurfaced, so our new car is now covered in sticky tar! So that will give me something to do when our sea-freight has arrived... I'll be spending a weekend de-tarring the car!
We'll definitely revisit the Golan Heights area, but next time we'll be better prepared and figure out a round trip back to Damascus.
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