March 18th: Hama and bus to Amman [updated with pics and more; first posted 06-04-09]

I got up early to have breakfast and get ready to meet Alaa' for some shopping - I wanted to try to find a little backgammon game board that I had seen in Aleppo but didn't buy. Backgammon seems to be quite popular everywhere over here - in Syria, Jordan, Egypt, ... I talked to Abdullah about the bus to Amman. I had him book me a ticket on the midnight bus and then went out to meet Alaa'. He wasn't there!!! I waited for quite a while, but he didn't show up. So I went in to call him. He had gotten busy with some family things and couldn't come early. He said he'd come after a couple of hours so then I had time to wait. I sat behind the reception counter with Margo, an older Australian/Estonian woman who had also been staying at the hotel and was going to Amman on the afternoon bus. She had been sick in bed the past few days. Poor woman! Abdullah was there talking with us for a while. We had tea, and then he left. We were brought fresh strawberries and such. :) Nice. Eventually I saw Alaa' outside (they have security cameras - one of the sidewalk outside the door, one of the stairway, one of the salon, and one of the restaurant/dining room).
Alaa' and I wandered for quite a while. We checked out several shops but either they didn't have them or they were bad quality or they were charging way too much. Finally we found one that I liked, with mother of pearl inlay. I paid 500 Syrian pounds (about $10US?). We then went to see some of the (ناعورة) norias of Hama. I love them!!!The Norias are along the Orontes River of Hama and are very old and big.

The Noria Al-Muhammadiyya is supposedly the largest noria in the world, as well as one of the oldest. According to an info board near the noria, it is 21 meters in diameter (about 69 feet) and was built around 763 AH (1361 CE). We walked around quite a bit checking out the norias.I think that is the 3 norias. Most of them had no posters or info boards so I can't really label the pictures other than how many were at a specific spot if there were more than one. We tried to get down to the 4 norias from the back side but couldn't, so went to the 4 norias restaurant. I had lunch, but as usual, he wasn't hungry. Also, he had a stomach ache. He had a special kind of tea that is supposedly good for stomach problems. I took a small taste of it. YUCK!!! It kinda tasted like stomach acid!! It was lemon with cumin. Not something I would ever want to taste again. After I ate, he talked to the manager about going to see the norias. They said there was no separate entry, and there was a gate, but we could jump over the gate if we wanted to get closer to the norias. Funny. We did just that. Out the back door of the restaurant to their patio and then over the gate that separated the patio from the norias.I'm not sure I mentioned it before, but the water REALLY stinks. Near the hotel area, the water is actually bubbling (with noxious gas?) and has a thick iridescent film on it. DISGUSTING!! It smells like human waste among other things. At the norias, it smells like sulfur. It is amazing that anything can live in it!!! Near the 4 norias, there were frogs living in the water. We stopped for a while to toss tiny pebbles to try to make the frogs jump (not to hit them, so you know). I went back to my hotel to rest and get my things ready. I watched a movie (Shining Through) and took a bit of a nap before going to sit in the salon for a while, with Cookie sitting on my knee chewing my pen, and then sleeping on my foot. :) A little later, I went out to pay for my bus ticket. They said the bus was at 12:30AM. Then I went back to Alaa's restaurant to have tea and say bye. We had some tea and sat and talked for a while. Then he got busy for a moment. While he was up, a guy from the next table came over and asked me to join them. He was with his fiancee and her mother. I said okay, for a short time. He siad he is the mayor of a village to the east of Hama. I'm not sure if I believed him or not. He spoke English quite well. His fiancee also spoke some English. She just started studying English literature in university. She is only 18!!!! The guy looked around 28 or 30. He was looking at me and watching me in an odd way. When Alaa' returned, I went back to join him. I had a cappuccino and we chatted some more. When it was time for me to go, he said he would try to see me off at the bus station but would probably be too busy. No problem.
I went back to the hotel to check out and wait a bit until it was time to go to the bus station. I was a little late leaving the hotel because I didn't have enough Syrian money - I paid the hotel bill but also had to have enough to pay the departure tax, so I had to change some money. I finally left the hotel at around 12:15 and got to the bus station in less than 10 minutes. With only a short time before the bus was to leave (according to what I was told), I thought I was in a hurry. I went to the office there, and the guy told me to sit and wait. What? There was a bus at the station that was almost ready to pull out. The guy took my passport to write down my info, and then disappeared in the back to make some tea for himself!! I was thinking what the heck is he doing??? The bus was pulling out. I looked worried, as when he came out and looked at me he said to relax, because the bus wasn't there yet and wouldn't go until 1. Grrrr. After he got my info and I got my passport back, I went out to find some water and a snack, then went back to the office to read my book. I had just sat down and opened my book when I looked up to find Alaa' sitting beside me. He had rushed to get there and had though he would have missed me. His friend from the restaurant had driven him on his motorcycle. He then stayed until my bus came. We went and got a tea and a cheese (salty Arabic cheese) sandwich for me since I really hadn't had anything for dinner. We had just started to drink the tea when the bus came, about 15 minutes early. Well, I had to go. The busses here don't wait until the departure time. When the bus pulled in, a bunch of people all of a sudden appeared. I'm not sure where they were waiting. I was put in the front seat behind the driver. A young guy tried to sit next to me but the driver shooed him away and told him to find another seat. Yay!! I had the whole 2 seats to myself. Good thing, as the bus was very old and not very comfortable. There was almost no leg room, but with the 2 seats, I could stretch my legs out. It was around a 7 hour bus ride. We stopped a while before the border at a little place where everyone had to pay a departure tax of 500 Syrian Pounds. Then it was back on the bus for a while longer. I slept between stops. I wish I had some warning before the stops or had some instruction as to what was going on, as each time I woke up, I felt very disoriented, and every time there was a stop, I sort of just had to follow everyone and figure out on my own what had to be done. First, there was the departure area where I had to go in and get a departure stamp. For some reason, the guy stood there looking at my passport for about 5 minutes before even starting to put it into the computer and stamp it. Not sure why. Then I sat on the bus for about 20 minutes waiting... not sure what for. After that, it was a short drive to the Jordanian immigration/entry section. First thing, all bags had to be taken off of the bus and out of the baggage storage to be opened and quickly inspected, and then put back on the bus. Then I had to go around to another building for the immigration procedures. I went to the VISA counter, where I was told to go to the immigration counter first. At the immigration counter, the guy looked at my passport, and told me to go to the VISA counter. That little look at the passport was apparently an important part of the procedure. I had to then run outside to another building to change money to pay for the VISA. Then it was no problem. I got the little VISA stamp and had the immigration guy stamp the arrival stamp and off I went back to find the bus (it moved to part in front of a little store). We waited there for almost half an hour!!! I guess it was breakfast time?? I wasn't yet hungry. I just wanted to sleep. After that there were no more stops until we reached Amman. Where we were dropped off was not at any bus station but just behind some building. Odd. I went out and quickly found a taxi to take me to the hotel I had chosen - the Palace Hotel. The driver took a while to understand the little map on the back of the business card I had. Then he didn't even drop me off near the hotel, but rather about a block past it on the other side. ARGH!! He didn't want to turn around to go back. Then he wouldn't give me all of my change. I didn't think he deserved a tip but he tipped himself with my money. GRRRRR.

VISA problems

Vacation should NOT be this stressful!!!!! I am in Cambodia now. I had decided to take a vacation from Korea while waiting for my new job to start. I decided to get my new work VISA here rather than doing a VISA run to Japan. I know people who have done VISA runs in Thailand and other such countries. The process seems to be the same everywhere. BUT, in Cambodia, unlike almost every other Korean Embassy, they require the actual VISA issuance document and not just the number. I found this out TODAY when I went to the embassy to apply for my passport, all set with my application form, photo, money, and VISA issuance NUMBER written on a little piece of paper that my school gave to me on Monday. So now what???

The embassy says I should get the school to send the document to me at my hotel. WHAT hotel? When? I'm here on vacation. I don't want to sit around waiting for a stupid piece of paper. I checked the various couriers on the net. I think the EARLIEST it would come, IF the school sends it tomorrow, is next week Monday. Not that bad, I suppose. I think the easiest/best way is for the school to send it as a pick-up rather than having it delivered to a hotel. That way I can pick it up and take it to the embassy in the same day (when I am in the city). I think that is the only way that I can actually still do some traveling while waiting. Also, I am still waiting to hear back from my school. I sent them an email this afternoon after I found out, and then again after I checked out the couriers on the net and such. Waiting sucks.

No matter what, I have to re-think my planning on when I am doing things here. I want to spend more than a week in the Siem Reap area, but now I'm not sure how, unless I do it in two halves. That kind a sucks. I can't put it off to the end, as I'm not sure how long I'll be waiting here. And I can't just go up there now and stay and then leave the VISA stuff to the end, as I'm not sure how long it will take for them to actually PROCESS the VISA. As they the website for the Korean Embassy here isn't very informative, I have NO information.

What to do.

VISA Run to Fukuoka, Japan... part I: March 10th

I went to Japan last week for 3.5 days (I left on the 10th and came back on the 13th). It is the most common place for foreigners in Korea to go for a VISA run.
Leaving on the 10th was quite stressful, as I didn't know that I was leaving then, until the afternoon of the 9th. My VISA expired on the 9th. Everyone (my boss, my friends, my recruiter, etc) had heard/said that I had a 2 weeks grace period after my VISA expiry date in which to leave the country. I had no choice in the matter, as my school didn't get my VISA confirmation letter until, I thiink, the 8th or 9th, and I wasn't the one that was booking tickets and such. The original plan, thinking about the 2 weeks grace, had me leaving on the 23rd to spend an entire weekend in Japan and then doing the run. Then on the 9th, they were informed that my last school handed in my release forms to immigration on February 28th, which would mean that my VISA probably ended on that day (so they were thinking), and so the 2 weeks grace would end on the 14th. The other teacher was going then, so I had to go ASAP.

And, they emailed me my e-ticket and such the evening of the 9th, but I don't have a printer. I was busy from other plans on the 9th so that only left the Saturday morning to get everything done (find somewhere to print out my tickets and such, pack, etc). Luckily Revo was able to come to feed Tokki while I was away. If not, I would have been even busier that morning, as I would have had to take Tokki to the vet for "hotelling", IF they had space, that is. I got to the airport around 2 hours ahead of time. I checked in in an express lane for those that aren't checking bags, and then went and had some lunch (I hadn't even had breakfast that morning from all that I had to do). My flight was to leave at 6:10 PM. At a little before 5, I went through security without any problems... they had to check my bag, though, and put all of my 'liquids' and such into a small ziplock bag (you are allowed what will fit into a sealable 1L bag). Then at Immigration I had a problem. My VISA expired on the 9th and it was the 10th. BIG PROBLEM. There is a bit of a grace period in terms of not having to pay any fines, but it is still a problem, and paperwork and such still had to be done. I had to sit around and wait for them to do who knows what. Then, a girl working at the airport literally ran with me to the little immigration office out in the public area (before security) where I had to draw a number and wait some more. Then, we had to sprint all the way back across the airport, where I had to go through security once again. I had to wait for a couple of people go to through infront of me, before they let me go. It was already take-off time for my flight!!!! And then they stopped me and wanted to check in my bag, to see the liquids. They said one of my containers was too big. It was 115 mL but they only allow a maximum size of 100mL. It was ONE OF THEM that took it from my other bag and PUT IT IN THE PLASTIC BAG BEFORE!!!!! The airport girl that was with me had gone though to take my passport to the immigration past security to get the rest of the stuff done there. She came back and told security that I had already gone through and such, so then they said they would let the extra 115 mL pass that time only. Then I had to go to get my passport stamped and run to the gate, which was, luckily, straight ahead. I was exhausted from running with my pack on my back, and my feet and legs were killing me (I've been having other problems and the doctor has told me several times I shouldn't even be walking much, let alone running with extra weight).

They had held the flight for me, and so they welcomed me by name when I finally got on. I only wanted to sit down in my seat. When I finally got there, I could do nothing to prevent a few tears from going running down my cheeks (if I weren't in such a public place it would have been a lot more). So much stress.

The food on the flight was disappointing. No choice. Just a dish of rice with some sort of seafood and slices of ginger and some sort of strange shredded fluorescent pink stuff all over it.

Once I was actually in Japan, everything was fine. I didn't have a hotel booked for that night, only for my last night (my school was only paying for one night and so would only book one for me). My plan was to go to that hotel and hope they had rooms available when I got there. The hotel was easy to find. The subway system goes right to the airport, and my hotel was right beside the main train station, only 2 stops from the airport. That night all I did was relax and go go sleep early, as I hadn't slept much the night before and had an extremely stressful day.