Flew into Syria a couple of years ago without visa. I was given one on arrival at the airport. Apparently this was possible because my country (holland) has no Syrian diplomatic mission.

Great country, great people and lots of interesting things to see by the way...

enjoy

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Advice for the day: If you have a headache, do what it says on the Aspirin-bottle: Take two and keep away from children...

Hey Everyone. The Visa was not a problem at all, there also seems to be no communication between the "captain" of the immigration and the ministry. For me it was all very simple and Syria definitely has an Embassy in Berlin.
One thing to keep in mind, that the customs people will not ask for the Carnet themselves. You then end up paying around 75 Euros in total. After some discussion and shoving the Carnet into different windows, more discussion behind the same windows aso. this dropped to under 30 euros. Bottom line: If you have a Carnet, make sure you use it!
In Jordan again, the Customs guy asked for money, but so nicely that I just paid. I then realized that he hadn't stamped the Carnet, which he then did reluctantly, but I didn't get the money back. Bottom line: Once the Carnet is stamped, there shouldn't be substantial customs charges. If there are, ask for a receipt and/or pretend you don't have the money (in cash) and see what happens. If they let you go, the money was meant for the officer's pocket.

Getting into Egypt is notoriously expensive, but at Nuweiba port you get your personal tourist police officer, which is very helpful. He probably receives some money somewhere along the line, but at just over 800 Egyptian pounds the whole process wasn't substantially more expensive for me then for anyone else, yet much shorter with only 1 hour.

A few days ago I crossed from Jordan to Syria at the Ramtha/ Dera border. Quiet. Charged me $50 for the visa, Irish passport (I am not sure if we have a Syrian Embassy, probably not). Insurance was $30, TIP $8. And that was it. They wanted my 'triptych' (Carnet) and tore out the bottom bit, but only I believe for the bike details on it. Syria is excluded on my Carnet. Everything was receipted.
BTW entering Jordan at Aqaba, I had to pay about euro 20 for a TIP. I protested that I had paid a lot of money for the carnet, etc, etc. He laughed and said he wasn't interested in the carnet. Although he stamped it - in the wrong places - he didn't tear off his piece. Thats how important it was.
Hugh

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