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Taxi!
Right, time I did some sort of informative post, and given today’s events I think I’m going to explain the transport situation in Damascus, or what I’ve worked out so far…
Taxis are by far the best way of getting somewhere if you don’t know where you’re going, just make sure you don’t come straight out of your hotel and grab a taxi from there because there’ll be people waiting for Westerners and charging them ridiculous rates, my advice is always walk towards the centre a bit before stopping a cab.
With the cabs the men always sit in the front and everyone else goes in the back, which is quite good if you want to practise your Arabic as most taxi drivers are quite chatty and appreciate being talked to in their own language, even if it is Modern Standard Arabic (Fusha) and not Syrian Colloquial Arabic (Amiya).
Another way to get a good, cheap fare with the cabs is to ask for it “bil adad” which means “by the meter” instead of them giving you a set fare when you get in. No journey should ever cost more than 100SYP unless you’re really going out of the way somewhere. Taxi drivers will also always expect some sort of a tip, so just add on an extra 10SYP to the number on the meter.
If you’re a student going to study Arabic at the university, never ask for جامعة دمشق always ask for “Kolea al-Adab” otherwise you’ll go to the wrong place.
Taxis are pretty good quality here but the buses are ridiculously cheap at only 10SYP, so as long as you don’t mind being squished by everyone else when it gets busy then get the bus. Make sure you definitely know where it goes though. I have no idea where most of them go still. I had an interesting journey yesterday where I thought the bus I was on was going to end up in Bab Touma, but instead found myself going further and further out of the city into the middle of nowhere… Whoops. We had to get off and get a taxi back, luckily we weren’t too far away.
Today I was given a hint as to how the “services” work. They’re small minibuses used as taxis and all the locals seem to know where they go but so far everyone I’ve spoken to has no clue whatsoever. Apparently it’s something to do with what they have on the sign on top of them but whenever I’ve read the signs it seemed to be exactly the same on every single one… I’m sure one day I’ll man up and see where they go as they’re pretty cheap too: 10SYP.
My advice is that unless you’re with a local or have been in Damascus for a while, take a taxi… it might be more expensive but at least you know where you’re going… Plus as I found out today, buses aren’t always reliable… spent over an hour waiting for one that never came… bad times. I had to get a taxi with a driver who kept on babbling on in Arabic, I had to keep explaining to him that I didn’t understand most of what he was saying.
Coming home in April is going to be so weird after getting used to Syrian roads…
