Reviews (3)

Great guide!
I used this guide for travels in Lebanon this past summer, fortunately, before the war.I explored Beirut and Tripoli, and this book provided excellent information on both cities.I found everything from hotel descriptions to guides on inter-country travel via bus and taxi to be accurate and helpful.Whatever information you could require for travelling through Lebanon and Syria is found here.Overall, a solid and reliable guide to an amazing region.

"As you wish"
"As you wish" is the response to most questions in Syria, making the LP Guide very necessary. It contains excellent information on rarer sites and ruins along with very good historical information about them. Best book for all your travel needs (in Syria, of course!)
I've just arriving from a travel to Syria. I've travelled a lot and I've ever used LP guides. This is one of the best. During my travel in Syria sometimes I had asked to myself: where can I find this, that, those...allthe answers, the most weird too, are in this book. During my visit to thedead towns (near Aleppo)the guide wared me about wild dogs. So, you can'tbelieve it, I'll find the dog. The guide don't say how can I save my pourlegs...but this wasa my problem not of the book. Is like to have a friendwith you who knows everything about this country ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Middle East - General    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Lebanon    5. Syria    6. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (3)

A very innocent time
Bell was one of many "arabists" who traveled throughout the Middle East near the end of the Ottoman empire. This book is really an interesting travelogue and insight into Middle Eastern culture from the view of a privileged English woman who was viewed as curiosity by those she visited and traveled with. In a way, this is a fairly innocent view of that part of the world, but you could do worse than read this book. Much of the clannish nature of the cultures she wrote about is unchanged from her era (and indeed, from centuries before) and is worth the couple of hours it will take to read this book.

Travels in Turkish Syria
Gertrude Bell is probably one of the most interesting women of pre-World War I England. A daughter of privilege and she was educated and curious at a time when women of her class were expected to marry well and have children to police the Empire.Bell broke this mold and was the archetype of the "traveling Englishwoman" of the high British Empire.
Marvelous Book
Having read a current bio about Gertrude Bell (Desert Queen), which I found a bear to get through due to the less than amazing quality of writing, I was curious about Bell's own writings and thrilled to find some still in print. Gertrude Bell could write!! What a wonderful book. Having an interest in archaeology and the history of ancient civilizations, I enjoyed the material she offered. But even if those aren't areas of interest to you, the people she met and talked to give one a better understanding of the midEast and of people in general. This was a hard book to put down. My only desires were that a map had been provided and that all of her wonderful pictures would have been printed on glossy paper so they could have been better appreciated. (I would have paid the extra!) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Description and travel    4. Essays & Travelogues    5. General    6. Middle East - General    7. Social life and customs    8. Syria    9. Travel - General    10. Arid zones, deserts    11. Biography: general    12. Geographical discovery & exploration    13. Middle East    14. Travel writing    15. Women's studies    16. c 1900 - c 1914   

Reviews (1)

"Which Way?"The Driver Said and Other Tales
Having needed to help my guide/driver navigate the backroads of Syria a month ago, I can say with total confidence that Neos Guide is an "Absolute Must Have" book along with the Lonely Planet "Syria".The city maps especially are extemely clear and necessary, the cities and historic sites are well described, and the recomended selection of sites to see, is superior to suggestions offered by local guides.Trust your book, your guide's actual travel experiences may be limited.Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - Southwest    2. Middle East - General    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Jordan    6. Syria    7. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Antiquities    2. Art    3. Art, Ancient    4. Exhibitions    5. Syria    6. Architecture   

Subjects:  1. Middle East - General    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Syria    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Middle East / General   

Subjects:  1. Essays & Travelogues    2. Middle East - General    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Syria    6. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (1)

Aworth reading personal ordeal, mirroring Lebanon's,
This is a personal ordeal worth reading.
Read more

Subjects:  1. 1931-    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Captivity, 1984    5. Historical    6. Hostages    7. Hostages, American    8. Lebanon    9. Levin, Jerry    10. Levin, Sis,    11. Middle East    12. Travel    13. U.S. - Middle East Relations    14. United States    15. Journeys    16. Levin, Sis    17. Relations with hostages    18. Syria   

Subjects:  1. Iraq    2. Jordan    3. Kuwait    4. Lebanon    5. Maps, charts & atlases    6. Syria    7. United Arab Emirates   

Subjects:  1. Maps    2. Maps & Road Atlases    3. Travel    4. Syria    5. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Reviews (3)

Criticism of this Book as Culturally Insensitive is Off-Base
I feel compelled to correct the unsubstantiated & unreasonable claim in another review that the authors of this guide have in any way disparaged the Syrian people or their culture.This is a quite useful book in almost all respects (chock full of maps, even for many out-of-the-way destinations).Typical of this guide's attitude: "Remember that most Syrians are unfailingly honest and courteous, and you shouldn't let a cautious outlook spoil your trip, or be tempted to read anything sinister into the genuine offers of hospitality you receive."The Rough Guide to Syria has been put together with a lot of care, and while it may not be the ne plus ultra, it is reliable, informative, and particularly strong in giving significant coverage to places throughout Syria.

Rough guide shows cultural insensitivity
I found the book very discouraging, and almost cancelled my trip altogether. The book does give useful information about archeological sights and how to get there. It is, however, full of misleading informationabout Syrian women, so-called cultural taboos, and why Syrians do certainthings. The overall tone of the book is negative and condescending. I wouldcertainly not recommend it if you are looking for positive cultural typeinformation.

Excellent book with lots of information
Excellent guide. It starts with a section about health, visa, currency, local transport, etc. The actual guide is a 'walkthrough', like: "When you exit the mosque, you will see on your left..." It contains maps ofmajor cities, covering restaurants and hotels too (with price indication!)Detailled maps for places of interest. Background info on persons,political issues and history. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Middle East - General    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Syria    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Middle East / General   

Editorial Review

In

Reviews (5)

Ok, but does it represent everything ?
I haven't read the book, but I am a Damascene. If the author had lived in Damascus for few years and if one of the reviewers had lived there for 3, I am a person who lived there for 22 years. I do not think that life there is full of threats and betrayal. I am a christian and I never encountered a problem there. Damascus is a beautiful city and I carry it in my heart wherever I go. Feel the weight of history...
I am very interested in the material that Ms. Joris covers in her book.The most lasting impression however is how well she portrays the psychological weight of being a woman in the middle east.I sort of feltlike I had spent 4 months in Syria after reading it.It rings true --based on my travel experiences and lives of friends. A very familiar story
For three years I've lived in Damascus, during the Gulf War. I've read "lonely planet gates of Damascus" in it's original state, in Dutch. Everything seemed so familiar to me it could have been my own diary.I really adore this book and I'd like to recommand this book to everyonewho will be living in an Arabic country, because it will give you arealistic view of the present situation in an Arabic society. Please bearin mind that Syria is not the slightest like, for instance, Saoedi-Arabia.Others who have been living in Syria might find it fascinating to know howthe life in the Syrian getto actually is. You will find the conversationsand communication problems very familiar! Further I'd like to read morebooks like these; so if anyone can help me, please mail... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1953-    2. Damascus    3. Damascus (Syria)    4. Description and travel    5. Essays & Travelogues    6. General    7. Joris, Lieve,    8. Journeys    9. Middle East - General    10. Social conditions    11. Syria    12. Travel    13. Travel - General    14. Women    15. ASIA    16. Joris, Leve    17. Travel writing   

Reviews (7)

Good Quality Companionship
In 1987, the author boarded a flight to Damascus to spend three months pursuing a dream as a travel writer. No hotels-and-sightseeing dilettante, he kept extensive notes as he traveled the streets and visited homes and offices in a country that in that year was far more security-conscious than the one he found when he returned in early 2001. He writes candidly, sometimes quoting at too much length, but quickly shows himself to be good company for a reader. His intrepid honesty and sincere desire to illuminate grassroots realities of a nation too often branded with stereotypes are admirable. DD

Road from Damascus to Ft. Worth
This book proves why a person needs to check out local bookstores when traveling - small presses often do not have the distribution network that good writers deserves.I live near Ft. Worth but found this book at the Pike Street Market in Seattle.I started reading it on the airplane going home and found it hard to put down.The paperback version is so attractively packaged that I did not realize when I purchased it that it was written and published locally in Seattle.Everything the other reviewers have said about the book is true.It is a very worthwhile and entertaining read.There is fuel for plenty of great arguments about "what it all means."Buy it!

Road from Damascus to Ft. Worth
This book proves why a person needs to check out local bookstores when traveling - small presses often do not have the distribution network that good writers deserves.I live near Ft. Worth but found this book at the Pike Street Market in Seattle.I started reading it on the airplane going home and found it hard to put down.The paperback version is so attractively packaged that I did not realize when I purchased it that it was written and published locally in Seattle.Everything the other reviewers have said about the book is true.It is a very worthwhile and entertaining read.There is fuel for plenty of great arguments about "what it all means."Buy it! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1948-    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Davis, Scott C.,    4. Description and travel    5. General    6. Middle East - General    7. Social life and customs    8. Syria    9. Travel    10. Travel - Foreign    11. Travel writing   

Reviews (3)

Frustratingly Good
Cleopatra's Wedding Present is an account of the solitary wandering of a Briton through the back roads and alleyways of Syria. What draws this urbane, openly gay man to a country like Syria is a question that draws the reader immediately into the book. Fittingly, Moss begins his book not in Damascus, but in culturally and geographically isolated northern city of Aleppo. He makes his way through a maze of noisy, cluttered streets to the Baron Hotel, an establishment of fading glory, where notables such as Lawrence of Arabia and Theodore Roosevelt once stayed. In the hotel bar, he quickly meets a fellow Briton, Rupert, and becomes entangled with the comings and goings, and affections, of a few young Syrian men. Through Rupert, like himself, an outsider, a loner, and also attracted to Syrian men, Moss realizes that it is only natural for such strangers in a strange land to find in Syria a place to come to terms with one's strangeness.
Racist, Patronizing and Untruthful
This book has got to be the most racist book I've ever read.
A languorous, yet exciting trip to a complicated land
This absolutely remarkable story brings to life the sights, sounds and smells - in all their beauty and ugliness - of Syria. The book recounts the journey of one gay man has he spends several months traveling around this complex and exotic country, which was actually part of Mark Anthony's love gift to Cleopatra. Robert Tewdwr Moss was tragically murdered in London just after this manuscript was completed, so he never got to realize the fruits of his labors. This is such a pity because Moss was an extremely talented writer, who had a wonderful capacity to totally reinvent travel writing. This memoir works in many ways - as a profound treatise on the Middle Eastern Society; a chilling history of ethnic crimes - particularly the Armenian genocide - a picaresque adventure story, a compelling travelogue, and a touching and affecting tale of sexual self-discovery. Read more

Subjects:  1. Description and travel    2. Middle East - General    3. Personal Memoirs    4. Syria    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Middle East    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / Middle East / General   

Subjects:  1. Middle East - Egypt    2. Middle East - General    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Egypt    6. Italy    7. Lebanon    8. Syria    9. Travel writing    10. Turkey   

Subjects:  1. Description And Travel    2. Essays & Travelogues    3. Middle East - General    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Syria    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / Middle East / General   

Subjects:  1. Middle East - General    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign   

Reviews (1)

A very accurate description of what to expect
I found this book to be 97% accurate of what my experiences were for the week I spent in Damascus and immediate areas. I highly recommend anyone planning a trip to Syria to use this book as a guide to understandingSyrian customs. Coleman South's attention to the details of everyday lifehelped immensely. The Syrian people were indeed friendly and became evenmore so when they found out I was an American. I would only add that sinceCulture Shock: Syria! was written, information access is widespread, asjudged by the forest of satellite dishes seen on rooftops and CNN in myhotel rooms. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Culture shock    2. Etiquette    3. Middle East    4. Middle East - Egypt    5. Middle East - General    6. National characteristics, Syrian    7. Syria    8. Travel    9. Travel - Foreign    10. Egypt    11. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Description and travel    2. Palestine    3. Syria   

Subjects:  1. Lebanon    2. Syria    3. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Subjects:  1. Middle East - General    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign