Hello /trv/
due to an advice from a friend, I come here for help.
I leave for Syria in a week (funny there's a thread on here about anon wanting to go to a shithole, tag along friend!).
I already packed my external batteries, my chargers, my universal outlet plugs.
What I'm looking for here is things that I need to get and pack with me that wouldn't cross my mind. I've been planning this trip for a couple of weeks but to be honest I was only serious about it in the last couple of days.
I just want to let everyone know that I am able to get into Syria legally and have permission to enter the country LEGALLY.
This thread could also be used to travel to very bad places or places that really lack electricity 12+ hours of the day.
Please help, and thanks in advance.
TL:DR What to pack for Syria
a Kalashnikov
What I have packed so far.
all the usual shit (clothing , toiletries, etc) Plus
2 20000mah external batteries
extra phone
2 universal plugs
headphones and earphones
water purifier (bottle form)
medicine
laptop
I also forgot to mention that I'm staying there for 3 months (at the most)
OP here.
I forgot I need a good reliable VPN to use in the country
>>1093177
Where are you going to visit? Damascus? Latakia?
Do you have parents in Syria or do you speak Arabic?
I really want to do a trip like this but having no conections to the country makes me really insecure
>>1093172
Earplugs. Hearing loss ain't no joke homie.
Also, following out of interest. I was curious about spending some time in Erbil or Beirut to teach English but haven't come up with a solid plan to do it yet. Need to stay somewhere with good internet so I can work (software engineer).
OP do you have anything specific in mind you want to do there?
>>1093171
Guns are actually pretty expensive, but available. Supply and demand
>>1093169
Good luck fighting the good fight my brother. Allahu Akbar or whatever the shit you guys say before you cut off the heads of the infidels.
>>1093180
I'm going to Damascus
I have family there and I do speak AND write Arabic
I would not advise you go unless you know exactly where active live fire is happening.
right now Damascus is 90% safe and the other 10% are places that travelers wouldn't want to go to even if there was no war.
Latakia is all safe and I would consider it much safer than any other city. The battle line is so far away from the city that the only thing you might hear is Russian jets taking off and landing.
I'll be documenting my stay there and keeping contact with my family here on a daily basis incase I get into any sort of trouble.
>>1093184
I wouldn't go to Erbil, maybe Beirut if you wanna teach English but do you speak any Arabic?
Also there is no good internet there. I think the max you can get is 6-8 Mbps download (about 1MBps) for ridiculous dollars per month (like 80-100 USD per month)
I'm going there for family/personal/business I am not going to do any sort of fighting and if I feel uncomfortable or like I'm not in a good place I will have no problems leaving the country before I'm finished there.
I believe that where I want to go is safe. Where I am going to be staying will be away from any mortar/ short range rocket fire. The only thing that can get me is an IED but that would just be a fucking shitty luck.
I'm curious as to why you would need earplugs ?
>>1093186
I'm not going there to fight.
How long are you staying there friendo? I am interested in visiting the region and going completely blind mind not be the best idea. Available in the city as a contact and/or human shield?
>>1093194
I'm allowed maximum 3 Months. Anymore and I get in problems.
This would not be an issue for a person not born there.
Going to that region without extensive research is a really, really stupid idea.
For me, If I can finish my business in 1 week, I'd get out and be back on a plane home.
if you're a foreigner, I don't even know what you'd need in terms of preparation but at the first sight of people noticing you're not local and can't speak the language, they could assume you're loaded, could assume you're a spy, could assume you're a whatever. You wanna blend in like fucking Altair. You can hang around Lebanon but with extensive research. For Syria, I'm going in with the knowledge that I know plus the ability to blend in like a local there due to the ability to speak the language and the knowledge of the neighborhoods and districts.
>>1093197
maybe if I go to the jungles of Vietnam :/
>>1093192
Beirut did seem like the better option. Read/write some modern standard, this was going to be the motivation I needed to git gud, and pick up a dialect.
Earplugs in general I've always found useful. Whether it was trying to sleep through random shit going off in the night in Palestine or loud ass people in my hostel they've always been indispensable. Even if you'll be nowhere near the fighting like you claim. My favorites so far have been Surefire EP3s
>>1093206
>>1093206
OP here
Beirut is what I believe the most European city in the middle east that speaks Arabic. There's a lot of culture there but since the Syrian conflict, things might have changed which is why I would read up on it 100 times before you make the move. Don't forget Israel's balls are itching to start a bombing campaign on Beirut and Lebanon in general so you have to take that into consideration. The other major thing is that a lot of the better off Syrians are leaving Syria with their money and basically parking their money and investments in Lebanon. That is not a good thing because the local population has been driven out by rising living expenses including housing.
I know a few Lebanese restaurant owners who had to shut down their business just because a Syrian business opened up right smack next to them. They admitted to me that Syrian cuisine is better than anything they would serve so that drove them out of the market.
I'm sure there's a lot more info I can give you but it's something that with a few hours of search you can find on your own and with a few months of planning you can master.
Also mugging and stealing has gone through the roof. Even kids stealing open pepsi cans from your hand is apparently something common so if you wanna drink something you bought, better hold on to it like a hawk.
>>1093192
Why not Erbil besides the fact that it's somewhat close to the frontlines with ISIS? Inside the city is relatively safe, no?
>>1093299
OP here. You said ISIS in your sentence. I would not want to be around Erbil just for that fact and for the fact that there's gonna be major reconstruction, people are not in the mood to do anything there right now than to just put a roof over their heards.
Offtopic. Why the fuck can I not download an offline map of syria Google maps? What the fuck?
>>1093192
>I would not advise you go unless you know exactly where active live fire is happening.
I'm aware of that mate. I'm following the conflict very closely.
What I really wanna do is doing a day trip from Beirut to Damascus and then coming back in the next day. You know, just visiting some touristic places like Bab Touma, Omayad Mosque, etc, and also being able to tell the people that I've been to Syria.
What I've read on the internet says it's very cheap going to Damascus from Beirut by taxi.
But my biggest fear is being asked questions at army checkpoints and as I do not speak arabic, to get kidnapped by regime soldiers and who knows what else would they do to me
>>1093387
I was considering this but was turned off by the drive/ border crossing. Can get in no problem, but apparently the road is pretty dangerous, and you and a million other refugees want to get over the border back into Lebanon. Probably not worth it.
>>1093184
Kalashnikov's cost about $80, not that expensive
Chinese Dragunov's are the next most popular option, pretty much the Kalashnikov of sniper rifles and run about 180-200.
>>1093387
>kidnapped by regime soldiers and who knows what else would they do to me
This is what Americans actually believe. Please don't go there. This is not the place for you. Try Texas or something like that.
>>1093387
OP here
Regime forces won't kidnap you. If they do, then there's really no reason for a "government" and everything is lawless and fuck it no country free for all stone age bullshit.
No you won't get kidnapped.
UNLESS you go to places you shouldn't go. For example, the district of Jobar, district of Daryaa, etc etc.
I would not go to Damascus for a day. Just driving around the city will take you a day. From what my friends tell me, driving through checkpoints is extremely time consuming. The reason the city is safe from car bombs and whatnot is because there are many checkpoints. The downside of course is something that usually took 15 minutes by car now takes upwards of 2 hours .one person told me if your trip is not far from where you're staying - aka like an hour walk there and an hour back- you're better off walking because you'll reach your destination before any car will.
Every place you want to know, you should dedicated a full day (remember full day means from the time the sun comes up till after sunset a couple of hours).
If you mean cheap as in anywhere between 65-125 dollars USD, then sure that's cheap. The problem is crossing the border can be as little as 3 hours and as long as 8 hours of waiting.
>>1093469
guns in Syria run in the 800-1600 dollars range.
80 dollars is what it was before the war.
>>1093489
I'm brazilian you dipshit.
>>1093532
That was really helpful. Thanks bro
What would you recommend me to do then?
>>1093612
1. Implied US American citizenship can be used to describe an ignorant fuck (like yourself)
2. Brazilians are Americans
3. Go back to your tree HUE-poster
>>1093613
I think the best option for you would be to just plan ahead...like seriously plan ahead.
You should:
-Know that any currency other than US dollars and Syrian Pounds are useless or next to useless.
-Speak with your embassy closest to the country (in this case Lebanon) and Inform them that you're traveling into Syria.
- Understand you're a foreigner in a country that used to love foreigners but now is a bit defensive about them or are out to just scam you.
-Read about war zone safety (not that it's gonna help much)
-Know that roads to many places are not safe and there are only side routes to get to and from places.
-Learn common phrases.
-Avoid talking to people
-Avoid flashing money/objects of interest/smart phones
-Never, EVER EVERRR hand your passport to ANYONE WHATSOEVER; that's your only way out of the country. In fact only leave your hotel or motel with copies of your passport and ID. If you must leave with your passport, hide it and only present it when you know there's no way getting through a checkpoint or some other place unless you present it...but even then present them with a translated copy of the passport along with a copy of the passport.....which leads me to my next point..
-Translate the fuck out of all the documents you plan to take with you and have them signed and authenticated by your home country's foreign ministry, this way if you get a dumbfuck soldier who wants to stop you and waste your time, he has an Arabic translation of all your documents (visa, passport, ID, etc) and can't possibly hold you for long.
-Don't open up political subjects
-Plan out routes of where you want to go, preferably with a person who lives in the areas you want to go to. You can find them on many social sites.
-Dedicate time to your tavel. This isn't Cuba where you can just pack whatever the fuck you find around you, say fuck it, and leave for the airport.
All of that and more should be common knowledge to you and should be
>>1093695
I'm not him but those are some great tips you gave.
If I'm staying in Lebanon for some weeks do you think it's easier to just cross into Syria to go see Krak des Chevalier instead of travelling to Damascus? How possible would it be? I heard that Tartus was untouched by the war
>>1093387
>being able to tell the people that I've been to Syria.
good lord. The definition of an edgy real traveler.
>>1093703
Right now there's 2 ways to get into Syria; Either through the border to Damascus or through the boarder north of Lebanon to Latakia, Tartus, Baniyas, etc. Anything along the M1 highway and near the sea is safe and if my research is correct, it's actually safer and less time consuming to go up north to Latakia, then catch a plane from Latakia to Damascus.
That road north is safe. People in Latakia, Tartus and Banyas are living like there's northing wrong except the electricity outage. Do not go to Damascus and then travel north if you're in Lebanon and only want to go to see the castle, just go north in Lebanon until you reach the border and cross there,
But all of my tips in my previous post still apply .
Tartus, Baniyas, Latakia...these are all cities that have not been touched by war and as far as I understand , the only thing Latakia experiences is the sound of Russian jets flying in and out of the airport there, and even that has died down since Russia pulled out .
I'm going to leave in about a week's time so hopefully with a good VPN I can keep updating you on my travels.
I suggest you stay away from sites like Reddit and their respective subreddits relating to this topic, cuz they'll think you're either A) a terrorist or B) a crazy person.
>>1093703
Oh and whatever you do. Don't fucking cross Illegally, you'd be a stupid fucking moron.
You want to cross Legally and only through government crossings. Don't be dumb and try to be brave. you cross with the wrong people (aka free Syrian army or some other shit) and you're pretty much set yourself a spot in unknown prison in an unknown part of Syria if the government forces /police catch you sneaking in. THEY WILL MAKE YOU DISAPPEAR off of the planet.
>>1093533
There was no guns before the war, Syria has strict gun control laws so shit like this didn't happen.
You can get guns everywhere no problem, there is so many combatants on both sides and because the locals are so poor at the moment, just after fighting has stopped you will see civilians looting literally everything off dead bodies if the combatants dont get there first/cant get there because its an easy way to make cash for them.
What they have in low supply is ammunition.
(also you can buy a Chinese Kalashnikov for like $400 new anyway)
>>1093718
>I'm going to leave in about a week's time so hopefully with a good VPN I can keep updating you on my travels.
Please do, your input was really helpful.
I wish you a safe trip bro
>>1093837
Hey I just found out some info for you.
To eat comfortably, you need about 500 USD there for a whole month (Like if you wanted to stay there for a month), otherwise you're looking at upwards of 15-40 dollars per meal in a medium to high end/ 3-4 star restaurant.
motel stay in Damascus is 4-5k SYP which translates to ~15 bucks a night. Hotels are hotel prices, and then some because of the fact that I believe hotels try to keep their electricity on 24/7 (I could be wrong). But you've got to spend a couple of nights at the Sheraton Hotel. It looks good, and the reviews are fantastic.
I'm not planning on staying there for any period of time due to budget, but if I feel like just wanting to relax for a full day, I'd wanna go check in there .
