I Entered Syria With No Hotel, No Plan, and $400 Gone Before I Even Ate Dinner

I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. But honestly, I never really do… so let’s go to Syria.

No hotel booked. No idea what the visa process was. No clue what time the border closed. I didn't even know how to get from Beirut to Damascus. After seven years of travel, this was easily the most unprepared I'd ever been for a trip, and I'd chosen Syria of all places to test that theory.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's start in Beirut.

Surprise Visit and a Cigarette Rule

Fouad's cafe in Junieh, Lebanon

After 36 hours of flights, I landed in Beirut with no taxi waiting and no real plan beyond "get to Syria."

I flew into Beirut on the red eye from Turkey, it was the first time airline staff ever asked me “Have you been to Israel?” whilst boarding a flight to Lebanon… lmao.

But, once I landed the first order of business was surprising my good friend Fouad at his cafe in Jounieh. I do this every time I come back. Walk in, act casual, watch him lose his mind. A few months prior, I did it and the video is the most viewed clip I’ve ever posted. Around 150 million views across everything - “WHAT’S UP YOU FUCKING CUNT”

Fouad's cafe had been open for around five months and was going well. Good coffee, consistent quality, and a real Lebanese experience. I highly suggest visiting if you’re in Lebanon.

The Money Problem

Syria runs on USD cash. There are no booking platforms that work properly, cards are useless, and the black market exchange rate is around 12,000 Syrian pounds to the dollar, compared to maybe 1,500 or 2,000 on the official rate. So before crossing, I needed to pull out as much cash as possible.

The good thing with Lebanon compared to 2021 when I visited is that the whole economy has been dollarised. Everything can be paid in USD and ATM’s dispense the good ol’ Benjamin. The ATM had a maximum withdrawal of $400 per transaction. I did four runs and walked away with $1,600 USD. That felt like a lot at the time.

It was not a lot.

Finding a Ride to Damascus

Finding a busy street taxi stand in Beirut

I genuinely did not know how to get to Damascus. There are apparently taxi stands in Beirut, but we were in Jounieh, which is not Beirut. Fouad helped sort something out. We flagged someone down. That someone offered to take me to the border for $150. I had read that you can get from Beirut to Damascus for $100USD, so I wanted to test my luck downtown. I got dropped off in the heart of Beirut and went hunting for the next driver.

Eventually, I found a driver at a shared taxi stand who agreed to take me all the way to Damascus for $100. Done. Easy. Way easier than I expected… only it wasn’t.

It was now 2:45 in the afternoon. I had wanted to leave at 11. The border, I assumed, closed at some point, but I had NO IDEA when.

Syrian Flags Everywhere, and I Have No Idea Why

About five kilometres out from the border, traffic slowed to a crawl. Trucks, cars, and motorcycles, all flying Syrian flags. People hanging out of windows. Something was clearly being celebrated, but I had no internet, no translator, and no way of figuring out what was going on. Everyone was just waving and honking and it was completely chaotic in the best possible way.

I still wasn't entirely sure what the celebration was. I just went with it.

The Border

The Lebanese side was tense. I didn't film much. There's a lot going on in that region right now and pulling out a camera at a military checkpoint felt like a very bad idea…

I got stamped out of Lebanon, and supposedly that’s when the taxi ride ended. Look, the thing with Lebanon is that the people are extremely hospitable… except for one group. Taxi drivers.

With 0 Arabic from myself, 0 English from the driver and no Google Translate because no networks operate in this border zone. I just had to deal with it. I gave him $100 and got a Syrian guy on the Lebanese side to take me to Damascus

The Syrian side was more orderly. Visa on arrival for Australians costs $150 USD. Syria has a staggered pricing system where different nationalities pay different amounts. There were about six checkpoints between the border and Damascus. Every time I thought we were through, another one appeared.

By the time we reached the city it was completely dark.

Welcome to Damascus, Syria

Damascus was enormous and gridlocked. Fireworks going off. Police everywhere. My driver pulled over outside a military base to try and change a $100 bill, a soldier immediately came over and told us to move, and I was sitting in the passenger seat with no keys and no Arabic going "mate, I genuinely cannot help you here."

We got through it. The driver sorted the money, I tipped him, and I hopped into what was probably the sixth taxi of the day to get the last stretch to the old town.

Running total for the day: $50 from the airport to Jounieh, $50 from Jounieh to Beirut, $100 from Beirut to the border, $50 to get dropped in Damascus, plus $150 for the visa. That's $400 before I'd eaten a single thing.

In terms of the fireworks and craziness that were happening on the Syrian side… I arrived on December 7th 2025. One day before the 1 year anniversary of the “new Syria”. So, people were rightfully celebrating a year of freedom from the Assad rule, and lets just say… people were celebrating.

The Hotel

Inside Dar al-Nour hotel room in Damascus old town

I walked down a narrow street in the old town, found a door that looked like it might be someone's house, walked in, and it was a hotel. $70 USD a night, which is apparently on the cheaper end when you can't book anything through Booking.com or Trip.com because of sanctions.

The room had traditional wooden architecture, Syrian decorations on the walls, and a TV. I have never been more grateful to sit on a bed in my life.

Phone was at 2%. I was running on zero sleep. It was time to eat.

Dinner in the Old Town

Trying Shawarma for the first time in Syria

Some locals pointed me toward a restaurant called Arabesque, about a kilometre into the old town. I walked in, couldn't read the menu, had no Google Translate because I still had no internet, and just pointed at things and said the word chicken until something arrived.

What arrived was not what I expected. Instead of a wrap, the shawarma came cut into bite-sized pieces on a platter with vegetables, sliced potato things, herbs, chili bread, and a generous amount of toum. The full meal plus water came to 45,000 Syrian pounds. That's about $4 USD.

Is it the best shawarma I've ever had? No. That title still goes to Restaurant Joseph in Beirut. But this was a genuinely good meal for roughly the price of nothing.

Free Dessert From a Very Generous Man Named Zane

I got a free dessert from a kind Syrian man

On the way back I spotted a sweet shop and asked for one kanafeh. Zane, the guy behind the counter, refused to take my money. Just handed it over. Then told me to wait a minute and came back with something called haris, which appeared to be cheese sandwiched inside something soft and moist with nuts on top.

The last time I had kanafeh was in Iraq. The cheese is overpowering and it reminded me of the times I first had in the middle east all those years ago. The haris was new to me and I made an absolute mess eating it on the street.

Both were free. Syria was 40 minutes old and a stranger had already given me dessert at no charge.

Everyone Has Bread and I Don't Know Why

One final observation from the first night. Everyone in Damascus old town was walking around carrying bread. Not a few people. Everyone. It was like Iran but with more urgency. I have no explanation for this, it was about 9pm on a Sunday. The bread situation remains unresolved… they just love bread.

There is a lot more to come from Syria. I spent over three weeks in the country, visited places that are genuinely off limits, and had experiences that after seven years of travel I genuinely did not think were possible. As I edited the footage, my main thought was that I really, truly, did not know what I was getting into when I crossed that border.

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