Helped

After we went to the police station earlier this afternoon and were told to return the day after, when normal services were resumed, we returned to the hotel from where we booked the taxi. Housed within the same building are the offices of a big household appliances manufacturer (Miraco, Ramco), and after hearing our story from the hotel staff, he invited us into his room and urged us to call home to explain the situation and to ask them to send some cash over. He’s lent us some money in the intervening period, which is a huge relief. After that, we went with one of his workers to the Syrianair offices to report the loss of the ticket. They told us not to worry, and that our first priority should be to complete the police and immigration reports, but that they would issue new tickets straight afterwards. It was a reassuring note to end one of the scariest days of my life.

What now?

We are in a bit of trouble. Earlier today our documents bag was lost or stolen, so we (mum and I) now have no passport, money or flight tickets. Today was supposed to be our final day in the capital, and we had just hired a taxi to go on a tour of the country in the five days we had left before we were due to fly to Saudi. We had just left a hotel and were on our way to a bureau de change to pay for this, but by the time we got there five minutes later the bag was gone. We had a mad dash around the streets, retracing our steps and asking people if they had seen it, but to no avail. Everything is closed for Christmas so we won't be able to make a full report to the authorities or visit the British Embassy till Tuesday. I’m really wetting myself now. As my friend said, after murder, kidnap and rape, losing your documents is probably what travellers fear most, especially in a country where you don’t speak the language (I can read Arabic but not communicate in it) and aren’t sure of the procedures. We do have photocopies of our passport photo pages, Saudi visas (but not our Syrian visas, as they were group visas and were stamped on arrival) and flight tickets however, which should help. Might have to sleep rough tonight if we can’t get money wired over soon though; we’ve only got the petty cash I’ve got in my wallet.

I’ll update again soon.
Moc