MacNamara diary, 19 August 1916-29 May 1919 / John Patrick MacNamara - Page 196
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[Page 196]
It was wet & dark when we got to Deraa, & so could not see the place. Owing to the wet we could not take any snaps though we saw plenty of fine pictures. We arrived in Damascus at 2330, an hour late, due to the rain & went to the Orient Hotel for the night.
The morning turned out to be nice & fine & we hope it remains so. We will be here 2 days as there is no train to Beirut until Tuesday & another on Friday.
Went through the Bazaar after Breakfast & had a good look round. The Bazaar is a tremendous big place & you can obtain there almost anything you want. They charge very high prices but you can generally beat them down to about half what they ask.
It is quite fine all day luckily & we managed to get several good photos. The city is awfully dirty the mud & slush being inches deep in all the streets & the smells in parts are enough to make one sick used as we are to Eastern towns.
There is a sytem of electric trams but it is a very poor one indeed. The town is also lit up by electric light.