Not feeling so good today. It’s a reoccurance of the tummy-bug I got early in the holiday.  I am also feeling very tiered and drained.  We are now on the extension part of the holiday and the only planned thing is a walking tour of Damascus to orientate us for when we want to explore on our own.  I got as far as Martyrs Square – two blocks from the hotel and decided to turn round and head back and spend most of the day in bed.

Something has occured to us about the Damascus International Hotel where we are currently staying.  It has no fire escapes.  We are on the 8th floor – there is only one way out – a central stair case that serves all floors.  If that gets blocked we would be trapped with no way of escape.  Also I can find no evidence of fire alarms, smoke detectors or any way of raising an alarm in the event of a fire.  Ann has pointed something else out… the ceiling in the stair well between the first floor and mezanine floor is so low that you have to stoop to get under it without banging your head.  That’s sure to lead to accidents in the event of an evacuation.