Turkey:
Fifi Mocamp:
The delightfully named Fifi Mocamp is situated east of Edirne, on the D10 (the old road to Istanbul). Camping is expensive - $15 per night for 2 people with a tent - but it was a welcome stop for us, having driven across Bulgaria in a day. The camp is situated back from the road, behind a large restaurant, and has decent loos and showers. A bonus for us was the swimming pool - a good opportunity for us to get Vicky into the water for a brief try-dive!
Kum Camping:
14km from Eceabat, on the road that runs southwest from the museum at Kabatepe. Camping costs £5 per night for two people with a tent - in addition, there are decent hotel rooms available for around £25 per night. The campsite is well laid out, with good loos, showers, laundry, kitchen facilities, bar and a restaurant that serves delicious food - £5 per person for a three course meal. There is a beach and a huge swimming pool (put to good use by use for the confined water dives for Max and Vicky's open water course!) - the only downside beging that it is a saltwater pool that appears to be slightly saltier than the Dead Sea!
Syria:
Lattakia
Syria is not really geared for camping and this is particularly true in the large cities. Having failed to find anywhere suitable on the beach, we went to the Affamiya Beach hotel, halfway between Sport City and the port on the road running along the coast where we were able to camp in the car park free of charge.
Crac des Chevaliers
The restaurant near the castle has facilities for camping and charges S£100 per person. The entrance fee to the castle has been reduced from S£300 to S$150 per person.
N34 45'17.7"; E036 17'42.7"
Damascus
The Damascus campsite is a wonderful oasis of calm in amongst the chaos of the city. Clean loos and showers, grassy areas to pitch your tent or park your car and plenty of shade. Approximately $8 per night for two people and a vehicle.
N33 32'47.7"; E036 20'51.9"
Jordan
If you head out of Aqaba on the coast road you will come to a group of camps down on the beach. The best of these is Sunset Camp in the Touristic Campsite.
Further along the beach you can camp free of charge in the public camping areas - there are even clean loos and hot showers!
In the Wadi Rum area you can camp out in the desert - be aware though that Wadi Rum is a protected area patrolled by rangers and desert police. If you go in through Rum village you will be charged a small entrance fee. Of course, there is an awful lot more desert besides Wadi Rum to camp in! If you want to go to a camp, the best is Sunrise Camp near Disi village - click here for further details.
