1. Things you should buy before you go:

(Photo opposite: Daniel Wallace) Earplugs. Syrians seem able to tolerate more noise than the average American or Northern European. Possibly this ability to switch their ears off comes from the tradition of extended families living around a central courtyard - but if you are noise-sensitive, when you want to get to sleep or read a book, ear plugs are fantastic help. Any hotel room facing a busy road will make you suffer: one American I knew compared the Syrian use of the car horn to the way whales navigate purely by sound. I haven’t seen ear plugs sold here, so bring a big pack.

A water bottle. Syrian tap water is drinkable, and cold water is on tap outside mosques. In Old Damascus, a morning ritual is the re-filling of water bottles, as the city turns off the water at 3pm, and you need your own supply until evening. However, cup hygiene in the cheaper restaurants may upset you, and it’s best to bring your own hard plastic water bottle - something sturdy you can carry around and re-fill. Some Westerners get sick from the tap water here, so ease yourself in to drinking it, and guess that any “water filter” in a shop is probably straight from the tap, not actually “filtered”.

Sleeping sheet. There are lots of cheap hotels around Syria, where you can stay for £3 / $US6 a night (or less). However, these places take the washing of sheets rather casually, and may simply “air” the sheets between guests. It’s a dry climate, so perhaps bed bugs and so on are rare, but it’s probably easier on your mind if you bring a silk sleeping sheet or bag, instead of worrying about the hotel’s six legged guests.

Adaptors. You can buy endless cheap plug adaptors here - you’ll see little shops selling whole walls of them - and for most people, these will be fine. If, however, you are a serious electronics user, you may want to do some research first, and buy at home. I bought an adaptor for my Apple laptop, and every time I stick the plug in the socket, sparks rush out, and my computer powers up oddly. Don’t trust indicator lights that say your camera or mobile phone battery has finished charging up - leave it in another hour.

Passport photos. The Syrian government is very keen on ID, and you cannot arrive with too many passport photos. You will need them for a visa, for a visa extension, for an application to many language courses, for a library card (at the Assad library) - it’s best to carry a few in your wallet.

Casual trousers. It’s hot in Syria, and shorts are just not done. Bring some light trousers (pants, for American readers) which look good with sandals. Inside mosques and Christian monasteries, shorts are not ok, and although many male tourists do wear them, you may feel awkward sitting in a café or someone’s home.

2. Things you can buy here:

Electronic equipment. The Seruja district, near Damascus’s Grand Souq (El Hamidiyeh) sells all kinds of printers, USB drives, pirate DVDs and PC software, headphones and so on. You can buy Western brands fairly easily, and can just wander the competing shops until you get a good price.

Cosmetics and first aid equipment. Syria is full of doctors, and many of the students who couldn’t pass the exams become pharmacists. Unless you need something very specific or organic, sun cream and dental floss can be bought when you arrive.

Books. There are English language books in the Shado bookshop in the Old City, in the British Council’s library (near the Sham Palace), and even the occasional book fair outside the Assad library.

Coffee. Unless you are very keen coffee brewer, you can switch to Turkish coffee for your stay in Syria, and corner shops and grocers sell a great variety of ground coffee in sealed packs. I brought a French press pot from Taiwan, and buy a local brand of ground coffee meant for espresso machines - this works acceptably.

3. Things you won’t need:

Water purifiers. If the tap water upsets your stomach, a 1.5 bottle of purified water will cost you 25 pence / 50 US cents in a grocer’s.

“Arab” clothes. Syria is a religiously diverse, modernising country, and more or less the only men wearing Yasser Arafat-style head-dresses are Saudi tourists. Many, many women do not cover their hair, and as long as you don’t bring a mini-skirt, dressing in normal clothes should be fine: more than a few women in Damascus and Lattakia dress in a way that may shock your stereotypes of the Middle East. If you are a single woman travelling alone, it might be safer to buy a head scarf when you arrive, especially if you plan to visit villages and small towns, but most of the foreign women in Damascus don’t seem to bother.

A beard. You are in more danger from seeming too Muslim than seeming too Western, according to stories I’ve heard. Be a little careful talking about Israel, but also be a little careful about talking about Islam. The police are probably more worried about foreign “Islamist” trouble-makers than ignorant foreign tourists, plus it is officially illegal to discuss certain aspects of religious differences.

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