On the Visa question, Laleh adds: "it *is* arbitrary, but there *is* a rule: if you have a Lebanese visa in your American passport, you can go to Syria for 3 days without any worries from the Lebanese border, regardless. it *is* also true that the border post in the north does close around sunset (the one on the Beirut-Damascus road is open much later). it *is* also true that some drivers try to get people across the border (it is illegal, but like most illegal things, people sometimes turn a blind eye). the fact that this poor taxi-driver guy was doing these two idiots a favour is now being translated as a "kidnapping"..."