No Syrian Visa

I spoke to my mom about heading towards the middle east on my own after Turkey. Surprisingly, she didn't say anything...which I interpreted as, "Fine. It doesn't matter what I say. You do whatever you want anyways."

So, I dragged my mom to the Syrian embassy on Friday. Got there at 11:32 – TWO minutes too late. They wouldn't open the door for me : (
Oh, and they don't have an afternoon visa session opening either. Lazy people.

I had originally intended to move out of Istanbul on Sunday night, after my mom left for home in the morning. However, I had to stay an additional night and wait for Monday if I wanted that Syrian visa. And I did.

Monday morning, I was at the embassy by 9:30am. Filled out my forms and handed them in along with my photo and passport.
"Where is your letter from the Japanese consulate?".
DAMN. I heard mixed stories about the need for that letter, so I had taken the chance to apply for the visa without one. But since they requested one, I had to head out to the Japanese embassy nearby.
BUT. It turned out to be a public holiday in Japan = closed embassy. Highly privileged people getting both local and Japanese holidays off!
This whole thing turned out to be a FAILED attempt.

When I asked about getting the visa at the border, they just blew me off and said it was impossible. I knew that wasn't true – I've heard of people getting it at the border. It's just very time-consuming, and the buses don't wait for you.

I didn't want to stay in Istanbul for another day, and I didn't want to deal with the hassle of getting the visa at the border. Plus, I didn't think Ramadan was the best time to travel through the region.

So...I've decided to just give up on my idea of traveling through the Middle East. At least for now.