No one could tell us why, but the public buses in Damascus all look like this. They are made by Scania and I haven’t been able to find any info on the internet either. We saw a bunch of them parked at the gate to the old city and thought there must be a convention in town or something. It probably helped that I am currently reading a book called “Magic Bus” about the old hippie trail from Istanbul to India. Anyway, we both hopped on board and started taking pictures, asking the driver where he was going and how he had managed to score such a crazy looking ride, and in perfect condition too!. He must have thought we were absolutely nuts, because not only did he not understand English, but this was basically the #8 uptown bus and he was just waiting to start his route when a couple of camera wielding tourists hop on and start asking if he’s on his way to Kathmandu. He was friendly though, and even showed us how all the lights on the front still work!