Hi Folks,
A 5am start on monday 21st to head to the Syrian border. The truck ran out of fuel at 5:30am!! Fuel is dirt cheap in syria and the driver wanted to bleed the last bit out of the tank. Got his sums wrong. Along came a helpful farmer to the rescue to go and get some fuel. Got to the border at 3:30pm. What a mess this place is. The turkish side is chaos and you then have to fill in a random questionnaire of what you did in Turkey and why. Just put in random rubbish as you dont put your name on it so it doesnt matter. They must read through this afterwards and wonder what an eccentric bunch we travellers are!
Takes about two hours to get through no mans land and then into the Syrian side of the border and the holy grail - The duty free shop!
First impressions of Syria are dirty, bombed and flat. Well that sums that country up then!
First port of call Aleppo and the opportunity to get lost. So I did! took me ages to find the digs again - some grotty hostel in the centre called the springflower hotel - nice name shame about the place!
Walking tour of Aleppo the following day by Ahmed - They are all called ahmed or mohammed just to make things simple for foreigners. Visited the old Hamam to compare it to others I have seen. Not as nice unfortunately. They have 2 days per week women only other than that men only.
One thing they have which is interesting is a unicef sponsored creche for divorced parents where the kids can go to visit their estranged parents for a few hours per week. Well actually the parents visit the kids but you know what I mean. Picking up a few Syrian words along the way. Shukran - Thank You, Afwan - excuse me I'm an idiot for crashing into you while taking photographs of everything, or generally sory or to get someones attention, Salam - you're welcome. Three words will get me everywhere. Sat and listened to another mosque call as they happen regularly. They seem to get quite abusive in the tone of their voice. Stroppy people. Bought a Jalabiyya, head scraf (tea towel) and black ring to hold it in place - When in syria do as the syrians do!
Wed 23rd May is election day in Syria and there was going to be a massive demonstration so we had to get up early to get out of town. Not much of an election as there is only one candidate and he funds all of the publicity but they like him as he is modernising the country so nobody else stands a chance, a done deal.
visit Hama and the locally famous Norias - four 20m dia water wheels used to irrigate the fields that straggle the Orantes river. They make a creaking noise from miles around which is also what they are famed for.
Final port of call for the day is Krac des Chevaliers (fort of the knights) - this was where Richard the Lionheart was based. A massive fortress in a stunning location built in the 12th century and taking 90 years to build. Stayed at Beibars hotel that night, directly facing the Krac and a stunning view. Back on the apple Sheesha pipe again and mixed with some affluence of incohol a good night. Got a spot on my bum - thought you would like to know - damn bedbugs!
Thursday 24th May another early start to get to Palmyra ( city of palm trees) early. This is an oasis in the desert and the ruins are massive covering an area of 12 sq kms. It was about 40deg C and got baked alive. Dates back to about 4th Century BC and there is still 70% of it buried under sand being surrounded by desert. The main areas uncovered so far are the Temple & collonade street and the theatre. All pretty good condition and surrounded by the usual tourist touts trying to sell you their shirts and anything alse for that matter.
stopped at the famous Baghdad sign for a photo call on the way south and a drink at the Baghdad cafe. The route south is flat, desert like and very very very boring for most of it. Lost of dust devlis whisking up clouds of dust that wizz across the plains.
Destination Damascus and camping for a couple of days. And the onset of the anal revenge. It had to happen sometime. Spent an enjoyable evening studying the finer detail of the back of a toilet door and squat toilets and doing my best to keep the toilet roll industry alive. Just to make sure that my system was going to turn itself inside out I had a camel steak. No that bad actually.
Fri 25th May - Damascus city. The main sights here are the Umayyad mosque and Hammideyi souq. Being friday most shops are closed - city split into two, jewish and Christian. They close on different days so only christian shops open today. The mosque is the most important in the muslim world after mecca and is stunning. Spent an hour listening to the muezzin doing his stuff from the minarets. Another stroppy one. Amazes me the folk stay to listen to him. They must like abuse.
Tomorrow - another day another country. Moving into Jordan..........
Cheers for now
Jeff
