http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/CamCam/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from CamCam en-us Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:25:29 BST Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:25:29 BST We got back to Amman and walked for supper but as this proved to be far to energetic and mildly scary we gave up after about an hour and got a taxi to the restaurant which was scrummyThe following day we woke up bright and early as we were heading to Petra. We had decided to hire a car as it was not going to be possible to get public transport and hiring a driver was to expensive Anyhow on get http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Petra/blog-288088.html So I left Dana early on Friday morning and was given a lift up as a couple of the hotel employees where heading to Amman for there day off which was slightly surrealArrived in Amman eventually and went for a walk as I did I walked past the main mosque where all the men were heading for Friday prayers. It was really bizarre as not only did a swarm of men start coming at me from down but people st http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/blog-287356.html Woke up early for my first day in Dana and went down to have brekkie which is the same across the Middle East bread cheese jam labneh egg and salad Not my favourite start to the day but as it was included in my room rate I decided to have some bread and pocket some cheese for lunchWent back to my room and as I wanted to buy some water I got out my money and on counting it I realised that http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/blog-286992.html My last day in Syria was spent having one last wander around the souq and eating lots of ice cream and taking a few last pictures.Went to get the bus to Jordan and was then swayed to get a service taxi as for a grand total of 200 sp my journey time would hopefully be halved Got to the taxi station and ended up sharing the car with a Jordanian mother and son in his 20's and another randomer who http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Amman/blog-286622.html So I left you about two weeks ago as having got to Jordan I discovered that the internet was pretty hopeless in fact I would go as far to say it was crap as none of my emails have sent and so onAnyhow following on from my last entry I went out for food and had a really chilled out evening at Casa Mia which is newly opened and despite it's name served typical touristic 'bedouin' food. I had some http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/East/Palmyra/blog-286242.html So waking up bright and early I decided that maybe the hotel wasnt very good because it was 4 am and I was itching when my alarm finally went of at 630 I decided that I must of been a feast for either a mosquito or bed bugs I am still not sure which one it is but bloomin hell are the bites itchyMet Imad and Sayed and drove of where we went to have breakfast which was yummy it was slightly http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-282145.html Monday started of with me going to visit another old house that has been transformed into a museum. In comparison to the Azem Palaces it was pretty bland and whilst some of the museum pieces were cool they weren't labeled so I couldn't tell what they wereFrom here I went and got a yummy juice annoyingly they didnt have any mango's and only appeared to do fruit cocktails but yum yum and for a mas http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-281502.html Woke up on Sunday reasonably early as I was meeting Thomas and Kate couple at 9 so we could go to Qalaat Simeon. On arrival at the microbus station numerous people told us we needed to get a taxi but persistance paid off and we found the right bus that went to the village close to St Simeons luckily we didnt have long to wait before we set off and the bus was very popular with frequent stops to http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/North/Aleppo/blog-280409.html So after moving hotels I eventually set off to explore Aleppo and got lost which was a fab start and my morning descended downhill from there Aleppo appears to be a city that does not eat or drink and as I was desperately in need of water it was not much fun. Anyhow I finally found a coffee shop and bought some water and rehydrated I walked towards the citadel. Outside the citadel is a nice ro http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/North/Aleppo/blog-280034.html So after the last entry I went back to the hotel before going out for food and what a difference a Thursday night makes The 'American Quarter' was heaving with the girls dressed in skimpy outfits and the men out for a night As I said in my last entry Lattakia is much more western than other area's of Syria they have a promod Morgan and United Colours of Benetton. They have a chain of coffee http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/North/Aleppo/blog-279695.html So my last morning in Hama was spent packing and sorting a few things out before going for a quick mad dash to take picturesGot to the bus station and bought my ticket for Tartus and then went and grabbed a shwarma for lunch the shwarmas here are wierd they are more like pancakes as they cook the bread as well Anyhow I got on the bus and was really aggrevated to find that the luggage area was http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-279041.html So on the return bus we met some guys who were studying English and asked us for help with their homework One thing I have noticed is that a lot of Syrians aspire to marry English girls which I find puzzling but I think they see us as wealthy moneybags or some such rubbishGot back to the hotel before going out for a meal as we were in need of a glass of wine we went to a restaurant that was re http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-278685.html I havent been having much luck with the computers as the last two long entries have been lost so here is to this one savingAnyhow after the beehive villages we returned to the hotel where I met my new roommate who was from Canada. We agreed to go out later that afternoon as it was a Friday a lot of Hama was closed. We went back to the Orient House as the food there was yum and it was a very dif http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-278388.html Rather guttingly I wrote a long entry the other day about my trip to the Beehive villages but alas it would not publish and so I shall have to rewrite itA quiet evening followed my last entry with a walk through the shopping district leading up to a restauranthotel that is linked to the Cairo where I am staying. It appears to be a bustling city and it is funny because having seen barely any 'sw http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-277564.html So after my last entry I went to find some lunch on the way I bumped into one of my roommates who suggested the cafe in the botanical gardens as it did good chicken sandwiches Thinking that this would be a sandwich rather than a shwarma I merrily headed over there. My first upset was that they had no chicken left so I ordered another sandwich and much to my dismay I found that it was very shwar http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-276592.html Monday continuedOnce the veges were chopped and cleared away I read for a while and looked at the view which is very similar to the mountains in Dubai these are slightly redder but similar none the less.Lunch was eventually served at 230 and there was masses of it. We had chopped correctly as it was a vegetable stew which was yummy and just what was needed After this was all cleared away we s http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-276109.html So after leaving here I went and met up with Jillian and went to a cafe where there is a 'traditional' Arabic storyteller. Met up with Tiana Finnish and Pascal. It was very dramatic though I dont really know what was going on lots of loud bangs and teary eyes being madeWe then went for supper up the road from the hotel and I was starving It was a selection of Mezze but they were not trad http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-275846.html So following the last entry I returned to the hotel where I met Peter he had just arrived in Damascus and was here for only one day. Went out for supper close by the hotel and whilst it was really quite nice it was a bit bland rice with chicken that looked pretty unappatizing for 125 SYP though you can't complain.Met up with Peter as I went into the hotel and as he hadn't eaten I accompanied hi http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-274775.html Last night I went to the famous Beit Al Jabrin which is located in the back streets of Damascus. It was just Matt and I as Pascale has gone up to Palymra now. The food was okay but came in massive portions which considering the price is reasonable the meal cost 380 SYP around 4 pounds This morning I woke up late again After Breakfast went to omayad mosque which was very peaceful in compar http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-274206.html Last night after writing this I went back to the hotel and eventually decided to go for supper Went out with Matt English and Pascale Canadian to a restaurant that had a good review in the lonely planet. Walked for a bit through the souq which was pretty hectic and eventually found the 'Old City' in one of the back alleys. Shared some Mezze which were all yummy and then had lamb chops with http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-273862.html