23 Aug - after the excitement of the birthday celebrations yesterday, today was marred by lack of sleep due to the Syrian skits and severe spasmodic cramping. It had to happen eventually I suppose - immodium anyone?? Great, a whole day of travelling ahead of us too. However, turned out a lot of the group were 'affected', including the driver (!!) so thankfully there were frequent stops during our journey along 'the road to Damascus'. We drive to the waterwheels at Hama, but they weren't working due to the drought conditions of the summer. Tour round Krak des Chevaliers, the best [View Full Entry]

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24 Aug - almost recovered and able to face the day exploring Damascus. Although poor Ali has had to bale out. First, we visit the National Museum which has amazing artifacts from 1500-2000BC, including a tablet with the first recognised alphabet, as well as a reconstructed family tomb from Palmyeira, which is very poignant. Mind boggling to think back so many years in history and religion. Next, we visit the colourful Railway Station and Hammadiyeh Suq before exploring the Ommayad Mosque (including the shrine of Saladdin). This is probably the most stunning mosque I've seen, due it's siz [View Full Entry]

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25 Aug - after crossing into Jordan, our 10th and final country for this trip, we drive to Jerash. This is one of the best preserved cities within the Decapolis / Greco ruins - it's reminds me of Pompeii and Herculaneum, only MUCH bigger. It's an amazing site with forum, main street, shops, ampitheatre (with Jordanian bagpipe band??!!) and a temple to Diana - the goddess of hunting, with the incredible moving Corinthian pillars. It's early evening before we arrive in Amman, the capital of Jordan and check into the Toledo. Nice hotel, shame about the room...ours appears to be getting [View Full Entry]

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26 Aug - feeling back to normal today. We start our journey south through Jordan. First stop, Madaba - the City of Mosaics. I instantly get a good vibe about this town and definitely think I'll come back here next week when the tour finishes and I have 5 days on my own in Jordan. It's laid back, not too touristy, friendly and mostly Christian. Mosaic rules in this area, culminating in the oldest Mosaic map - the Great Map of Palestine from the 6th century, which is housed within a cute, wee Greek Orthodox church. We then head just 15 [View Full Entry]

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27 Aug - today we visit Petra, an extremely famous UNESCO site and eighth wonder of the ancient world / one of the Modern wonders of the world. We have a guided tour in morning with our guide Ibrahim. Even the approach to Petra is spectacular with out of this world rock formations. Petra is a vast, unique city, carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabateans. Walking through the Siq is like walking through a huge canyon but steeped in history. After a few hours walking, Ibrahim takes us aside and spins us a story about looking for gold, [View Full Entry]

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28 Aug - we're in Lawrence of Arabia country, hence the TE Lawrence quote! We drive to Wadi Rum this morning - even more spectacular scenery. I must find some different superlatives to use! Jagged, rugged jebels rise from the desert sands. This is completely unique scenery, in a similar way to Cappadocia - it's not like the Alps, Dolomites, Carpathians, etc and other such amazing mountainous areas. I'm almost sick with the anticipation of our camel trek. These animals are HUGE and I seem to be allocated the biggest beast. However, I get on ok...without falling off (it's a long [View Full Entry]

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29 Aug - our last day of the trip proves extremely diverse and one of the most memorable... we have a 4 hour drive from Aqaba to the Dead Sea - which is 400m below sea level, the lowest point on earth. En route we stop to see a stone column, which is supposedly where Lot's wife turned to a pillar of salt, according to the Bible story. We are driving only km's away from the Israel border and drive through numerous checkpoints. We stop for a few hours at a custom-made resort. It really is the strangest feeling to float [View Full Entry]

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11 Aug - one of just a few early starts on this trip, need to leave hotel at 0730 to catch train to Zagreb. All these Eastern European city names are making me feel like I'm taking part in the Eurovision Song contest :) We arrive in Zagreb and take a tram into the city centre. Extremely hot, so after lunch with the group beside the Kathedral, Ali and I don't really venture very far. A few beers on a quiet side street in fact, although other members of the group keep spotting us so we decide to at least wander [View Full Entry]

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12 Aug - good grief, we leave the hotel at 0515 this morning....complete with breakfast 'to go'. 6 hour train journey from Croatia to Serbia resulting in more stamps in the passport. Arrive in Belgrade. It's quite a sprawly city so we have a bus tour with an extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable local guide. We pass some harrowing sights of bombed apartment buildings from during the troubles in the late 1990's. We also visit General Tito's grave / museum and walk round the city's fortress and city walls. Very hot (according to my diary), looking back now, it probably wasn't THAT [View Full Entry]

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13 Aug - another long-ish train journey, expected to take 10 hours from Serbia to Bulgaria. Pretty countryside with lovely rural stops. Again, reminiscent of Trans-Sib life and a good chance to chill out, natter, play cards, read and doze. We pass some spectular scenery at the Serbian / Bulgarian border with huge mountains. Must find out what mountain range we went through, surely can't be the Rodopi which I visited a few years ago, maybe the Pirins... any ideas??? We spend 1.5 hours at the border....most border crossings are a doddle after experiencing the Russia / Mongolia crossing of 8 [View Full Entry]

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