Palmyra

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Today was the tour of Syria's "star" attraction, the desert city of Palmyra (Tadmor) which had a rather lengthy classical history and then faded away after the second century AD. Situated on an a water supply in eastern Syria, the "palm' bit of the modern name comes from the palm trees growing nearby. Original huh?

It was fairly chilly when we started at 8am with a guided tour of the central areas of the site. The long processional route had been restored quite a bit, but this simply helped to give an idea of how impressive it would have been for the 3000-camel caravans entering the city from the desert. Occupying a central position between the western and eastern worlds it had a mix of archaeological features, although to the untrained eye it just looked 'Roman'. The main Temple of Bel is the largest single structure, but it had been the centre of the post-medieval settlement with houses occupying the main square and using columns and statues as building material.

After visiting this we moved on to the tombs on the edge of the city, which were either towers (narrow gaps in the wall for bodies to be arranged on trays which slotted into the walls, floor after floor giving space for whole generations) or underground tombs, using the same layout. Apparently over 150 of the tombs were still buried, but those we visited were relatively well preserved (or restored), which frescoes on the walls retaining their colour 2000 years after they were painted. For lunch we returned to the quirky restaurant which was serving savoury or sweet pancakes and omelettes. Which was nice.

After lunch I had intended to visit the museum, but couldn't find it (the tour guide hasn't grasped that I don't read Arabic and his directions are a bit vague: eg. "over there on the right" ). Instead I wandered out into the ruins on my own, which was very cool. The morning tour had not touched on the hectares of broken columns and walls of semi-excavated buildings, water pipes and half-restored temples. The peaceful atmosphere was only spoilt by the occasional noisy bus on the nearby highway and Bedouin on motorcycles chasing down tourists (yes, driving through the ruins) to try and sell them postcards or camel rides.

I then returned to the hotel to meet up with the rest of the group and "attack" (as our guide would say, even when talking about something innocuous like a market) the nearby citadel on the hill, which apparently had very nice views of the surrounding scenery at sunset. We duly hiked up and wandered around trying to find a good angle of the sun, which was neatly obscured by the giant radio aerial which had been causing us problems earlier (taking photos).
Dinner was in a much posher hotel, but wasn't worth writing home about (don't say it...). And then back to our own hotel for more uno. With 6 players I won two of four games so I think I can claim victory for the night.

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Photos

Palmyra
The collonaded main route through Palmyra

Palmyra
Me at the castle above Palmyra