http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Middle East , Syria en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:04:15 BST Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:04:15 BST ok here's the entry on the actuall Aleppo Syria as opposed to the drive tofrom there.I was consering going to Syria soon after finding out that my friend's wedding is close to Syria on the Turkish side. A visa however was 175 in Syrian Embassy Washington which was too high for a one day excursion.In Antakya a city I was staying in I accidentally found out that there will be a one day http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/North/Aleppo/blog-303192.html There are two separate parts to this trip both of equal amount of time of satisfaction. Border Crossing and City exploration.I will talk only about the border crossing here and Aleppo in another entry.On the way to Syria Syrians asked all the Americans and no one else to go with them. Turned out they wanted nothing more than our parents' names. What surprised me at the border is that the Du http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/North/Aleppo/blog-302737.html We had a great day out in Bosra. The city is a couple of hours on the bus to the South of Damascus. It seemed that we had to travel halfway to Beirut just to get the bus though When we arrived in Bosra we were unable to find any accommodation. There were 2 options sleep on blankets on the floor in a big room behind the ldquo1001 Nightsrdquo restaurant or pay US200 to stay in 5 star luxury. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Bosra/blog-302241.html So summer school 1 is over and today we begin the second of the three intensive English courses. We had some great students. Russ was invited to go out for the afternoon and smoke some hubblybubbly with some of the guys he taught. They took him to a local caf which seemed to be men only where he was treated to a couple of hours of strong Arabic tea fresh fruit salad and a long puff on the wa http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-301007.html Hama is the fourth largest city in Syria. It took us just under three hours to get there from Damascus and we were instantly impressed by the chilled out feel to the place delighted to find the most delicious chicken kebabs so far at the bus station and very happy not to be ripped off by a taxi driverWe stayed at the Riad Hotel and when we return we will definitely stay there again. It was li http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/West/Hama/blog-299163.html Wherever you go through Maloula you could hear a fable that tells a parable allegory composed by the creative imagination of the man. It was conveyed to us by generations till it reached us in this splendour shape and the remaining ruins are good proof of this areamans will and his ability to defy the time. The best example for this is the spoken language among the people of Maloula. You will http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Maalula/blog-297915.html Our first trip out of Damascus was not without its difficulties We took a taxi out to the main bus station for routes to the North of the country. Then we had to find the right bus not an easy task with almost no Arabic Eventually we were on a 10am departure which left on time moved about 10 yards then spent 20 minutes crawling along to the police check area at the exit. Finally we were on http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/West/Krak-des-Chevaliers/blog-297000.html A la sombra de la pared este de la Mezquita de los Omeyas ' la fuente ' es el caf con ms solera de de Damasco. Aqu es donde se puede escuchar a Abu Shadi el ltimo de los hakawati cuentacuentos profesionales. Cada tarde a eso de las 1900 h. Abu toma asiento para contar los cuentos de la poca de los mamelucos.Umayad caminin bati duvarinin glgesinde ldquoesmerdquo Samdaki en g http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-296508.html Damascus is proving to be a fascinating place to live. For us itrsquos our first experience of living in a Muslim country. Mosques are everywhere and at prayer times the sound of the muezzin calls are haunting as they echo around the city.Working every afternoon and evening isnrsquot leaving much time for exploring the city. Thatrsquos why we try to go somewhere new at every opportunity. Th http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-296035.html As per usual we got off to an early start and hopped in the bus and headed for the Citadel in Masyaf. Same same was huge and old and full of ghosts probably. Then we left and kept on driving until we got to the Krak Des Chevaliers. Not sure if you know what it is but it is yet another castle however is a crusader fortress and has been described as probably the best preserved castle in the http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-295816.html We flew into the town of Aleppo in Syria meeting up with Colleen and Eimear at their hotel really quite beautiful I must say alot of the places we stayed at were very nice and cheap I have photos will add later. Brendan's luggage was lost along the way and to this day was not found again. And since he had just got into Amman the night before it was ALL of his luggage Poor boy. Luckily h http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-295758.html Itrsquos amazing how quickly you can settle into a place. The language barrier is huge but we are managing. This is a place where ldquoehrdquo means yes ldquolardquo means no and a written 7 means 6 We have even had our first emergency Arabic lesson which was shall we say interestingWork wise itrsquos been a bit of a culture shock. We last taught in Argentina back in December s http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-293491.html A Sunday in Aleppo http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/North/Aleppo/blog-293052.html bb http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-291557.html Damascus Syria part of the socalled axis of evil and a place where all the signs are in Arabic which might just as well be ancient Greek or Aramaic So why did we choose to come here Well 35 degrees of sunshine almost guaranteed for the next three months a job with the British Council and about as much hummus as we can manage to eat are just three of the reasons The people seem very frien http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-290302.html I left off after an inadequate description of one of the world's finest castles though I had already started my new adventures in Damascus by then. It's all a bit of a blur. Time for more catching up.After the castle we were dropped off by a bus station in Homs which appeared to be a rather uninspiring city. After using what we unfortunately discovered later were not actually the worst toile http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-290062.html How I find myself at a 1500 year old Christian monastery in the Middle of Nowhere Desert Syria for 3 nights Irsquom not sure. I was planning on finally getting to Beirut after the football game but somewhere between Howiersquos portrayal of a wordofmouth secluded mountain hideaway and Victorrsquos description of lsquonot in the Lonely Planetrsquo desert adventure I decided to push http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-289221.html A few things about Damascus Images of their fearless leader Bashar alAssad everywhere. When I pick up a pistachio croissant in the morning hersquos looking far off into the distance in a bold striped suit. When I walk through the souqs hersquos smiling down at me in a top hat. When I go to the bathroom hersquos got his arms around other militant leaders. Everybody is smoking sheesh http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-289206.html 30 SECOND RULE 30 SECOND RULEI shouted as Jen and I scrambled to rescue the Goldfish crackers that had spilled all over the floor... We arrived at the Syrian border around 1100 in the morning Friday the 13th unsure of how the day would play out. Technically US passport holders are supposed to jump through a lot of hoops and spend a lot of money in the process in order to get tourist v http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/North/Aleppo/blog-287515.html My entire trip to Palmyra cost me 26 USD. 2.5 hr bus Homs to Palmyra 150 SP taxi from Palmyra bus station to hostel 50 SP one night in Citadel Hotel double bed private ensuite 400 SP breakfast 100 SP entry to Palmyra ruins free entry to Temple of Bel 150 SP laundry 175 SP taxi from hotel to bus station 75 SP 3 hr bus Palmyra to Damascus 200 SPTotal 1300 SP 26 USD. And I w http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/East/Palmyra/blog-286943.html Irsquom currently sitting in a bus from Homs to Palyrma next to a woman in a full burka. She and about 7 men around us have been talking and smiling and pointing at me the whole ride. It really is as if they have never seen a foreigner or a laptop but I know that is doubtful. I took out my LP and used a few phrases but that was pretty limited conversation. The are still having a blast though. O http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/West/Krak-des-Chevaliers/blog-286942.html Some people love ancient ruins some people hate them some people are ambivalent.I thought I was in the ambivalent category but today may have converted me. I want to say ldquoEverybody has that special place. You know that place that when they first set foot in they knew they would never forget the feeling of just being.rdquo But for me that would be lying because before today I donrsq http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/West/Hama/blog-286919.html Eventually I get to Antaklya Antioch in one piece around 9am from Goreme. From here I am hurried onto another bus for Halep but first they collect our passports. This is the moment I have been dreading. On my bus are two girls from New Zealand who also donrsquot have visas. When the ticket man gets to my passport he looks and says ldquoAmerican Oh you will have to wait very long timer http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/North/Aleppo/blog-286910.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 Where am IMiddle Eastern Country 1 I walk down the street and get called out at by about 17 men in 3 blocks. Some ask to kiss me. A plethora of random Japanese words are thrown at me. I think there may be more tourists than local people. I get a random kebabgyroshwarma off the street it is not that great and I pay the equivalent of a Big Mac meal. I get one square inch of baklava for a doll http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/West/Hama/blog-286222.html We entered Syria with a surprising amount of ease we were told expect a 6 hour wait but we got over the border in around 3 hours. The first impressions that we had of Syria was how friendly everyone was everyone always waived to us as we drove by and tried to talk to us. The other first impression was how much more conservative it was compared to Turkey and that there seemed to be very few touri http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-284907.html For the first time in six months all the Australians had the weekend off together so we decided to make the most of the opportunity and headed to Damascus. I was expecting Damascus to be very similar to Cairo but found it to be substantially cleaner and quieter. I only visited central Damascus but it was a great place to visit and get around much more modern and moderate then I expected from t http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-284761.html In the 1960's and 70's a generation of Western travellers crossed the Middle East from Europe to India in search of adventure cheap drugs and often spirituality. In the Mysterious East many of them believed they could escape the daily grind of the rat race for a simpler less material world. Today many continue the search heading for places like Pune and Auroville to 'find themselves'. How http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-284743.html