ArtVark

I was in Amman for a week. Somehow it did not quite do it for me this time. I guess after the rustic charm of Syria it was a bit too much concrete. Or something. Did relax at the Farah hotel though, build up some energy reserves before heading into the desert (not that it helps much, half a day of driving in the heat and you feel like you need another holiday, in Antartica). Also met some Dutch people who turned out to live a couple of streets away from me. Went out, found a place to drink some alcohol at, euh, interesting prices. On the way back to the hotel the guy bought some arak... suffice it to say, it is a good thing Hasims serves falafel at 5 in the morning, it was ... read more

Damascus steel is the stuff of legends: metal plates with lightly different carbon content welded together, folded many times and forged into swords that gave the crusaders a very nasty suprise. Flexible, light and sharp; it was the like the carbon fiber equivalent of steel in those days. If you're in Damascus and want to take home a unique souvenir, seek out the good stuff. The souks are littered with 'very old blade sir' knives made not in Damascus hundreds of years ago, but last winter in India. While the metal of the blades does show an effect not unlike proper Damascus steel, it is clear to see that it is not the same. Try to sharpen one of these puppies properly, and it's likely to fall to pieces as the metal layers peel away under ... read more

To get to Saladins from Aleppo I tried following the road signs for a while, which went OK more or less. Then I found myself on a 'new' highway, which looked great to start with. But I started getting suspicious when I saw more and more traffic coming the other way on the same side of the highway, and these small hills of dirt started appearing across the road. I think that what happened is that they started to build a new highway, but never quite got round to finishing it (or they are just working extremely slow) as there are potholes all over the place before the road has even been officially opened. The sudden end of the road (a 20 metre drop straight down without warning signs) confimed my suspicions. Backtracked a bit, and ... read more

Drove back to Aleppo today for Bruce's birthday party (South African/Aussie guy who's in Syria for an extended stay). Some things are just universal: when I stopped at a small gas station in the middle of nowhere I was informed of all the current Dutch soccer player who were any good, and when I said I don't follow soccer but MotoGP was more my thing, they turned out to be Valentino Rossi fans ;-) Checked into Al Jawahe, and went out with Ahmed to find materials to make Bruce a super huge birthday card. He and Nicole put the card together while I strolled around the deserted souk (friday), then it was Mr Chicken for dinner, and party time. The Syrian band was great, the Syrian booze was cheap, the Syrian cake was a calorie bomb, ... read more

Around noon I set of for Al Hasake. It looked a bit windy but I wasn't that worried. Yup. My first sandstorm! Not a huge one hamdallah, but enough to give me a proper sandblasting and respect for the real thing should I ever run into it. From one minute to the next visibility dropped to about 5 metres and I was choking on dust. It passed quite quickly, but the improved view did not offer much news: it's a long mostly straight road with some abandoned houses once in a while. About halfway to Hasake some villages started appearing and I stopped to get a drink. One of the guys there pointed out that my little extra petrol tank that I have mounted on the bike was dripping. It looks like it is just a ... read more