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Published: September 19th 2008
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Woke up in the Citadel bright and early to escape the worse of the heat to visit Palmyra. Palmyra is one of the largest set of Roman ruins that are still standing - well some of it is anyway. The city was a staging post for the caravans from Asia and Europe and as a result became very prosperous. The leader of the city died under mysterious circumstances and his wife took over - Queen Zenobia.
Queen Zenobia became ever more powerful and decided that she wanted to break away from Rome and took on its forces which she lost amd Palmyra was destroyed and what is still standing is its ruins.
Having visited the ruins last thing the previous night and first thing in the morning me and my new chums missed the worst of the heat but more importantly all the tourists - last night we sat on a hillside and watched the sun set over the ruins and we had the place all to ourselves.
This morning we visited the Temple of Bel and the theatre which has been restored.
After leaving Palmyra we got the bus to Damascus, on the bus I spoke
to a Kurd who was working in Damascus these guys have got it difficult they are not allowed passports. To quote the great novelist Tom Robbins "Kurds belonged in the Guiness book of records on at least two counts: they are the largest ethnic independent minority on earth without an independent homeland, and they have been double-crossed and betrayed by more foreign powers more than any other people in history. They were currently having a minor tet a tet with Turkey.
On arriving at Damascus booked into the Ghazel hotel in a dorm room, it was a little more expensive than the other places I had stayed in Damascus but it was the capital after all (1200 for a double with air-con and 500 for a dorm). It was clean and there was a little courtyard with a fountain which helped while away the evenings. Afterwards went to the Ummayed Mosque and couldn't have timed it perfectly as the Muezzin was calling the faithful to prayer so went in from the courtyard to watch them pray which isn't normally possible in the majority of mosques. I'm not getting religious or anything but a veil of serenity seemed to envelop
me whilst I as in the Mosque it was a very calming experience.
Had a wander round the souk watched a fight that was taking place between a trader and a policeman and then Martin, Aina and myself went for a meal. Because of Ramadan the restaurant was only serving a set meal but we decided to give it a go anyway. They then brought out 10 plates of Mezze - mostly salad dishes Hummous, Taboule etc whih was delicious and very filling and filled us up completely. However just as e ere finishing they then brought a huge bowl of battered fish with rice and another bowl of veg. This came as a surprise to us as we were just about to ask for the bill. I couldn't eat any of the main dish as even the veg appeared to have been cooked in meat stock and the other 2 were so full they could just pick. So after they took away the main meal we asked for the bill again and they said no and then brought out sweets - it was like offering a wafer thin mint:-) The sweets were not that good to be honest
so we had to leave them as well. Anyway the bill finally arrived and were we in for a shock it was around 35 English pound which was ten times what we had been paying on the trip so far. We nearly ended up washing the dishes as we didn't have enough money - its cheap meals for us in future!!
Got back to the hostel and had a good night sleep in a dorm for a change which was nice.
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