Blogs from Palmyra, East, Syria, Middle East - page 4

While the mercury’s been steadily climbing in Damascus - it’s a hazy 95 on the day I skip town - a heat wave is hardly the time to visit the desert. But it’s my grave misfortune that Palmyra - the legendary sandstone city and so-called “Bride of the Desert” - was plopped down about 100 miles from the ass-crack of Nowhere. It’s on the wrong side of 100 when my bus pulls into town; even the shifty cab driver who greets me at the station seems too exhausted to rip me off. The city barely stirs in the mid-afternoon heat. The shopkeepers are sitting out front in the shade, spitting date pits onto the sidewalk; the restaurant touts half-heartedly call out to passersby, wiping their foreheads against their sleeves. At my hotel the desk clerk ... read more

On behalf of myself I’d like to welcome you once again to the source of your insanity. Prelude These past two days have brought me very close to death… in more ways than one. Firstly, I kept seeing a blinding white light… but we were in the desert and I could hear voices so I reasoned that I wasn’t dead yet. The reason was that we walked for hours and hours around various sites on very little sleep and after a long bus ride. Chapter 1 - Palmyra On Friday morning I was aroused by the alarm I had set for 6:30 and spent the next two and a half hours waiting for Masumi to get out of bed. We were going to be taking a two day trip as she’d sequestered a short holiday ... read more

Roman ruins. Columns and old streets. Probably the only place in Syria that has been negatively affected by tourism. A real shame. Offers of cheap hookers (not accepted). Great sunset on a hill.... read more

Geo: 34.548, 38.2787After a few hours of driving we arrived at Palmyra. We drove past the ancient city to our hotel in the next village of Tadmor. After checking in, we walked to Palmyra and our guide gave us a walking tour.... read more