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Published: August 31st 2006
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Left Jordan and entered into GW Bush's "axis of evil", but apart from thousands of Hezbollah posters haven't seen much sign of evil!!
After travelling the road to Damascas...thankfully not becoming blind in the process, we spent the afternoon exploring the maze of laneways in the old city. Damascas is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world and has some facinating places to see. We visited the mosque which is one of the top 5 most important to Muslims. Then we went to wander around the old palace, very modest but still cool. Wandered around the Christian quarter and it was interesting to see the change. All the women were wearing western clothes and it wasn't really crazy like the rest of the city. Plus there was the occassional bottle-o.
Caught a cab a few kms to our campsite. Paid him 3 times the local fare but he wasn't happy. The other two cabs the group used were more than satisfied but our guy wasn't. He ranted and raved for about 5 minutes and I thought he was going to come back in the middle of the night to get us, but of course he didn't.
Headed out into the desert once more to an old Roman town called Palmyra, created due to its strategic location on the silk road. The ruins were very impressive in the fading light with nothing but desert for miles. Felt a little sorry for the locals as the town basically only exists these days to support the tourists...but there are very few, unlike a few years ago prior to Sept 11. An indication of how few tourists there are in Syria is we haven't been able to get a magnet as they don't have any tacky souvenier shops!!
Everyone is very friendly though, and we are constantly being asked where we come from and being "welcomed to Syria". As English is such a valuable skill, all the kids love to practice their skills on us.
Once again we camped out in the desert, sleeping on mats under the stars.
Next morning, visited what Lawrence of Arabia described as the most impressive castle in the world...Crac des chevalier, a crusader castle built by the French and still in remarkably good condition. Had a buffet feast in the rooftop of the princess tower, then headed up to Aleppo.
Aleppo would have to be our favourite city in the middle east so far. Its just as old as Damascas but a little more laid back. Spent the day getting lost in the maze of souks (markets) and climbed up to the citadel for a great view over the entire city (its built on a massive man made hill for security).
One of the good thing about the Kumuka tour is that pretty much all meals are included, so you're not always dipping into your pocket. Last night our tour leader gave us the equivalent of $2.50 aussie for the both of us for dinner. Now, you may not think thats much but we got 2 chicken kababs (from a really cool local guy), two soft-serve icecreams, a 1.5L bottle of water and a packet of cream bikkies. Bargain hey!
Tonight we're going out for another buffet (we've put on about 5 kgs each!). Scott denies this, saying he's still as buffed as ever. Heading off at 5am to cross the border into Turkey. Driving to Cappadocia where we'll be for a couple of nights. Looking forward to it. Bye for now, S&J.
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Nat
non-member comment
wow
Hi guys - the photos you are posting on the site are fantastic. i would never have thought to visit such places, but after being 'part of your adventure' via the Blog - i think i would give it a go.... stay safe and keep have an awesome time - love hearing about it!