Blogs from South, Syria, Middle East - page 17

Public health is soooo last year, smoking is the new thing on everyone's lips - though a strawberry nargileh beats Big n Hairys every time......d'you think there'd be a demand for this in Maryhill?? Perhaps not..... We bumped into this magnificent blue-eyed boy adorning a keyboard in a Sony shop in Hama, the owner had just closed for the evening but after much window banging he finally relented and afforded us some quality time with 'Nice' - not the most catchy of names but nevertheless a rather appropriate moniker for such a fine specimen - without doubt one of the highlights of the trip thus far! Crusader castles are dotted all across the western part of Syria and Krak des Chevaliers is the most complete remnant from those bloody days of conquest and pillage; TE Lawrence ... read more

My first blog from the Syrian Arab Republic! The good news is that I am here and established in Damascus. The bad news is that I don't seem to be able to access my hotmail account. I am unclear if it's just a local problem with this cafe, or if access to the hotmail website is blocked across Syria. We shall see. In the meantime, I can't get to my e-mails, so anyone who is trying to contact me may have troubles for the next week until I get to Jordan. So, to pick up from the last blog, I was in Antalya, and after a 15 hour bus ride I made it to Antakya, the closest Turkish city to the Syrian border. After investigating the bus connections there, I realized the connections were much smoother ... read more

This prequel to the Ancient World Tour will cover Scott adventures highlights include: Following Lawrence’s footsteps in Damascus; Running the Syrian / Lebanon border on the eve of the cease fire; Learning to navigate without Hel; Visiting the crusader castle Krak des Chevaliers; and Watching the sun rise over the desert ruins in Palmyra. Damascus, Syria 16 August 2006 I arrived in Damascus on 16th August, for two weeks travelling through Syria. I travelled exclusively on local buses which are an excellent way to get around. The Syrian bus system is extensive, efficient and cheap. All towns and cities have a central bus stations, the language is not a problem, lonely planet guided have the names of towns and cities in both Arabic and English is simply a matter of showing the ticket salesperson the destination ... read more

I did more exploring the past few days. Thursday evening I went to the Citadel and the Ummayed Mosque around sunset. I got some good pics, some of which I'll post. The Citadel isn't all that impressive but the Mosque is just awe-inspiring. It is enormous and so beautiful. Words really cannot explain is and pictures don't really do it justice either. But, for those of you who can't make the trip to see it on your own I took lots to show you. Thursday night we also had a small get together and had some fun listening to music and the like. Friday was a pretty dead day. Most of my friends went to Aleppo but I wasn't exactly invited. Oh well. I slept in and lounged around all day. Saturday I decided that I ... read more

Well I have now been here a few days and can safely say that I love it! I have been having a blast all day every day exploring and learning sooo much!!! I'll recap the last few days as best I can in the time I have. Unfortunately I am having trouble uploading pictures so those will have to come later. As I said in my first entry, I arrived local time on Thursday and got to my hotel around 10pm. I wandered around for a few hours with a new friend I met named Mina who is in my program. I got to bed around 3am and fell right to sleep. I was awoken by a knock at my door at 7:30am and it was Mina asking why I had overslept and I was like ... read more