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Published: October 27th 2009
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Antioch - Aleppo (Weds)
Got service taxi from Antioch to Aleppo. Me, Guy and an obscenely fat Turkish man. He was balding and back of his head looked like a very fat thumb. From behind he didn't seem that large but when he turned sideways he blotted out the sun. Little upper body fat, his weight was entirely in a huge stomach with epic overhang. It was the single most impressive sight I'd seen so far. He looked a little like Ariel Sharon but I kept that thought to myself.
No problems at Syrian border. Huge image of President Assad greeted us at the border. It was an image I'd get used to over next couple of weeks.
Aleppo (Weds, Thurs, Friday)
Lovely city. Not a huge amount to do but very chilled out and a good place from which to explore northern Syria. Not many tourists here and people are exceptionally friendly.
Did souk and citadel on arrival on Wednesday. Great souk - no tourist tat, everything aimed at locals. Clear that entire city still did its shopping here in the traditional way - a section for clothing, for food, for rope, for
textiles, for bricks and for swords. People not interested in selling us their wares but very friendly. We arrived late afternoon but souk was still manic with donkeys, bikes and small vans forcing their way through the crowds at breakneck speed. Highlight was when a boy in early 20s smiled at us and said
“speak english? I am the only gay in the village” . His mate followed up with
'no, I am the 2nd gay in the village' . Homosexuality is illegal in Syria and no western music can be heard but somehow the cross dressers of Little Britain had made their way through.
Found good restaurant with great humous, babaganoush, kebabs and nargileh. Eating out seems to be a male domain in Syria - no women out on either of my nights in Aleppo. Saw women eating with families in the daytime but not in evenings.
St Simeon's Monastery
Did day trip to St Simeon's monastery with Guy. Bus 45 minutes from Aleppo then hitched the last 10km.
Ruins of monastery is on top of hill with spectacular views over the surrounding hills. Countryside was exactly how I imaged the holy
Aleppo Souk
Lambs feet and tongues - tasty. land to look like. Rocky, dry, barren, with settlements wherever water could be found.
Monastery was dedicated to St Simeon, a 5th century hermit who attained celebrity status. The following story is from Lonely Planet, not from Monty Python. Finding goat herding insufficiently pious, Simeon decided to become a monk in circa 460 AD. Finding monastic life insufficiently pious, he moved to a cave and became a hermit. He gained a following and was soon one of most famous hermits in Christendom. Thus cave life became insufficiently pious and he decided to live on top of stone pillar. His first pillar was a mere three metres high but as his following increased he was forced onto higher and higher pillars to avoid temptation. By the time of his death he'd been living on an 18 foot pillar for over 5 years. He tied himself to pillar with rope to stop him from falling off during his sleep. He was happy to give sermons to men but wouldn't let women (even his poor old mum) in to see him. Simeon's fame spread to the far ends of the Christian empire and pilgrims visited from the British Isles, Iberia and Rus.
He was the David Beckham of his day.
Aleppo - Damascus
Got bus to Damascus, checked into hotel and met a baby faced Russian whose name I won't reveal here (I'll call him Arsharvin). He was from Siberia near the Mongolian border and had been studying arabic in Damascus for the last 6 months. Lots of Russians in Syria - a legacy of the Soviet support for Syrian socialism, continued good relations with the Putin regime, and a powerful mafia. Arsharvin had experienced underground Syria and would often whimsically state that Syria had corrupted his soul. Prostitution seems big business and Asharvin advised that with our capital and his language skills we could go into business bringing Russian girls into Syrian for Emirate tourists (we declined his offer). Over 2 million Iraqi refugees in Syria many of whom were prostitutes - clubs in the desert had Iraqi girls aged 13+ offering full services for $300. Also a big trade in smuggled antiques from Iraq and Iran - Arsharvin had bought himself a monacle so he could pretend to be an expert and buy the best stuff. Despite this dubious activity our corrupted Russian proved to be a
great guide, showing us the sights of Damascus (not the brothels, they were on the edge of town).
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