hauteboy

People called me crazy, planning a trip to the Middle East at this time. Lebanon and Tunisia and Egypt all having problems.. maybe so. I've been to troublesome areas before though and at the time seemed like things were going to be OK. And maybe I am a little crazy, what's so wrong with that?

I'm always researching airfares looking for a good deal for the next trip. I had seen some good one-way airfares to Kuwait, including a stopover in Amman. From Kuwait, only $167 to add on Bangladesh. Then from Bangladesh back to the US, only $600 or so. I could do a round-the-world trip hitting 5 new countries for only about $1500! I didn't buy the ticket at the time though and the Bangladesh to US fare went away, so I decided to use a oneworld award ticket instead using my American Airlines miles. I was able to get business class tickets booked on Royal Jordanian and Cathay Pacific. I have done two RTW trips before, but both were westbound. The plan was going to be to visit Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait and Bangladesh, all in 19 days! I bought two paid tickets, one Amman-Beirut and one for Kuwait-Doha-Bangladesh on Qatar. I had flown Qatar the previous year and really liked the experience.

Here's links to some of my other trip blogs
Peru/Galapagos 2005: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...agos-trip.html
Mongolia/Caucasus 2005: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-mtskheta.html

Andaman Islands (India) 2007: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...a-ixz-maa.html
Guianas (South America) 2007: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...h-guianas.html
North Korea 2007: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...oryo-trip.html

Ethiopia 2008: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-airlines.html
Central America 2008: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...a-managua.html

St. Petersburg, Baltics and Belarus 2009: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...d-st-pete.html
Canadian Rockies 2009: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...n-rockies.html

West Africa 2010: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...ir-france.html
West Pacific 2010: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...n-pacific.html

Jan 27, 2011: Austin (AUS) to Dallas (DFW), American Airlines
Jan 27, 2011: Dallas (DFW) to Montreal (YUL), American Airlines
Jan 27, 2011: Montreal (YUL) to Amman (AMM), Royal Jordanian
The trip started off great, a gorgeous day in Austin and the Supershuttle arrived on time. Two others in the van with me, including a girl who had forgotten her purse when she arrived at the airport and had to ride the shuttle out and back. I was still very early for my flight, but hadn't been able to checkin since it was an international flight. The line at security wasn't too bad today. I grabbed a chopped bbq sandwich from the Salt Lick and headed to the airline lounge for a few hours. Once there I was able to checkin for my Amman-Beirut flight online.

The flight to Dallas passed quickly and I headed over to the lounge in the D-gates. I checked on the flight status of the Montreal-Amman flight; it showed an average 70-minute delay, and I only had a 75-minute connection! Luckily the snowstorm didn't seem to be affecting Detroit or Montreal, but I started getting a bit worried. I knew there was a later flight to Beirut so hopefully would be able to get on that one if I misconnected.




The flight to Montreal seemed to take forever. I didn't help that I fell asleep 5 minutes into the flight and woke up 20 minutes later. Usually I will sleep the whole flight! They served a focaccia chicken sandwich as a snack, and a yummy warm cookie. I hadn't flown in biz class on American in awhile, they had new thinner seats. Someone had done the Soduku puzzles in the magazine already, so I ended up reading the book I had bought in Dallas. We arrived in Montreal on time. I went to the transit desk but they wouldn't let me through as I didn't have my RJ boarding pass. That meant I would have to go through immigration. Usually going through Canadian immigration is 20 questions, but I said I was in transit and he waved me through, not even stamping my passport.




I made it to the Royal Jordanian checkin counter just in time before a large group arrived, with 5-6 suitcases each! I had planned to check my backpack, but due to the tight connection (and they weren't able to tag my bag onto Beirut), I was able to carry on my bag. I also got a pass to the lounge. The airport was pretty dead at this time (8:30PM), I think there were only a few flights that go out that late. The RJ flight actually routes Detroit-Montreal-Amman, so had to wait on the inbound flight. Originally the flight was supposed to depart at 10PM, but then saw on the board that there was going to be a 45-minute delay.. turning my 75-minute connection into a 30-minute one.. uhoh.

The flight finally arrives, we board, but don't get underway until nearly 11:30. The business class cabin was huge, with lots of room between the seats. It was only about 2/3 full as well and the seat next to me was empty. They provided a duvet, and noise cancelling headphones. The taxi out to the runway took forever (I could walk that fast!) and also we take off to the west (adding potential time to the flight). When the onboard flight map finally came on, it showed an arrival at 5:30PM.. way too late to make my 5PM flight to Beirut...










So resigned to my fate, I enjoyed the flight.. watching a few movies and eating far too much. The food onboard was quite good.. I had a glass of champagne and a huge red snapper fillet with saffron sauce. For dessert, I doubled down and had both ice cream and tiramisu. I watched a few movies before catching some sleep. The seats are lie-flat, but at an angle. I have broad shoulders and the seat was too narrow when fully reclined, so ended up sleeping on my side.

A 'breakfast' of quiche was served. We had made up some time in flight, and the arrival time kept creeping back.. 5PM then 4:50 PM then 4:40PM.. would I make my flight after all?

vecta

oo please keep writing!!!

hauteboy

Jan 28, 2011 Amman (AMM) to Beirut (BEY), Royal Jordanian
Hotel: Saifi Urban Gardens, $40
Well it was not meant to be.. the flight arrival time started creeping back up again, 4:52 now. We landed and were pulling up to the gate when the plane next to us was pulling back from the gate, of course that was the Beirut flight. So now that left me with over three hours to kill in the Amman airport, where you can walk from one end to another in 10 minutes.

I went to the transit desk to arrange my next flight, it took quite awhile for the agent to reprint a new boarding pass. I had pre-booked a taxi pickup in Beirut and I was able to call them to reschedule while waiting. From the transit desk I went to the huge RJ lounge to kill a few hours. The gate for the Beirut flight kept changing, and the time got pushed back 30 minutes. I finally walked over to gate 7 through the long duty free hall that connects the two terminals. There was still another flight boarding at gate 7, so had to go to gate 8 instead. Confusing! Finally we were able to board the flight via bus and took off almost an hour late.

We landed in Beirut around 10PM and I was one of the first off the plane. Immigration was quick and easy, then went outside where the taxi driver was waiting for me. Withdrew some money from the ATM, it dispensed either dollars or Lebanese pounds. Both the $ and LBP are used interchangeably here, the exchange rate is fixed at 1500:1. I had heard that taxis at the airport charged anywhere from $30 up, the one I called only charged 25000LBP (~$17).

It was drizzling lightly as we drove through town. Beirut has a lot of high rise apartment buildings, it felt to me a lot like coming into Buenos Aires. It took awhile to find the hotel, the driver didn\'t know where it was, and traffic in Gemayzeh streets was packed. We went down a suppsoed two-way street but with people double parked, we ended up having to back up out of the street.. as we started backing up there was a loud screeching noise as the driver must have hit a parked car\'s mirror. More backing up, this time a screech on the other side of the taxi! We drive down another empty one-way road all the way to the end just as 4 cars tried to turn down the road, so we had to back up yet again all the way down the street. Finally we find the place where the hotel was.. which turned out to be down a side alley right behind the Charles Helou bus station.

I get to hotel reception... only to find they close at 8PM! I headed to their downstairs cafe which was full of people smoking and drinking arak (like ouzo).. luckily they had my key. I dropped my bags in my room, I debated going back out to the cafe or elsewhere, but by this time I was exhausted.. The room was nice, huge ceiling and two beds. The bathroom was oddly in a little room up a few stairs. One of the cheaper places to stay in Beirut at $40/night for a single, breakfast included. They also have dorm rooms for $18/night. They apparently run an Arabic language school, including lessons on how to curse in Arabic. I popped a few melatonin and fell asleep, only to awake a few hours later when it started raining. Drip, drip, drip.. the water kept falling loudly on a nearby metal roof preventing me from sleeping..


Jan 29, 2011
Hotel: Saifi Urban Gardens, $40
This morning I woke up around 7:30, had a fresh shower and was able to register at the reception desk which was now open. I went down to the cafe for breakfast, but after the party last night they were slow getting things going. I had a manoush, kind of like a quesadilla, made of arabic flatbread and cheese with spices, it was delicious. I started talking with a girl from Florida, she was studying Arabic in Damascus but was in Beirut waiting for a month to get her Syrian visa renewed.


I had all day in Beirut, I planned to just walk around downtown, go to the Hard Rock Cafe to get a shirt, then go to the Beirut museum. It was about 9AM when I started walking down the empty streets, Gemayzeh is a hip district full of bars and restaurants. I passed by the main mosque, huge with a blue domed roof, then past St. George Cathedral, which dates from the time of the crusades. There was a lot of construction going on in the downtown area, but there are still scars from the civil war, with empty buildings and walls pockmarked with bullet holes. The central parliament area was blocked off with heavy security barriers. I probably could have walked down there but didn't try. Nearby I came across a farmers market, where they were selling fruit, honey, manoush, etc. I tried a couple of meat pie things that were delicious!




From there I headed down to the Hard Rock cafe and bought probably my 50th t-shirt. I should take a photo of all my shirts and send it in! I spent a few minutes talking with the girl from the counter, then I was off again walking down the Corniche, the seaside promenade. The Corniche was quite nice, regular 500-meter markings for the Beirut marathon. There were fishermen standing along the railing, families out for a stroll. Every now and then I'd catch people speaking in English.. the American University fronts the Corniche. English, French and Arabic are all spoken in Lebanon, sometimes all in the same sentence. There were also several 'beach' clubs along the way, though they were shuttered for the winter. Beirut doesn't have beaches, just a rocky coastline. Most people go to the clubs for socializing more than anything.


Finally after walking for nearly 3km along the Corniche, I caught a cab to the Beirut Museum. Apparently my Arabic (and French?) pronunciation is atrocious since he didn't understand museum/musee. Or didn't know where it was.. but finally he asked for directions and we headed in the right direction. As we were driving down the road, I started noticing Lebanese military were stationed in tanks and machine gun emplacements every km or so.. it looked like they had been there awhile though so wasn't sure if that had anything to do with the recent troubles.

The museum was in a building along the Rue Damas, the entry fee at 5000 LBP was a bargain. The museum housed amazing collection of Greek, Roman, Phoenecian and Egyptian artifacts.. huge carvings in marble, gold jewelry, etc. What was even more amazing was the figures had been sealed up in 5" thick concrete sarcophagi during the civil war; when the war was over the building had been completely trashed, holes in the walls, etc but miraculously the artifacts had survived.




I ended up walking back from the museum to the hotel, down the Rue Damas. On the way back I stopped at a restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet, Le Chef. This was an old school workers cafe, wood panel walls, and a charismatic head waiter saying 'Welcome welcome!' I ordered hummus and the oriental chicken, which was delicious. By the time I got back to the hotel it was nearly 4PM.. where I crashed from exhaustion.

hauteboy

Jan 30, 2011
Hotel: Cairo Hotel, Hama, Syria (800 SYP)
The plan today was to visit Baalbek, then cross over into Syria and either head for Hama or Palmyra. It rained again during the night so I had woken up way too early. I wished I had made it out to go dancing in Beirut, one of the few places on my trip that would have any nightlife. I had breakfast at the cafe, checked out then headed out on the street to catch a cab.

There are two bus stations in Beirut, Charles Helou (the one right behind my hotel) handles most of the buses to the north and to Damascus. The Cola station in the south of the city has minibuses to the south and to Baalbek. It was still about 8:30AM on a Sunday so there was no traffic or taxis to be seen. I passed by a private taxi stand but they wanted 10k LBP to go to the station, too much. I finally was able to flag one down for 5k just as it started to rain. Probably still too much as the hotel said the fare should have been 2-4k. Especially since he ended up picking up another passenger and dropping me off almost a half km from the bus station.. I had to walk through the rain (but luckily under an overpass).

I arrived just before 9AM where there was a minibus just ready to leave for Baalbek. I paid the 6000LBP fare and we were off through the rain. The minibus was one of the Toyota Hi-Ace share taxis I've seen all over the world. The road out of Beirut kept going up and up, over the mountains. It was pretty cold too and I wondered if we would hit snow when passing through the mountains, it did get quite foggy the higher up we went. The driver was a speed demon, passing cars on curves and weaving in and out of tnraffic. We crossed the pass through to the Bekaa valley where the weather started clearing a little. When we reached the town at the road to Baalbek, I had to switch to another minibus for the rest of the journey.

The drive up the Bekaa valley was very pretty, passing by rows of (bare) vinyards. Finally arrived in Baalbek town around 11AM, just two hours from Beirut. Baalbek is a base of Hezbollah and there were posters of the leader Hassan Nasrallah. The weather was bleh, starting to drizzle, but the ruins were right beside the road and already very impressive. The entrance was a two-block walk, 12000LBP fee ($8) was pretty reasonable. The guards let me leave my backpack by the gate while I wandered around the ruins. The ruins were originally pagan temples (the god Baal, hence the name), then converted over to Roman gods. There are temples to Jupiter, Bacchus and Venus. I was glad I had brought my rain jacket as it continued to drizzle the entire time I was in the ruins. There were very few tourists, I only saw three other people while I was there. The drizzle kept getting on my camera lens and made it hard to get photos.

The columns for the Jupiter temple are huge, 2+m thick, some of the largest from the Roman era supposedly. When I entered the Bacchus temple, the sun came out! I had to do another round of the temples, getting photos in the sun. In total I spent around an hour and a half seeing the temples.






As I was heading out of the ruins I was descended upon by the trinket sellers, selling 'old' coins, Hezbollah t-shirts, jewelry, etc. I did buy a cup of coffee from a vendor to warm up. I headed into town to look for a taxi stand or minibus station to the border. I planned to cross over to Syria via Al-Qaa, but everyone I had asked wasn't sure if that was possible or not. None of the buses from Beirut to Syria passed that way. After some conversation with the taxi drivers in French, I decided to book the taxi all the way to the border for $40.

The taxi set off from Baalbek for the hour or so drive north to the Syrian border. The landscape kept getting more and more remote, less traffic and barren. The Bekaa valley is surrounded by barren treeless mountains. There were several Lebanese military checkpoints but we were always waved through. Along the way we passed the Hermel Pyramid off in the distance, the tall tower's purpose is unknown but it is similar to tombs in Syria. We soon reached Al-Qaa the Lebanese border post where I got my passport stamped out. As I was leaving a minibus pulled up and the passengers came in to get their ID cards checked.. even though I was already at the window two people shoved in front of me and thrust their cards through the window.

The Syrian border was still a few more kms from there, where the taxi driver finally dropped me off. Entering Syria didn't take much time at all as I already had a visa, maybe 20 minutes total. I had to fill out the entry form and answer the stern official's few questions and that was it. I walked through the gate, having to show my passport to one other official. There is an exchange booth right past the gate, I was able to change my leftover LBP and some USD to Syrian pounds.. enough to get me through a few days at least. Now the trick was going to be to get to Homs. There were a few taxis waiting there luckily, but after a few minutes conversation they were requesting rediculous amounts (500 SYP) to go to Homs.. just 40kms away, and 1500 to Hama. Ok that's only $11, but according to the book I could take a bus from Aleppo to Damascus for around 200.

I did eventually settle on 200 ($4), still too much compared with what locals pay.. but it would get me to Homs at least. The minibus was for the same group that had followed me through Lebanese immigration. They all climbed in and said Welcome to Syria! We soon set off, Habibi music blasting on the radio and half the minibus was smoking. We arrived at the minibus station in Homs around 2:45.. where I learned I would have to take a taxi to the other bus station on the other side of town. The taxi driver quoted 250 (book again said 30, I know there's some inflation, but come on). Finally negotiated him down to 100, and that was with taking another passenger. It took maybe 15-20 minutes to cross town to the main bus station. The station has minibuses on one side and big buses on the other. The ride to Hama is only 45 minutes so decided to take a minibus.

The other passenger helped me to find the minibus to Hama, which was ready to leave. You buy a ticket (50SYP) from a little shack, get a card, then give this card to the minibus driver. We set off right away, and arrived in Hama right around 4PM.. already it had been a long day, about 5 hours in taxis and minibuses. I caught a cab (50SYP) to the Cairo hotel right in the center of Hama. They were charging 800 SYP per night for a single, 150 for breakfast. The room was nice enough, double bed and ensuite bathroom.

It was still light out, so wandered down to the river to see the noiras (waterwheels). Hama has these huge waterwheels used for irrigation, there still are a dozen or so scattered around the city. Some of these waterwheels are 50' across! During the summer these wheels creak and groan, but during the winter water is diverted from the river elsewhere and the wheels stand silent. They are still quite scenic though. I spent some time wandering around an alley in the 'old' city.. this has been reconstructed since the 1980s when Hama was bombarded during an uprising.




The river has several cafes and restaurants along the banks.. this being off season (and still early! about 5PM) most were empty. I hadn't eaten since breakfast though and was starving. I stopped at the Le Jardin restaurant, which had a great view out across to some norias and a mosque. I ordered a hummus and some kebabs, which both turned out to be very good. All served with the ubiquitous arabic flatbread.

After wandering back to the hotel, they said their internet was down. I then found a nearby internet cafe which was working and was able to update everyone that I had reached Syria safely. They do block facebook and some other sites, but I was still able to get my status updated. The LP book had recommended trying a local dessert, halawat al-jibn, made by stretching cheese, then rolling it up with a sweet filling inside, then covered with honey and pistachios. It sounded delicious, and it was. Nearly every other store along the main road sells the stuff so it is hard to miss.

thepointsguy

Awesome report so far. Beirut is on my shortlist, so I liked the tips, though I don't think I'll hit up the Hard Rock when I'm there!

EXP4ME

Loving the trip report so far. An area of the world I hope to travel in next year. Looking forward to the next installments! ^

BEYFlyer

A bit further along the corniche and you would have come across one of the public beaches in Beirut in the Ramlet Al Bayda area

totti

Nice report ^

toast24

Loving the report. This is my dream trip.

hauteboy

Jan 31, 2011
Hotel: Sheraton Aleppo, Syria. Cash+points
Today was going to be a long day with a lot of ground to cover. I planned on visiting the Krac des Chevaliers, the largest and best preserved of the crusader castles in Syria. I would have to backtrack to Homs, catch a minibus to the Krac, then back to Homs where I would catch a bus up to the city of Aleppo.

It was a chilly morning this morning.. I headed out to town to check if my US-issued bank card would work in any ATMs, I had heard stories that sometimes accounts were blocked or otherwise unable to withdraw using a US card... luckily I found one that worked after two tries at other banks.

Back to the Cairo hoteor a breakfast of a boiled egg, bread and marmalade. I planned to walk down to the bus station, about a mile away. The walk was nice, good to see early morning life with people opening shops, bakeries, etc. Probably should have caught a cab though, as by the time I got there I was sweating away even in the cool morning air. Similarly to Homs, there is a little booth that sells cards that then are given to the bus driver. This time the fare appeared to only be 35SYP. One minibus was ready to go a few minutes after I arrived at 8AM, and we were off. The roads in Syria have been great, there are motorways between and bypasses around the major cities.

The ride to Homs was quick, arriving there I was able to find a minibus leaving for the Krac (Qalaat al Hosn). There were only about three other passengers. The weather was still nice but as we approached the town, th e sky started getting darker and darker. As soon as the minibus pulled off the motorway, the rain and sleet started. Not looking good for running around a castle. We finally arrived at the castle about 10AM, after dropping off the other passengers in the town below. The driver asks if I want a private ride back to Homs, as it's not likely there will be any tourists/minibuses coming up to the castle later. I arrange for him to come back in 2 hrs, then private ride for the 50kms to Homs for 700SYP ($15). I left my bag in his taxi, which maybe wasn't a good idea.

The Krac des Chevaliers castle was built during the Crusades and was headquarters for the Knights Hospitaller for almost 200 years. The castle is massive, with thick outer walls and an interior keep. Nearly 1000 years old now it is still in great shape, as it never fell in battle. The inhabitants held out during a seiges by Nuruhdin and Saladin, only to surrender when receiving a forged letter.

The castle has been designated a World Heritage site. The entry fee was 150SYP, a decent bargain. I spent a few hours wandering around the dark and drippy castle. The castle is built out on a rocky outcrop at the intersection of two valleys, the clouds had descended to fog and the cold wind was blowing fiercely. I could not imagine being a knight stationed here during the winter. There are huge rooms in the castle for stables, church (later converted to a mosque) and storage.


After leaving the castle, the taxi wasn't there.. a slight panic ensued but he did show up a few minutes later. The drive back to Homs was uneventful, arriving around 12:45 where I was able to buy a ticket onward to Aleppo. You have to watch the touts at the bus stations here, as soon as I entered someone grabbed a hold of me and took me over to one of the bus companies, he kept saying give me money.. I'm like why? He mentioned the bus fare so gave him some, and of course never saw the change from it.

Grabbed a shwarma for a quick lunch while waiting on the bus, which turned out to be very nice. The ride to Aleppo was about two hours, passing through agricultural land and passing some enormous grain elevators. Arrived in Aleppo about 3:30PM. From there I tried to catch a taxi to the Sheraton. The latest book I have on Syria (2010) seems to have prices right on everything but the taxis; which have been charging me 5-10x what the book mentions. Serious case of foreigner inflation. I tried to get to town for 100 SYP, he mentioned 150SYP and would only take me for 100 if we took another passenger. I held my ground and he his; we had to wait to pickup another passenger, which ended up wanting to go clear to the other side of town.. even though I had been waiting longer. All that to save $1.. priorities are sometimes skewed.

Finally arrived at the Sheraon around 4:30PM. I hadn't made a booking yet, but was able to use their business center to make the cash+points booking. The Sheraton is a fairly new hotel right in the center of Aleppo, convenient to both the new city and the old city. The cash+points of $45+2800 was a good deal for two nights. I was upgraded to a preferred room, even if it was way at the end of the hallway. The hotel has a Club floor and lounge.

That night I headed to a nearby restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet. Waiters were dressed in tuxedos and locals were smoking the nargileh (hookah). The menu is limited to hummus and kebabs, but both were very fresh and delicious. On the way back to the hotel, I passed the Baron Hotel. This used to be THE place to stay in Aleppo when it was the terminus of the old Orient Express. Past guests include TE Lawrence and Agatha Christie, who wrote part of Murder on the Orient Express here.



Feb 1, 2011
Hotel: Sheraton Aleppo, cash+points
Today I had a full day in Aleppo. I started off early, wandering into the Jdaide ('new') part of the city, new being relative. The twisty streets were lined with houses and shops, which were still closed early this morning. I came across an Armenian church of the unwieldy name 'St. Forty Martyrs Armenian Cathedral', dedicated to the Armenian Genocide in 1915. I continued wandering through the streets and started noticing boys running by with huge stacks of Arabic flatbread. I followed my nose until I came across the bakery where they were flinging the freshly cooked bread onto mats in the street to cool. I had seen the recent Bizzare Foods Syria episode, and I am pretty sure this is the same bakery that the host had visited. As I was standing there, the baker offered me a piece of bread fresh from the oven, still warm and puffy! Delicious for breakfast.

I got lost in the streets for awhile before heading to the old city. The old city is home to the souq, a maze of alleys and covered streets selling everything from leather to camel meat, jewelry and shoes, spices and sweets. It was still early and not all the shops were yet open. I caught a taxi to the train station to buy my tickets to Damascus. My Arabic pronunciation must be bad since the driver couldn't understand me, even when I showed him the Arabic script in the book. Finally he asks a police officer, and his response sounds exactly like what I had said.. oh well. When we get to the train station, the driver refused payment! I thanked him profusely.. finally an honest driver not overcharging.



Unfortunately they weren't yet selling tickets for the train tomorrow, they said come back in an hour. Instead I walked back to the hotel via a park for a bit before heading out to the souq again. On the way to the souq I stopped at a restaurant, Bazar Al Charq. This was a neat basement restaurant made to look like the souq with a vaulted roof. I ordered a toshka (Kurdish grilled cheese sandwich) and the cherry kabab, lamb meatballs in a rich cherry sauce, one of the signature dishes of Aleppo. Yum. Aleppo is the cuisine capital of Syria and I can see why. After that filling lunch I spent awhile wandering the hidden nooks and crannies of the old city; there are tiny mosques and hammams (turkish baths), travelers inns (khans) decorated Mamluk style of alternating white/black blocks. I had tea in a carpet vendors shop, who showed me half of his inventory before I said I wasn't interested. Also came across a Syrian-French father son shop where I bought something for my wife.


The last stop was the Citadel.. unfortunately I was in Aleppo the one day a week the Citadel is closed. It was still quite impressive from the outside.

FriendlySkies

Interesting TR ^ Don't think I would go to Syria, but I've enjoyed your photos and description.

Moomba

Fascinating report. I am looking forward to the rest. ^

hauteboy

Feb 2, 2011
Hotel: Hotel Ishtar, Palmyra, Syria, $25
From Aleppo, I planned on traveling down to the ruins at Palmyra. Once a huge trading city during Roman times, the city lies in well-preserved ruins in the middle of the desert in Syria. I would once again have to connect in Homs. I left the hotel in the chilly morning air just after 6AM and managed to catch a taxi a minute or two later. He wanted 250 at first but finally agreed on 150SYP to go to the bus station, that seemed to be the fare they charge foreigners at least. The bus station is some distance out of town on the ring road.

Arrived at the Al-Ramouseh bus station just before 6:30, and there was already a bus (150SYP) waiting to leave for Homs.. from getting out of the taxi to us setting off was under 3 minutes. The sun was just rising and I noticed pools of water alongside the road were frozen. I still wished I had taken the train, but oh well. The buses here serve sweets and drinking water during the trip.

Arrived in Homs north bus station just after 8:30.. but then found the next bus to Palmyra didn't leave until 11:30.. 3 hrs to wait. I had heard that there were minibuses from the other station to Palmyra, no one in the bus station knew about them but when I went outside to the taxi rank, they said yes there are buses. I grabbed the taxi to the other station, where inshallah there would be a bus ready to go. My travel luck still held, as soon as we arrived, there was a bus getting ready to leave at 9AM (100SYP). This was an older bus but still good, full of locals and bedouins.. a good experience!

The trip to Palmyra took just over two hrs, through increasing desert. We broke down once but luckily only took a few minutes to get running again! That would not be a good place to be stranded. The bus was a hop-hop bus, so people were getting on and off all along the way. From the bus station in Palmyra, they wanted 100SYP to the hotel Ishtar. The hotel is in a great location in town, right next to the main square and near the museum and entrance to the ruins. The weather had been clearing, finally seeing blue sky for the first time in days.

The town of Tadmor has grown up around the tourist center of Palmyra, most everyone here is involved in the tourist trade, or has someone in their family depending on tourism. Palmyra was one of the old trading cities at the end of the Silk Road and amassed immense wealth.

The hotel checkin went quickly, they mentioned that they would provide a driver to the tombs, castle and bus station the next morning for 500SYP. I had heard another blog where they had wanted 600+ so that seemed OK. It's off season so some prices have been lower on room rates and tourist transportation. I dumped my bags in the room, then we drove off to the museum to pickup the ticket.

The tickets to the tombs, temple of Bel, etc used to be separate, but now all come at a fixed price of 500SYP, expensive admission by Syrian standards. The tombs are 3-4 stories located to the west of the ruins, reached off the main road to Damascus that goes right through the ruins. Most tombs are in ruins, but there are a few that you can visit at certain times of the day. The towers are massive, with slots in the walls where the coffins were kept. At the end of each coffin used to be a stone head representing the person inside, but these had been stolen over the years by grave robbers. The ticket lets you visit two tombs, one underground is the Tomb of the Three Brothers. The tomb was only excavated fairly recently, and is in great condition. Unfortunately there are no photos allowed, though a Spanish tourist was down there snapping away.

After the tombs, the driver dropped me off at the Temple of Bel. The complex is huge, with an outer wall, courtyard and inner temple. The temple has only been partially restored; in the northern court of the temple there are rows and rows of column pieces waiting to be reconstructed. From the temple, the rest of the ruins are across the main road. There were a few vendors here selling necklaces and keffiyeh (Arabic headdress). I bought a keffiyeh for a few $ to help protect from the sun. The day was clear but chilly.


The collonnaded street used to begin at the temple itself, but the columns are missing. The columns now start at a hinged archway, and originally stretched for almost 2km west. Each column supported a shelf that held statues of notables, though these statues are long gone. I spent a few hrs wandering around the ruins, which include a reconstructed theater (though locked) and a funerary temple at the far west end. Although Palmyra is one of the most popular tourist sites in all of Syria, in early February I nearly had the place to myself.




I walked back to the hotel for a bit of a rest before it was time to head up to the Qasr (castle) to view the ruins at sunset. The castle is to the west of the ruins, a long walk uphill so it is better to arrange a car. There were a few more vendors here, saying they hadn't sold anything all day since there aren't any tourists right now. The view was great from the hill, showing all the Palmyra ruins and tombs spread out below. A few other tourists showed up by this point and the caretaker eventually opened the castle itself, allowing climbing to the top to catch the last light of the setting sun.

Back to the hotel where I had a dinner of mansaf; a traditional Bedouin dish of saffron rice with chicken, peas and almonds. Quite tasty!

Angeleno228

Awesome report. Keep it coming

zboub345

Thank you for this great TR ; i've been twice to Syria and i want to go back