Aleppo, Hama and Palmyra

So right now we are in Syria - where felafel is the staple cuisine, the president's aviator adorned face is everywhere, and facebook is banned.  It is an amazing country....and we still have two more days to go!

On the morning of the 4th of December, we set off early for the border crossing into Syria.  This crossing can be difficult, especially for those without a prepurchased Syrian visa, and even more especially, if you are an American!  Most of us passed through quite easily, but after waiting an additional 2 hours of so for the American lady, decided to leave her with out tour guide and head to the hotel unaccompanied.  This one kilometre trudge (yes, that is the correct word!), across the border was very difficult, particularily as both of my shoulder straps on my backpack are now broken (the first broke on day one of the tour) and are now only tied on!

Aleppo would have to be one of the craziest cities that Ive ever been - it is extremely conservative, and most women wear at least a hijab (headscarf), and quite often wear the full burka (head to toe black, with or without a slit for the eyes).  The hotel manager led us first to a supermarket that contained a black market currency exchange to swap our money, then to our first felafel sandwich - schwarma.  And then we went to the souq (market).... it was like nothing I have ever seen!  As we tried to enter, a car was pushing its way through, along with several loaded up donkeys, two carts and hundreds of people.  It was an absolute crush!  There were dead camels hanging from market stalls, piles and piles of linen and scarves, herbs and spices, and soaps and teas.  Although you had to be a little wary of wandering hands....

The next day was spent exploring the rest of Aleppo's sites, the citadel, mosque and Christian quarter.  We managed to somehow get ourselves to the Christian quarter, but did not manage to sight even one church!  The citadel was impressive - apparently it is one of the most ancient miliatry sites in history due to the hill's strategic location.  The ruins of the towers and walls give you an amazing view over the entire city - although due to the fact that every building is the same colour, we were not able to find our hotel (or any other site for that matter!!)  Unfortunatly, the particularly nasty cold that I'd been battling (and still am) got the better of me, and I headed to bed after lunch.  Apparently the rest of the group went to the mosque then stayed up all night singing.... but I can cope with missing a sing-a-long, and Ive seen enough mosques to last a lifetime!

To be continued - the internet man is making me leave!