Syria
18 April 2011
Belinda and Kit
Syria
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The Reyhanli border crossing from Turkey into Syria is in a remote spot. The bus wound through dusty roads, past small villages and through a scrubland area peppered with lookout posts and barbed wire before we finally reached the border. From there things were a bit hectic for us as we weren't entirely sure what we were supposed to do! With Syrian visas already in our passports it should have been straightforward, but we got off the bus and found ourselves huddling with the other bus passengers close to a tiny Turkish Border Control kiosk, trying to get to the window in between a parade of lorries and huge pantechnicons as they passed one by one for the drivers to present their papers. There appeared to be no provision for pedestrians and it was actually quite scary to be so close to such huge wheels! Having survived that we were into 'No Man's Land' and re-boarded the bus to cross to the Syrian Border Control, which was at least in an office! More chaos inside as our passports were passed back and forth between officials, maybe they were miffed because we already had visas and they couldn't charge us anything!! It was difficult to know as no-one spoke English and we have no Arabic at all! Eventually we got the necessary stamp and with a sigh of relief jumped aboard our waiting bus to continue on to Aleppo. On both sides of that busy Turkey/Syria border there were mile-long queues of lorries waiting along the dusty roads to cross, many of the drivers squatting to brew cay on little stoves! - It was lucky for us that the bus gets priority!
We finally arrived at the hotel in Aleppo feeling weary after two days of non-stop travelling. Our room was large, warm, clean and comfortable with lots of hot water. At £1200 Syrian pounds per night (about £15 UK) for two including breakfast, it was great value. This hotel had been recommended by our friends Vicki and Trevor, an Aussie couple off yacht 'Sarenity' who are also spending winter in Finike and who had set off two weeks before us to travel a similar route through Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. Vikki had sent emails updating us with tips on the best places to stay - we are eternally grateful as some budget 'hotels' are dire!
We loved Aleppo; bursting with colour, noise, cars, mopeds and people, it's Syria's second city. We walked our feet off exploring and particularly enjoyed the labrynthine stone-flagged alleyways of Al Jdeida, the Christian Armenian quarter, with its Ottoman houses and wooden shuttered shops. The shops fascinated us, there are whole streets specialising in one product, for instance there was the 'street of a thousand long black coats' and the 'street of a thousand hat shops', and yet another with rows of sewing machine shops. Our hotel was in a street where there were normal looking shops (glass windows, shelves) selling nothing but car tyres; truly! .. nothing but tyres in the window! Our favourite of all time has to be the 'street of a thousand mobility shops' ... at least thirty shops selling wheelchairs, walking sticks, commodes etc.!
In the colourful Souk Kit haggled a little and came away sporting a black and white kufeyya (chequered Arab headscarf) around his neck. We enjoyed a cup of chai (Syrian tea) in a cafe beside the Citadel; Aleppo's famous and spectacular landmark which sits atop an elevated mound and dominates the city. Unfortunately we didn't get to see inside as it was closed on the day we were there! ..but we did get to see inside Al-Jamaa al-Kebir, or Great Mosque. As usual women have to cover their hair to enter, but here I also had to cover my perfectly respectable trouser-clad legs with a shapeless elasticated skirt! Whilst inside a wisp of my fringe escaped from my headscarf, and a woman covered head to toe in a chador (one piece black garment) got most upset and made me hide it! I got the feeling the Allah doesn't like women at all! Never mind, it was a wet day and the mosque was interesting!
Breakfast in the hotel consisted of Arab flatbread, olives, preserves, triangular cheese spreads, and small round flatbreads spread with a spicy sumat mixture - these were particularly good with a little yoghurt! To drink there was chai or instant coffee and a fresh mixed fruit drink that looked like tomato juice but tasted delicious. This, with minor variations, was pretty standard fare at most of the hotels we stayed in. Here, as in most places we stayed breakfast was served on a large table which we sat around with our fellow guests; which was great as it was easy to chat and get to know one another. In Aleppo they were a great bunch: all ages and all travelling, like us, on a budget. A small group of us got together and hired two taxis to visit Qala'at Samaan a hilltop site north of Aleppo where Simeon, a hermit had lived and preached from atop a pillar for many years. He refused to talk to women and even his mother wasn't allowed near his column!! Nowadays we would call eccentric (at best) but then they decided he was a saint! The remains of a church built around his pillar are quite well-preserved and scenic in amongst leafy trees. From there we went to see the more scant remains Deir Samaan or the St Simeon Monastery, again set in wild countryside. To get to it from the road we had to walk along a track past a small walled settlement with 'beehive' rooftops, and cattle and goats grazing in the bush. Lastly we went on to look at some ancient rock tombs. We were a bit disappointed as we had mistakenly thought the trip included visiting the dead cities of Serjilla and Al-Bara ...must've been a misunderstanding as our driver was having none of it!! Nonetheless it was a lovely day and good to get out of the city. In the evening we met up with our fellow travellers for dinner and drinks at a restaurant we'd discovered, where portions are generous and the bill didn't break the bank! - they also served Al Sharque, a local beer that Kit had taken to! We all had a great time and later said goodbyes, although some of our paths were destined to cross several times before our trip ended.
From Aleppo we caught a bus and headed southeast along the Euphrates River, at the edge of the Syrian Desert. We stayed in the town of Deir ez-Zur only 30 km from the Iraqi border. Accommodation choices were very limited: only one very expensive place and a couple of grotty budget hotels. We chose the least grotty budget option but were very glad that we'd bought our own sheets to snuggle down in!! For once we decided to forgo a shower as the shared bathroom was pretty disgusting!! However it was worth putting up with for one night just to stroll across a pedestrian bridge over the wide expanse of the Euphrates River just before sundown, along with locals out for an evening walk.
Early next morning we were up and out of there! Another 3 hour bus ride straight through the desert took us to Palmyra, an oasis town northeast of Damascus. As on most bus journeys of an hour or more we were given water to drink and a small individually wrapped cake or biscuit. As we drove through the desert we passed several Bedouin encampments with small flocks of sheep or goats, and wondered how they can continue to exist in such an inhospitable environment, and what on earth the animals find to graze on!
This is an appropriate point at which to describe arrangements for bus travel in Syria - a new experience for us. The bus/coach stations are all several kilometres outside town centres, so the first step is always a taxi or 'servicee' (minibus) to get there. Dozens of different travel companies have offices around the bus station and their touts pounce immediately, calling to us, pulling at our sleeves, and trying to fill the buses. There are different standards of buses with 'VIP' allegedly the best, but we soon discovered that there are also varying standards of 'VIP'!!! Once we settle on a company and purchase tickets we, as foreigners, have to go to the police office to produce passports, tickets and provide details of our travel plans. Most of the police were OK but we met some who wanted to read every minute detail on both tickets and passports, and kept us standing there for ages! At Dier ez-Zur we also had to check in with the police on arrival! Maybe this was due to its close proximity to Iraq.
So! We arrived in Palmyra, or rather, we were dropped on the edge of town and had to get a taxi in. At least the hotel here 'The Sun' was clean and we had our own bathroom, but unfortunately the owner did not accept payment by credit card. Until now, we had found ATM's to get cash with no trouble, so we only carried small amounts. However, despite having one of Syria's most prominent tourist attractions, the town of Palmyra has no ATM and the only bank (Bank of Syria) couldn't help us. Help was at hand when another hotel, which had a card payment facility, offered to supply cash ...but with a 20% fee!!!!! Needless to say we carried plenty of cash after that!
For time immemorial Palmyra has been an important stop for caravans and travellers crossing the Syrian Desert. The new town has sprung up next to the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most wealthy and important cultural centres of the ancient world. The ruins are stunning and extensive and include a striking long colonnaded street, major public buildings, temple (the Temple of Baal), theatre, and funerary monuments within boundary walls. Outside there is the 'valley of the tombs' - where several unusual tower tombs known as the Towers of Yemliko date back to AD83 - and a well-preserved hilltop Crusader citadel that dominates the area.
In just over a week we had come from the biting cold of Istanbul into the heat of the Syrian Desert, so we limited our exploration of the ruins to two late afternoon/early evening excursions and one early morning. Evenings were particularly stunning as the setting sun bathed the ruins in its dusky pink light. I took hundreds of pictures! The main site is open to anyone to wander through but several of the ruins (temple, theatre) require a fee to visit. Whilst we were there work was under way to restore Zenobia's wall around the site, so no doubt the days of free viewing are numbered! Perhaps that will also limit the large number of souvenir sellers amongst the ruins trying to sell their trinkets! ..although I guess they will just wait outside the walls!!
Next stop was Damascus, Syria's capital city, so we left for Palmyra bus station in one of the yellow taxis that hang around touting for a fare. We had turned this particular guy down every day when we set off for the ruins so he was well pleased when we hopped into his cab! Fuel is very cheap in Syria, so taxis and bus fares are correspondingly low; travelling long distance costs next to nothing!
Damascus is a large city and on arrival we headed for the Souk Saroujah area, where we expected to find the budget hotels. We hadn't booked in advance and knew that prices would be a little more in the capital, so when we enquired at a couple that were full, we jumped in and took the first that had a room at a reasonable price - which was a mistake! It was pretty grotty, although at least the bathroom wasn't shared! Again we were glad that we had our own clean sheet sleeping bags! Wandering around later that evening we found the Ghazal Hotel that Vicki had mentioned - much better - and booked in for next day!
Damascus is large, dusty, noisy and grimy, but it did grow on us after a few days. We'd arrived on a Friday, which is Syria's holy day and is widely observed. Even the old souk was closed, but it was interesting to see many families wandering through its main thoroughfare, stopping at the one shop that was open - an elaborately decorated ice-cream parlour. We too succumbed and found the ice cream to be delicious!!
The National Museum in Damascus is definitely worth a visit, we spent several hours there looking at, and reading about the ancient relics. The oldest alphabet in the world is housed here, written on a small insignificant-looking stone tablet. Deciding to do something different and being 'ruined out', we went in search of an art gallery hoping to see an exhibition of Syrian art. We were sadly disappointed when we eventually found the gallery and discovered that they only had four paintings to look at as they were in the throes of changing exhibits! Never mind, there was the bonus of a nearby French cafe that served delicious cappuccino - a rare find!
From Damascus our plan was to catch a service bus to Amman, Jordan. Imagine our surprise when we were in a cafe and saw on CNN news that there had been a large anti-government demonstration in Amman that day! We had been closely following the Middle East situation and were well aware that our plans might have to change, but it was a surprise to see trouble in Jordan. After a hasty rethink we decided to give Jordan a miss and instead visit Lebanon, which seemed unusually peaceful at the moment - we lost our deposit on the hotel in Amman, but felt that this was a small price to pay. Sadly we would miss out on seeing Petra, but maybe we'll have another opportunity in more settled times. Our change of plan gave us another day in Damascus, so we took a service bus 30km to Maalula, a Greek Catholic mountain village. It was lovely to be out of dusty Damascus and in the cool clear mountain air. It's a pretty village with blue and cream houses stacked up against a sheer cliff, and there are statues of the Virgin Mary everywhere, crosses mounted on every promontory and painted on every rock face above the village. It made a change to hear church bells instead of the call to prayer! From the village a short uphill walk took us to the Convent of St Thecla, and behind it a spectacular narrow ravine running up through the rock. Legend says that after hearing St Paul preach, Thecla decided to follow God. She was sentenced to death and whilst trying to escape reached a rocky dead-end at Maalula. A bolt of lightning struck the rock and a cleft appeared through which she made her getaway. We made our way up through in between steep smooth sides. Emerging from the gorge at the top of a hill there are spectacular views over the village and surrounding mountains. We had a great day out and on our return to Damascus bumped into Vicki outside the hotel. She and Trevor had just arrived so we met up for a beer and a catch-up later. There are very few places to have an alcoholic drink in Syria although several shops surreptitiously sell beer and wine, so we took our beers back to the hotel for our reunion.
Our last stop in Syria was the crusader castle of Qala'at al-Hosn, or Krak des Chevaliers, where we'd decided to treat ourselves to a night in a nearby, more upmarket hotel. To get there we had to go via the city of Homs, where on arrival a man approached us and asked in good English where we were going; when we told him Qala'at al-Hosn he said that there was no bus for 4 hours! ....but he could take us there in his taxi! Well the guide book said there were buses every 30 minutes so we sent him off and found the nearby servicee bus station where the minibus was just leaving!! This cost a fraction of the quoted taxi fare and the driver took us all the way to our hotel! Not only that, he waited whilst we booked in and returned us to the gates of the castle!! With our faith in Syrians restored we set out to explore the castle on a rather cold and windy afternoon.
Qala'at al-Hosn stands on the site of previous fortresses and was rebuilt in its present form by the Knights Hospitaller in the mid 12th Century. The Knights are renowned for building impregnable fortresses and despite repeated attacks and sieges the castle was never truly breached. In fact the Knights left very reluctantly when, surrounded by the forces of Islam, they were the last Christian outpost in the area and so negotiated a safe passage to Tripoli. This majestic castle has also resisted the onslaught of time and is amazingly well-preserved. It was built to hold a garrison of 2000 so is quite a size, with cavernous rooms; one measuring 60m x 9m with a single stone vault roof! It is fascinating to see lions, symbols of the English Crusader King Richard1st, 'the Lion-heart', along with later Islamic geometric designs and Arab text carved into the stone.
Our hotel stood on a hillside and had stunning views across the valley to the castle. ...plus it had a bath with lots of hot water so we spent our last night in Syria in relative luxury!
Next morning it was back to Homs bus station where we succumbed to a 'taxi' after failing to find a bus, and were 'ripped off' when he talked us into a ride to the Syria/Lebanon border. Never mind, you can't win 'em all!! He dropped us off at an obscure crossing where border control was housed in porta-cabins. We were shocked to be informed that there is a hefty Syrian exit fee - lucky the taxi driver hadn't quite cleaned us out of Syrian Pounds!!! After we'd paid up and several officials had inspected our passports and given us the necessary stamp of authority we were pointed in the direction of Lebanon; across the other side of a river. Watched by both sides and feeling very conspicuous we tramped across the no-mans-land bridge into Lebanon, a small country that we in the UK only tend hear about when unrest and civil war hit the headlines.