Easy flight to Damascus - the 4 and a half hours seemed to go quite quickly - off the plane to meet the guide at immigration as per my instructions - only there wasn't a guide. Well, there were lots of guides meeting lots of tourists bar this one. So i waited an hour or so & when it looked like i'd be the last one left i went through by myself - quite easy except the customs official seemed unduly concerned about my profession - pity it isn't anything colourful like drag artist (although mime artist would be even better) - anyway - i collected my bag & went out prepared to get a taxi to my hotel..... - and of course there was a driver waiting for me...

Anyway, next day - or, rather, later that morning as it was just after 12.30am when i cleared customs - i went on a tour of the city - visiting the National Museum - a bit dull; the Omayyade Mosque; the Azem Palace (excellent); the Chapel of St Anania (a bit twee); the fantastic old Souk - where i had an ice cream covered in pistachios from Bakdash, which was excellent - terrific but then i like souks - the Armenian cathedral was closed - i wandered past the central railway station (which isn't) (well, not anymore) - don't expect to see very much if you do go inside - just a few stalls - no railway memorabilia (apart from the old locomotive outside)...

Damascus is quite a friendly city despite being home to nearly 6 million people and the centre is easy to wander around.

After two nights at the City Hotel in Damascus - once you get your bearings you realise it is quite well located - it is also in the process of being renovated - all heavy wood inlaid with mother of pearl - although it could have been mother of pearl inlaid with wood - plus it is nice and friendly - i went off to Aleppo...

Driving in Syria - lesson one: the white lines in the road are to be ignored - form your own lane.

The traffic is fairly chaotic as in any big city and there is much weaving - cars; bikes & people mingle in a way that would give the H&SE apoplexy in the UK - all watched over by good natured traffic police (yes, i know...) - once out of the city the not-sticking to lanes rule still applies - the general idea seems to be that you drive over the white line such that it is fairly central under your vehicle....

And talking of cars - which we weren't - there are many species here that are extinct in the West - such as Simca; Chrysler 180 (yes i did check) (and then promptly saw three more); Peugeots 104; 204; 304; 404; 504 and 505; lots of old Moskvitch & Lada - amongst the new cars China is clearly taking the market by storm as i've never seen so many Chinese-made cars & vans...........

On the way to Aleppo we stopped in Maaloula (great name) (it ought to be near Molepolole) (it isn't) to see the monastery of Mar Takla and the convent of Mar Sakis - which is set up high in the cliffs - quite an intriguing location but the monastery itself isn't that exciting - apparently the people in this area still speak Syriac, which is the dialect that Jesus allegedly spoke - i thought he spoke Aramaic but what do i know?

After that it was a drive to see the heroic Crac des Chevaliers - just about the finest castle you could imagine - high on a hill top in Husn - it is an old Crusader castle - finally taken in 1271 by the Mamluke Sultan Baibars and his troops using a rather obvious ploy: after having been under seige for a month the Crusaders received a letter from the Crusader commander in Tripoli (Lebanon) saying that no help was forthcoming & that they should surrender in return for a safe passage (to Tripoli) - of course when they got to Tripoli they discovered that the letter was a forgery (hey - it worked)....

After that i visited the ruins of a Bronze Age city at Ebla. It was getting on for 5pm when i arrived - a terrific time of day as the sun was setting yet it was still warm - beautiful clear blue sky

And then to Aleppo itself - Syria's second city. It was dark when we got there and my hotel was buried deep in the Christian quarter - Beit Wakil - one of those places that once you know where it is - but you can't drive to it - lovely location with a great restaurant - just off a square that must have a name (not that i can find it)...

Next day was a trip out to St Simeon's temple - surely one of the silliest saints ever - Simeon Stylites was an "ascetic" (i.e. bonkers) & lived on a pole in order to get away from people - the final pole being some 18m high, apparently - so unbalanced but with a sense of balance, clearly :-/

The remains of the 5th century basilica cover quite a large area - impressive & in a good location - we went off to find some more ruins about 20km away but can't remember the name of them for the life of me and also stopped at the ruins of another 5th century basilica at Qasr Mushabbak....

Back to the city and wandered around visiting the Citadel (closed on Tuesdays); the Grand Mosque (which wasn't terribly grand but the new one that's being built looks like it should indeed be grand); the Souk al-Attareen which is about 5 miles long - not for the claustrophobic or - indeed - the faint hearted - a place to lose yourself.....

I didn't see the Caravanserai (oops) but did go to the Armenian Cathedral of the 40 Martyrs and the Catholic Cathedral during the course of my wanderings around the Christian quarter....

A fine city....

We left Aleppo to go to Palmyra stopping at Aphamea; then to see the Norias (water wheels) in Hama.

Aphamea (or Apamea) - is quite impressive - and centres around a collonaded street some 2km long - much restored by a Belgian team who have been working here since the 1930's - intermittently, i would think - in its heyday the city was visited by Marc Anthony & Cleopatra (depending on your definition of "hey" i suppose) - anyway the remains we can see today were part of the city built by Seleucus Nicator - one of Alexander the Great's leading generals and who carved out the Seleucid empire once Alexander died - it's a long complicated story but for a good summary see: http://virtualreligion.net/iho/seleucus_1.html

A good website that gives lots of images & background info on Syria & the various sites of interest is:

http://www.sehnaoui-tta.com/pkg06/index.php?page=palmyra&ex=1&dir=syria

Anyway, I am now in Palmyra & it is sunset - so if you'll excuse me....