Dar Halabia Hotel Aleppo

... here is like crossing the PIE (an expressway in Singapore) during rush hour. Theres hardly any pedestrian crossing here and the vehicles go really fast. There seemed to be no respite to cross and I sometimes feel you need to get a 'degree in crossing roads' to get to the other side. This city is worse than Turkey. <br><br>My hotel happens feels more like a hostel. It looks pretty narrow, sandwiched between 2 bigger buildings. As I waited for my room to get ready, there was ...

... at 7.20p.m. having driven through some great Syrian countryside - hundreds of miles of wheat fields and fruit trees. We're staying at the Sheraton and I have one more night of 'smart' hotels before we start the "travelling as students" lifestyle and a border crossing into Turkey to look forward to. I'm sorry there aren't any photos with this blog - I'm having a bit of trouble trying to find out how to add them!!

... Malgrat que fer-se entendre amb la gent es complicat ja que la majoria tan sols parlen l'arab, el fet de voltar per una ciutat et dona el contacte amb la gent que trobes a faltar quan visites unes runes o un museu. Al zoco no hi ha temps per aborrir-se, tant t'inviten a un cafe turc com a un brioix. Suposo que deu ser aquesta combinacio entre arqueologia i antropologia que fa que Siria sigui un pais molt mes interessant per a viatjar que el seu vei del sud. Pel ...

... to them that some of us did purchase.... We popped out the other end of the souq at the Citadel, which is surrounded by a moat. As the sunset set it turned the walls a pinky hue. After a stop for tea and shisha we headed to the hotel to meet the rest of the group for a group dinner at a local restaurant. Starting with a selection of mezzah, labneh, moutabel, hommous, red paste with walnuts, fattoush and tabouli, followed ...

... some cash from my credit card. They sent me to the exchange place in the building where I tried to get the visa. I found out that they did exchange Turkish Lira for US dollars so I pulled out all the remaining Turkish money I had to see how much American money I could get. The man handed me a $50 bill. I pulled out all the Turkish coins I had to see if they would change them as well. At first they said no, but then a man who worked there took them and gave me a $5 ...

... l'intégration chez les bédouins, la nuit à Petra, la randonnée à Dana, la visite de Jerash, la marche dans Damas, l'arrivée à Tripoli, Byblos, le Krak, l'est syrien, l'est syrien, l'est syrien, Alep. C'est pas si mal ; et vu la trajectoire émotionnelle du voyage, je n'ose imaginer la tournure de sa suite. J'ai pensé, à chaque fois qu'un "good price" me harcelait ...

... random people along the roadside, but that's standard procedure. Getting through immigration took approximately 2 minutes for everyone on the bus - except me. There was one other non-Turk or Syrian passenger from Singapore who even got through without issue. I, of course, was sent back to a small room with three Syrian officials who took turns asking me about my travel history and future plans. I quickly (and almost honestly) answered each question and was finally sent back ...