Dar Halabia Hotel Aleppo

... HELLO, and WELCOME and in some cases simply refusing to take our money for cups of tea or falafel wraps.

A well known joke in these parts: Who smokes more than a Syrian?

Two Syrians! They simply smoke an insane amount whether it be cigarettes, which it transpires only cost 60 pence per packet, or nargileh/sheeshah water pipes. Even the waiters smoke!

From Aleppo we visited the incredible Basilica of St ...

... nearby; reinforcing that impression was a trio of giant footprints engraved into the steps leading up the front walkway.

Coming back down the hill to the site's entrance, the curator offered to let us check out the "museum" inside. Skeptical of the small structure but also wary of missing something possibly fantastic, Cath and I went in while Reuben declined, reserving the right to go if we vouched for it.

We didn't.

More a little shack than a ...

... dont know why everyone thinks im german or russian but they do here, until i walked past this one dude that smiled and goes "Brokeback mountain?" I didnt know wether to laugh or cry, no wonder all these fellas are so nice to me, they all think im a german shirtlifter. Im just waiting around now for my train to the coast, the weathers not great in the morning but quite warm in the arvo but i doubt il be slipping into my bathers in this male dominated environ.

Hey People I spent my first day in Syria and I cannot believe how friendly the people are, especially the kids. Everywhere I go people are smiling, waving and saying hello and welcome. They really like tourists and go out of their way to make us feel at home. The children are particularly friendly; they come up to me on the street and say hi then want their pictures taken. There are tons of young kids on the streets without their parents so I am ...

... du scandale, pour l'image que cela donne du pays, et surtout parce que dans le fond, cette pratique de la discussion ouverte et de la négoce se fait sur des termes honnêtes. Assez satisfait, je pris une espèce de pain au fromage avec un jus d'orange à l'un de ces nombreux comptoirs ; alors que le souq s'éveillait, encore quasi-desert, l'image finale d'Alep fut assez magnifique.

I would just like to take a moment to pay my sincere respects to the inventor of gaffer tape. Mr Gaffer, you have done us proud and without you, this trip would have been a lot more difficult. Currently we have a number of items held together by gaffer tape. My camera battery charger, the dashboard and the beer fridge to name a few. It was also used to attach yahtzee scoresheets to the card table since we broke the rear shock ...

... looked like the kind of guys you don't want to mess with. They walked like they owned the place and I made sure our elbows didn't brush against each other each time I walked by them. One guy was about 6 feet 2 with the build of a football player while the other guy had a much smaller build. Later on in the afternoon, I spotted them again but this time I noticed 5-6 local guys talking to them not too nicely and giving them trouble. All of a sudden, the small ...