Fardoss Tower Damascus

... my price range (which is funny because you can&#8217;t stay at a budget motel for that in America and this was in one of the big cities of the middle east!). I walked around, looking for deals, until I finally found a place that had single rooms for 500 S.P. It seemed too good to be true, but sure enough, there was only one bed in the room, which was small but had room enough for me, with a T.V. and fan. Deal.<br><br> I set off to explore ...

... given the incongruences in our agendas (I mostly needed to run some errands), timelines (they stayed 2 days longer than I) and destinations (they were going to Lebanon next) it wasn't such a big deal. Besides, Damascus doesn't offer much by ways of sightseeing. Cath's biggest kick was being able to walk around by herself comfortably, mine walking around eating 50 cent falafel wraps, and Reuben's, after falling ill the second day, walking around ...

... to keep up a dialogue with a couple of young<br>Damascenes in a Merc who kindly give us directions in instalments<br>between traffic lights! The first thing I noticed about Damascus was<br>the scent of Jasmine everywhere, and truly wherever you walk you are<br>sure to catch its intoxicating perfume. Not least whilst walking down<br>the sweet path to Kate's maisonette, where we immediately make<br>ourselves at home whilst she fills us in on the work she is doing<br>here, and ...

... to the beach. <br><br>Our next stop, Lattakia, is a popular Syrian holiday resort on the coast. We caught our first train which is slower than the bus but comes with comfy seats, air con, no random stops and less than a pound for first class! Needless to say we were hooked. Amazing that 3 hours from Aleppo and you find girls walking around in skinny jeans, little strappy singlet tops and no head scarves. T was now overdressed so had to make an urgent costume change ...

... they had a photo with each of them with the hat on and their smiles were so warm and genuine. As a gift the men, who had been joined by a bit of a crowd, gave us their full bag of berries. It was a sign of the generosity of the Islamic people, and made the perfect end to the perfect first day. We slept the night in the ancient City of Aleppo, and awoke to experience its sights and sounds. It has the air of an Arabian bazaar city, with people going about their business the same ...

... on weight eating to much no doubt! The Aussie we were heading out to loves this part of the world and has been here a number of times so he knows it quite well he has also been to places like Pakistan and Turkmenistan and Iran some places I want to go and he has some amazing stories from there. Anyway we went to this reading, it was quite amusing it was an old guy sat in a chair in a tea room reading from a book in Arabic telling old stories and he had a ...

... end of town" hahaha we followed it down to the Roman Arch, which is the start of the Christian Quarter. We passed St Pauls Chapel, where biblical legend has it that St Paul was lowered in a basket out of a window, by his disciples, to flee the Jews. The area is filled with artesian shops, workshops, and hidden bars and restaurants. It was dark very early and it was very cold, and we ended the day with a quick bite at a sharwma stand.

... so laissez-faire that the best part of oriental hospitality is missing: I was never offered any coffee or drinks while shopping. I thought this was a typical custom in the Middle East. And when I shopped, I was thirsty. Bummed, I had to my buy my own drink later. I had to resist buying another carpet with all my might (this was going to get even tougher later in Istanbul) but I did. Don't worry, I bought other things instead ...