Mansouriya Aleppo

... Australian in the small lobby. (embarrasingly I cant remember his name, everytime I see him I just called him 'mate') Hes been in Syria for 2 weeks and for the life of me I cant imagine what can be done here for 2 weeks. Later on though everytime I pass by the lobby he always seem to be hanging about, not doing anything or listening to the locals. As if he's waiting for something to happen. <br><br>My room was pretty bare and basic. The walls are nothing more than cardboards and ...

... ve observed on more than a few occassions; a pity considering how otherwise beautiful the countryside is. Still, back in our seats we were spared the blighted sight and proceeded to demolish our meal of kebabs, mezes and the same salad from last night, this time with a tangy dressing of pomegranite juice. I'm so glad I hooked up with fellow foodies.<br><br>Aside from a few uncomfortably close calls in the outskirts of town which prompted me to retract my right arm back ...

... be the oldest city to have been continuously inhabited! <br><br>First on our list isThe Great Umayyad<br>mosque - built c.715AD and it is claimed that the head of Zachariah<br>is buried below the minaret. It is so peaceful inside the vast<br>courtyard, and we take shelter under the shade there to read and<br>absorb the history there.<br>We found a fancy spot in a terrace<br>restaurant overlooking the courtyard of the mosque and had the first<br>of many mezze while the ...

... was taking us a while to get to Aleppo. <br><br>Well it didn't take long once we were in Aleppo to discover how friendly the people really are, every time we pulled out our maps to find our way we had a crowd of people around us trying to help us. Kids just wanted a chat. People would slow down in their cars just to shout out 'Hello.' We heard they were friendly but we would never have thought. With all the help, some of it correct some of it not so much it didn't take long to find our hotel.

... several times by Hannibal, and the Mongols, maybe they meant that the Crusaders did not take the castle? Syrians like their versions of the truth I have found, and who says wiki is always right. Inside there are mosques and Arab palaces, built later in the castles life ...

... que porto al pais, he de reconeixer que tenen rao, malgrat que l'espectacularitat de Petra i el recorregut pel desert de Wadi Rum en 4x4 hagin estat senzillament fascinants. *************************************** ********************************* Halab, Aleppo, Alep ... 4 million people and more than 4000 year old. Nevertherless, until today it was a city I was unaware of its existance. The guide and the people I have came across so far say great things about it ...

... four traditional dishes of vegies, okra and lamb, chicken and vegies and a meat dish served with rice, mint tea and arabic bread. Ended the night with a drink at the Baron Hotel, which is the first hotel that opened in Aleppo and Lawrence of Arabia stayed here, they even have his signed bill on display. many other celebs have stayed here, but it is now run down...... Today we headed out to Qala'at Samann (Basilica of St ...

... his own pocket. I now had $55 of the $56 I needed and was hoping I could haggle and they would give me a dollar off. I walked into the tourist information office and found a man who spoke English and told him about my conundrum. He brought me back to the boarder policeman's office and I waited there while he sent a telegram to another office asking permission to grant me a visa. Once I got permission it was back to the cashier but first I had to come up with ...

... qu'un chauffeur de taxi m'arnaquait, "vivement l'Iran". Voyons voir ! La deuxième partie du voyage débute ce lundi par 3 jours de train à travers le Kurdistan, direction Teheran. NB : Superbe et ultime épisode ce lundi 3 matin. En Iran il est impossible de retirer de l'argent : il faut y arriver avec un paquet de liquide, euros si possible. J'avais changé hier une tr ...

... the front to stand in the main line again. I say "line" but queuing is something entirely foreign to this part of the world. As each new person arrives they simply push to the front of the mob that is there to push their passport in front of the official. <br><br>Anyway, I was finally granted entry after the immigration dude spent about 15 minutes inputting information (again, it only took about 30 seconds for other nationalities). Whatever - I made it! We headed off for ...