Planet Hotel Aleppo

... and I jumped on a big commercial bus to allepo for 6 U.S.D! <br><br>We arrived in Allepo, and found our way to the Flower Hostel where we booked in. I paid 5 U.S.D for a dorm, and met some Aussies, and we went out to eat a really really good syrian dinner. <br><br>The next morning at breakfast, I met Val, an older Brit, and we hooked up for 2 tours in Allepo, and further travel.<br>

... was impressive. The current fortifications were made just after Saladin's time but it was said that the mound that they are on have been used since thousands of years ago. The view at the top was good too but sometimes get pretty dusty. Inside the citadel there were some ruins. But the mosques are still intact. One of them was the Abraham mosque where it was said the Prophet had stopped to milk his cow. There was also a throne room. There was hardly any descriptions of ...

It is not unheard of in Syria for a wedding celebration to feature a man with a machine gun firing 300 rounds into the air. I can attest to this because Ahmed, the reception of the somewhat overpriced (considering its lack of hot water) Al-Gawaher hotel, was showing video clips from his cousin's wedding.<br><br>That's when I met Cath and Reuben, a lovely Kiwi couple on a 3 month holiday with whom I've been hanging out for pretty much the entirety of my stay in Syria.<br ...

... 50) ensure that it is not the first option for many travellers.<br><br>This means that it is very easy to wander around ancient Roman ruins (Palmyra), explore castles from the era of the crusades (and earlier) or even simply wander ancient areas of the cities without feeling like a complete tourist.<br><br>The flip side of Syria? A night with bed bugs the other night has left my entire upper body covered in welts, a bad food experience left me and others in the group incapacitated ...

... the imperiously beautiful Crac des Chevaliers, dubbed by T. E. Lawrence (a bit of a castle nut) to be 'the best Castle in the world'. Important classical sites like Ugarit, Dura Europos and Larissa go by largely unnoticed, and understandably so. The exception however comes massively, (and really quite outrageously) in the form of the ruins of Palmyra. Despite having studied blue prints, photos and journals of Palmyra for one of Teddy's essays- I was utterly blown ...

... found memories of Syria it is a great place. Final thoughts on Syria Well I must have to Syria I think Syria has snuke into my top 10 country's. There is a certain feeling about the place a laid back ambiance but also a busy feel to it. Syria has kept its cultural heritage and values as well as embracing a western culture in some respects as well. Just walking around you feel a special feeling about the place. I haven't found the sights as impressive as Jordan but there is ...

... ancient ruins or a national museum. At the souq, there is no time to get bored, there are too many things going on, people invites you to coffee or tea, ... May be it is this combination between archeology and anthropology that makes Syria a far more interesting country to visit than its southern neighbour. I have been only here for a couple of days, but I have to admit that people were right, evn though the spectacularity of Petra and the stunning landscape of Wadi Rum.

... the weather is getting cold and there is not so much sense in taking a leisurely stroll around the city when you're freezing! So we only visited the souq and saw the Citadel from the outside. The souq was wonderful, covered winding streets with stalls of fresh products, spices, gold, silver, silk, Bedouin clothing, anyway too much to mention. Here you can shop till you drop and it reminded me of the Bazaar (Marche Rose) in Bamako where you just keep seeing things you want to buy.

... s extremely difficult to find my way around even with the map in Lonely Planet. By the way, there are some mistakes in the Lonely Planet maps of the city, such as the location of the Sheraton Hotel, and they have not included many of the side streets. There is a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Aleppo! Saw a poster... I don't believe that the citadels of Anatolia can compare with the Citadel of Aleppo. The ones in Istanbul and Urfa, for instance, are ...

... se touchent. La vieille ville d'abord, l'affaire devient habituelle dans le coin (8000 ans continuellement habitée, Alep) ; la ville bruyante ou "nouvelle ville" ; la "jeune ville", al Jdeida, jeune dans la mesure où il s'agit d'un quartier qui ne date "que" de l'époque ottomane, situez XVIè - XIXè siècle. Commençons avec le bordel moderne, surtout bardé d'hôtels ...