Pullman Aleppo

... the window, and Mohammed's fondness for yelling cheerfully at passing cars and traffic cops, our return to Aleppo was relatively pleasant and sedate. Especially compared to our 15 minute taxi ride to the bus station in which our vehicle's brakes squeaked worryingly and our driver opted to answer phone calls while downshifting off the highway. But we did made it to the bus station in one piece, and with only a ten minute wait before the next bus to Hama, which without ...

... now call a traditional Syrian home with several rooms feeding off a
central courtyard which nowadays houses the restaurant), many of
which have been destroyed. Here they have kept most of the original
furniture. However the room is not ready for us. The Manager asks if
we are happy to go out and then return in a couple of hours, and if
we are happy to stay away longer he will give us a sweet – or at
least I thought he meant sweet, for which I ...

... Middle Eastern, so very very cool. That feeling you get when you enter a completely different culture and discover that you love every bit of it was my first day in Syria. I wanted to put it in my already overweight rucksack and take it home so I could spread it out and roll around in it when I got home. Every street in Aleppo has hundreds of years of history behind it as they wind, converge and splay like a rabbit warren all over the city. Women dressed like the ...

... that ends well. Maybe..... Monday was spent visiting the Humane Centre for Animal Welfare where I used to do voluntary work. Margaret has fantastic new buildings, see www.hcaw-jordan.org It was great to see her and hear about the amazing work she is doing in Jordan regarding animal welfare. She has managed to bring in new laws regarding animals kept in pet shops - she has been attacked in the street by a couple of ...

... per passar la nit, amb la intencio de maxar al dia seguent al Tourist Hotel que te unes instal.lacions infinitament mes netes a uns preus inferiors. ('La, sukran')Malgrat el cansament del viatge en bus, al dia seguent a les 8:30 del mati ja estem explorant la ciutat. A Aleppo, s'ha de venir amb ganes de caminar i de perdre's, tant en l'espai (pels seus laberintics carrerons) com en el temps. La ciutat compte amb un zoco cobert amb mes de 10 km de recorregut. Cada ...

... late! Wandered around the old city yesterday and went through the souqs. They sell everything in there! Wandered through the citadel and sat outside in the cafe below it for a while. The food is great, falafel, kebabs, roast chicken on most corneres. We wanted to head out to St Simeon today, but after finding the bus stop, there weren't any buses or anyone there because it's Friday. Tomorrow we head south to Homs to try and get out to the castle about 10kms from there and then onto Palmyra.

... the bus a man from the bus company asked me if I was going to Syria and when I said yes, he grabbed my suitcase and led me to a ticket office and had me depostited on the next bus to Syria before I even had time to think. When we got to the boarder, a man from the bus who did not speak much English attempted to help me get a visa. Apparently Syria only recently made visas available at the border but there is still some bureaucracy to go through before getting your ...

... du Krak des chevaliers. J'en viens, à l'heure du départ, à dresser un bilan arabe. Reflechissant ces derniers jours à la tournure particulièrement heureuse pris par les événements, je crus en comprendre l'élément décisif en la manière dont laquelle, les jours passant, ma personne fut peu à peu "dépassée", réduite au silence par mes récentes découvertes. Je ne fus ...

... he paid for. On our return, I offered him more than what he had paid out and he seemed genuinely suprised and reluctant to take it. It was so refreshing, finding someone willing to put themselves out for complete strangers without any thought of reward. I almost felt shameful that I had felt cynical when he first offered to help. I shouldn't judge all people we meet by the same standards but its hard to trust when your ...

... wasn't a problem as I was a foreigner. So I bought a nice can o Heineken and downed it in less than a minute. I am not a beer drinker back home but this one felt really good. It had been close to a month since I had a beer. This is a long time once you get used to having one almost every day. The last thing I did before I went to bed was look for an ATM so I could withdraw some money. Aleppo is a massive city (4 million people) yet they only have 3 ATMs. I found ...