Ramasis Aleppo

... from my hotel. Everybody smokes here so I have to endure it while I surf. When I logged on, I was surprised to find that the almighty Facebook, is banned in Syria! And so is Youtube. So if any of you have sent me any messages or notes on my wall and I havent respond, pls forgive me. Luckily they haven got to travelpod yet so at least I can still update my blog. After surfing and uploading some photos, I went back to the hotel. Halfway I stopped at this Fried Chicken shop to ...

... as to offer invalidating the single room reservation that was not yet claimed (the missing guest was due to have arrived over 2 hours earlier), but was feeling game and took the terrace option. Sometimes all you need is an assurance that the shower will be hot in the morning to get a solid night's sleep anywhere.<br>-Dave<br><br>Quick blog stats:<br>Aug hits: 400<br>Sept hits: 900<br><br>Special thanks to Rachel Goldstein for her guest posts - Vaneet, the bar has been set!<br>

... not many women are not wearing<br>the veil...basically tourists, Christians and ...ladies of the night!<br>Lots of kids shout out hello but as soon as you reply they are silent<br>with nothing to say...apart from one group who managed to communicate<br>to us that they were curious as to whether I am male or female. We<br>(I) decide to stop trying to make conversation with the locals. <br><br>That evening before eating truly<br>delicious meal in our delightful hotel ...

... noise- the excruciatingly annoying whine of a mosquito. That noise which was about to end in a bloody mess...<br><br>Profanations are rife as a spout of slapping, spraying and flailing arms achieve little against the unseen enemy. Exhausted and embittered I lie there, forced to retreat to my oven-like sleeping bag yearning for the blissful ignorance of sleep... <br><br>Despite the lack of sleep it was not hard to stay awake in Aleppo. Everything was so different ...

... guy sorting a giant bin of chicken giblets outside in the full sun did not have the same health concerns as the others. Errkk. Quite a day. More Mezze and more grilled kebabs for dinner and we collapsed in our "lovely" Explore hotel room ready for another day in the desert.

... going the following morning to the Tourist Hotel with far better rooms and lower prices. Even though I am exhausted from the bus trip, the following day at 8:30AM I am already exploring the city. In Aleppo, one has to come with energy to wander around the city and get lost, both in space (through its laberythinc alleys) and time. The city hosts a covered souq with more than 10 km of alleys. Each street specialises in a sort of products: spices to wedding dresses ...

... which gives the country great social cohesion. Deir Es Zour has quite a few oil companies so we thought there would be some tourist facilities as well. We planned to stay in Deir but were low on cash money. Unfortunately we could not find any working ATM and the local Cham hotel would only accept Visa cards. This despite the fact that a proud sign in reception showed they would accept Mastercard as well. The sign belied their behaviour. So, going on to Aleppo was the only ...

... it to Aleppo. Finally a bus pulled up and the driver agreed to let me on. There were 9 people on the bus, a bunch of Syrian men and me, the token single white chick travelling alone. The men were all very nice to me since I was a bit of a novelty. They put my luggage into the bus and helped me on. I am happy to report that I am now in a fancy hotel near the bus station trying to catch up on some much needed rest before heading out to check out Syria. Take Care Teresa

... 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.

... around there (he works in a women's clothing shop, so no pressure to buy!). <br><br>The souk itself was great!! I think it's much better than the covered bazaar in Istanbul. The souk feels very authentic, perhaps because I saw only a few tourists there while wandering for hours. If I had room or money I'd buy a few things...but alas I'm on a budget here. I heard from many before I left that Syria had a few ATMs connected to the outside world now. Perhaps they are in ...