Villa Palmyra

... My heart sank at that moment. The taxi driver offered to take me there for 2700 SYP, which does not make any sense as I might as well stay a night in Homs as it would be so much cheaper. I told them to take me to the station in any case and I will try my luck. Then the guard said something about a 'cargo bus' and said that it may be a possibilty. The driver then drove to a place which looks like its far from town. At first look there were only some microbuses and a ...

... tombs and castles that you climb into and up depending on how daring you are. Syria does not block off or add any security measures for tourists at their ruins or castles. Pretty much if you are stupid and fall into a hole or off a wall, then you are either dead or you must have gotten into the country illegally:) <br>This was a wonderful one day trip. Tomorrow we are off to Damascus.<br>

... that majority of the ruins which are open to the public for free, early enough that the substantial wind actually chilled us but fortunately well ahead of most other tourists.<br><br>One of the main draws of Palmyra are the tombs, both numerous and diverse. Most are towers concentrated in the Valley of the Tombs, the tallest of which is can be visited by tourists. It contains reliefs, free-standing sculptures of figures in recline, and a cool view through ...

... having a chat with the driver, Adrian (fellow traveler and new friend from Mar Musa) started chatting with a young guy from the bus. An hour or so into our trip an ice cream seller in the middle of the desert jumped on the bus and started selling his wares (yeap even in Syria buses just stop anywhere, to let people on and off). Even though none of us wanted any the young guy that Adrian had been talking to earlier bought one for us all. It was the worst ice cream any of us had ...

... so it was probably in the mid-forties when we arrived. This was going to be a good test for my new summer wardrobe!<br><br>Despite the heat we dropped our bags at the hotel (which we were sharing with 5 Czech guys who had ridden motorbikes from the Czech Republic to Syria in 5 days) and headed straight for the ruins. The ruins at Palmyra are some of the most extensive in the Middle East (and the world) and, because of the desert environment, they are some of the best ...

... IDs. No one from our group has taken him up on the offer... There is also an adorable kitten who keeps trying to climb up on my leg in this cafe who is keeping Cynthia quite entertained while I make this entry. The kitten also managed to climb up the wall onto a table using the carpet hanging on the wall. Our plans for tonight include a climb up to the Palmyra castle once it cools down a bit (around 545pm) and then supper at a villager's house. Tomorrow we ...

... To give you an idea, since there are no pedestrian connections you essentially have to jaywalk across traffic. In Aleppo I stepped out into the street and cut someone off who had to slam on their breaks. Instead of swearing at me he said "Hello! Welcome to my country". We have a few more days in Syria (two more in Palmyra and two in Damasscus(sp?)) before we continue on to Jordan. Overall this has been a fantastic trip so far and I'm looking forward to the next

... be the next ruling party. By 270 AD she conquered the whole of Syria, lower Egypt, and parts of Asia Minor. All these actions really ticked off Emperor Aurelian who was the then Roman Emperor. His armies defeated Zenobia and she was forced to be paraded around Rome in 274. Honestly we could really care less about the story but the locals really like to market there shops and restaurants with Zenobia or Aurelian titles. What's ...

... br><br>I never did get a good shot of the full outside of the castle. I was always crammed on a bus &amp; couldn't reach my camera! <br><br>After visiting for a few hours, I shared a microbus with other tourists back to Homs where I changed buses and headed straight for Palmyra in the middle of the Syrian desert. <br><br>Palmyra was a Greek outpost of considerable importance. It was a caravan town for over 1000 years but only enjoyed its Greek period of ...