Zenobia Cham Palace Hotel Palmyra

... of old beat up buses. The driver said 'No bus, city centre, hotel'. So basically I asked him to wait while I check for a bus. <br><br>As it turned out there was a bus to Palmyra. And I got what the security guard meant by 'cargo bus'. It looked run-down and as though its on its last legs. Inside it was dusty. It had 2 columns of seats on one side and one column on the other. The single seats were so close together that there was hardly any leg room. There was a ...

So we made it across the border without a visa, pretty much problem free. a guy on the bus totally helped us across the border (good thing, because all the signs are in arabic). <br>everybody is so friendly here. we met some arab guys while having tea one night and they totally picked up our tab (without us knowing) and then showed us around town. they are about to leave for ...

... narrow windows of the entire valley below.<br><br>The other tomb that you can visit, called the Three Brothers, is strikingly different -- a hypogeum that you descend into. Constructed 1,977 years ago, you can faintly make out the frescos of Achilles in drag with sword and shield. You know, Wolfgang Petersen's movie would have been much improved had it included this story. Just picture Odysseus dragging Brad Pitt in a dress kicking and screaming off to war ...

... cars lining Pall Mall were part of the narrative: in her fondness of sewing, she had "stitched" them to the street.<br><br>Here are my photos of the spectacle -- some of them came out poor because I was constantly trying to run ahead of its meandering route from Trafalgar Square through St. James and The Mall, but hopefully the convey some of the magic.<br>-Dave<br><br><br>

... It was a pity that the photos do not do it justice (yes, we were allowed to take photos too!). The marble used inside was tasteful and not overbearing and there were no grotesque statues of prior mullahs. I really liked the atmosphere and the warmth of the place. Strangely, in ...

... so affordable) and have a formal dinner. You know the ones with table linen and cutlery? We dined at a restaurant called Naranj, which looked like it was refurbished from a former Arabian house with fountains in the middle of the mosaic-ed dining floor, arched windows which revealed the modern kitchen, and waiters dressed in traditional garb. The menu was a mezze menu where we ordered an arrangement of hot and cold appetizers ...

... majlis room, tapestry room, weaponary room....there was no photography but I took a few sneaky ones without flash. Chilled out over mint tea at Al Nafoura, a traditional cafe tucked behind the mosque, locals sipping tea and indulging in some shisha. Tummy's rumbling we headed to Leila's restaurant for some local fare, set in a lovely courtyard (a reoccuring theme), only downside was that it took far too long to get our food and we were the only ones there eating! The ...

... my way to this new hostel called Ghazal Hotel. It is very clean and the staff is very helpful. I am staying in a dorm with 2 other people for 550 Syrian pounds, including breakfast. Finding my way around Damascus has been quite a challenge. I have been using my compass quite often. Went to the Great Umayyad Mosque, built in 705 AD. From the inside, it was obvious that it was initially built as a Byzantine cathedral. The guilded, mosaic-like ornamantations on some of the ...

... because according to his marriage story you aren't allowed to touch until you are married, so they all came as escorts. We stopped for icecream on the way back to the hotel and it was the best icecream I have ever eaten. It was strawberry and because I didn't want nuts the guys added some chocolate and some lemon to it. It was excellent. Today was a nice relaxing day but am looking forward to tomorrow because I am going to go shopping!!! Bye

... for a few centuries before being annexed by Rome in 217 CE when it became a center of unsurpassed wealth. <br><br>The city's most famous character was Zenobia, the half-greek, half-arab queen who claimed descent from Cleopatra. At one point she set her sites on Rome, although her troops were soundly defeated by the forces of Aurelian in 271. He torched the city two years later - this was the beginning of the end of Palmyra. It fell to the Muslims in 634 and ...