Syria - Facts and figures
Trip Start
Sep 20, 2007
1
35
40
Trip End
Dec 24, 2007
Aleppo,
Syria
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Itinary : Singapore - Malaysia - Thailand - Laos - Thailand - Nepal - India - Pakistan - Iran - Turkey - Syria - Jordan - Syria
Total days since I left : 75 days.
Mileage done : 19230 km
Total riding time excluding the stops : 279 hours.
Number of riding days : 55 days.
Average mileage per day when riding : 350 km.
Average mileage per day (inclusive of the no riding days) : 256 km.
Highest altitude : 5370 meters - India
Highest Temperature : + 34 - Malaysia
Lowest Temperature : - 15 - India
Highest Mileage : Bahawalpur - Quetta, 770 km - Pakistan
SYRIA - 27th to 29th November and 5th to 6th December 2007
Itinary : Aleppo - Latakia - Damascus - Palmyra - Aleppo
My thoughts on Syria : Very nice country with fantastic people. Felt very safe and welcomed. Not as developed as Jordan and not as much sights to see but still interesting. Damascus and Aleppo are surprising cities to visit and of course the crac des chevaliers is a must. The other funny thing was to see pictures of their leader stuck all over the place. I understood that it was compulsory to have Bashar al Asad's picture hanged all over the place, unlike Jordan where the picture of King Abdullah is voluntary.
Road : nothing to say about the quality of the roads. There's the main north-south Highway which is very good. The roads on the eastern part of Syria are mapped as main roads but they are very good and can put some good mileage.
living data chart
You can cut in the desert trough the secondary road but they are rather bumpy but still paved in most parts. Syrian drinving can be quite hazardous and they have a bad habit of riding in the wrong direction on the highway!Petrol : No problem in the west but it can be tricky in the east where there are petrol stations but they don't always have supply! Only super is available at 0,80 usd/liter.
Food : Never had so much Chawerma in my life! And It's delicious! Chawerma with a drink is about 1,20 usd. More complete meal in a restaurant is 5 usd.
Accommodation : Funnily we had a hard time finding hotels in Syria. Not that there are none but they seem to be concentrated in one area of the cities and it can be a headache finding them. We slept in a "simple hotel for 10 usd/night and a descent hotel will cost about 30 usd/night.
weather : It's beginning of winter so the weather was cool during the day and cold during the night. It was cloudy most of the time. Temperature ranged from 10 to 20 degrees celcius. Had rain in Aleppo.
Currency : Syrian pound, 1 usd = 50 pounds.
My high : my day off roaming around Damascus
My low : the Syrian border crossings
Total days in country : 5 days.
Mileage done : 1260 km
Total riding time : 14,5 hours.
Number of riding days : 4 days.
Average riding time per day : 3,6 hours.
Average time on the road per day : 6 hours.
Average riding speed (excluding the stops) : 87 km/h.
Average riding speed including the stops : 53 km/h.
Average mileage per day when riding : 315 km.
Average mileage per day (inclusive of the no riding days) : 252 km.
Highest altitude : 800 meters - Palmyra.
Highest Temperature : 20 - Damascus
Lowest Temperature : 10 - Latakia
Highest Mileage : Palmyra - Aleppo, 400 km.
