Stunning Palmyra
Trip Start
Sep 18, 2008
1
13
50
Trip End
Dec 07, 2008
Started today by driving to Palmyra which is out in the Syrian desert - you could tell cos it was boiling hot all day!! After arriving at the hotel we went for lunch at a pancake place that is just around the corner and we were very excited after the great pancakes we had in Turkey - these were not the same. They were kind of like normal pancakes you get back home but really soggy and not as nice. Still not feeling that great either so I wasn't disappointed that I couldn't finish them. After lunch we walked to the ruins of Palmyra. Palmyra has a long history - it was first run by the Assyrians, then the Greeks, Romans, Persians and finally Muslims. The first part of the site we saw was the temple of Bel. The temple is mostly in ruins due to earthquakes and neglect and some of it has been reconstructed - very unusual to see a wall reconstructed out of circular bricks - they used the columns to reconstruct the wall - Riiiigghhht!!! I couldn't feel the "awe-struckedness" (i know not a word) that everyone else seemed to feel. The site was interesting but mainly ruins. I think the best part of the visit was that there were some broken frescoes on the ground and at one our guide told us to lie underneath the fresco and look up. There were carvings on the underside that were still quite intact - so that was cool. After the temple some of the group decided to climb up to Qala'at ibn Maan (Arab Castle) for sunset, but after not feeling well I decided to catch a taxi with a couple of the others. We climbed to the back of the castle to get a good spot and the sunset was really good. The only annoying thing here were the little kids who would stand in front of you trying to sell you something while you are trying to take photos. We would use our "yella" and tell them to go away which they would and then the tourists would come and stand in front of you. After sunset I decided to walk down the little mountain while others caught the taxi down. It was nice to have a good walk on a predominantly flat surface. The only problem with that was that Palmyra gets blackouts and halfway back to the hotel the power went out. Once we got back to the hotel we had a bit of a rest before dinner then went to the same place we went for lunch and had a bedouin meal which was really nice but very filling. Tomorrow we are off to explore the rest of Palmyra.
