Lazy morning I had hoped to make my third visit to Palmyra today but it wasn’t meant to be.  I wanted to see what damage had been done during the civil war. Abdullah had appeared to discourage us from going and priced the trip at a prohibitive level.  Instead, he suggested a half-day trip instead […]

Complimentary breakfast It’s Friday today and the only day of the week that Abdullah has a sleep-in.  But he came in early to bring me breakfast, as I’m a very old repeat guest.  With so many guests over the 23 years I doubt if he actually remembers me but he was putting on a good […]

Aleppo Citadel After breakfast at the hotel, I packed up but kept my room, and headed out to visit the Citadel.  Getting there at 0855, I had to wait till 0910 before visitors were let in. I walked up the steps to the first gate-tower and then into the second tower which led into the […]

Damascus to Aleppo Today, I move from Damascus to Aleppo.  I had received conflicting information on which of the several bus stations to catch the bus from.  The last time I did it, it was from Baramke but that was nearly 20 years ago.  And on the remaining visits, I did the journey in reverse […]

Maaloula & St Thekla I wanted to make an excursion to the village of Maaloula, which I visited in 2002.  It is well-known as one of the last areas where Aramaic (specifically Western Neo-Aramaic) is still spoken on a daily basis.  That language is believed to be the closest language of Jesus, which was Galilean […]

Return to Syria Today I return to my favourite country after 15 years, having visited in 2002, 2004 and 2010.  Since my last visit, parts of the country have been to hell and back: Over 40% of Syria’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Some cities lost over 70% of their housing stock. 13 million+ […]