Holiday
So Tim has already blogged rather beautifully about our holiday but I want offer my opinion. However, I doubt I shall be as eloquent as Timmy.
Syria was amazing, it is obviously a country rich in heritage and culture, but it is also more than that. Everywhere you go someone is trying to make some money, it is real working country with lots of beautiful things to see on the side. On a trip to Palmyra, a stunningly well preserved roman town we ended up playing cards with some children who were about 10 or 11. They spoke basic English, a requirement because they work in the tourist industry. Mahmood, who played alongside me introduced himself as the owner of the bar we were playing. When questioned a little further he is in fact manager, his uncle spends most of his time in his other bar in Homs Syria's third largest city. This wasn't unusual, everywhere we looked male children were learning a trade of their fathers or uncles. The card game was wonderful, it was great to talk to these children about everything and nothing and I felt privileged to spend time with them just relaxing and enjoying the game. They do play by rather unorthodox rules tho, shuffling the cards mid-play, it's just not cricket!
We were lucky enough to meet friends of mine in Damascus, and they took us up the road where Bashir lives, one journey I will never forget. We could not stop and we had to drive with a purpose, no slowing down. Our friend showed us a guy in a suit and dark glasses just stood by a tree. They are the private guard. All along the avenue were dozens of these men in suits and shades standing behind trees. A real combination of James Bond and Men in Black, and a truly bizarre experience.
We ate and drank some amazing things while on holiday. The dark red juice Tim was describing is made from Tamarind and absolutely wonderful, a bit like burdock for those who are old school enough to remember what that tastes like. Unfortunately we could never find any Jalab, a date drink even our friends couldn't find any for us. Lots of meat, always grilled and enough bread to feed and army. By the end of the second week we decided that we needed some variation in our diet so we traveled 150K to grab a burger. The burger was made with kofta meet and tasted the same as everything else.
By the time we reached Aleppo we were exhausted and very pleased to be staying in a lovely (no cockroaches) 'hotel' It was run by two wonderful young men with a lot of drive and ambition. They grew up in Kuwait but had moved to Syria in their early teens. They youngest was working in the hotel to pay for medical school in England. They offered us free tea when we got their (much needed) and lent us towels and toilet roll. They were some of the nicest people we met. Aleppo was more business orientated than Damascus. In many ways it was more welcoming than Damascus, this is probably because it is used to foreign people. There are more Iraqis, Lebanese and Armenians living in Aleppo than anywhere else in the country. Personally I think it has benefited from the diaspora and feels like a truly modern city. We decided that we needed some air conditioning and modern comfort, so stopped in the Sheraton for drink and my god, it felt great! After that, we went on to a restaurant in an old merchant's house. This was our most expensive meal on holiday and cost a grand total of 15 pounds, including a bottle of local wine! The food was amazing and there was a live oud player. Worth every single piastre.
We then caught a night train. Tim and I were like little children in our excitement. We had secreted away a bottle of Syrian wine in order to have on the train and just couldn't wait to get on. We had a sleeper and the beds were definitely necessary or we would have got no sleep at all. I had a real leather harness to stop me falling off the top bunk. Timmy obviously got a bit over excited by all this...
A quick rest in Damascus before it was off to Jordan.
It was much easier leaving Syria than getting in and we didn't have to pay any exit tax! Jordan is much more western than Syria and in some ways it was a relief being able to speak English again. I learnt more Arabic in two weeks in Syria than I have in a year in Bahrain. We stayed in a great place in Amman called The Cairo hotel. The owner was a wonderful man who gave us presents when we left. Our trip would have been a lot more difficult without him as we had no guide book.He was so friendly and so helpful and possibly one of the calmest men I have ever met. He also spoke excellent English, which helped!
Jordan is a fantastic place I don't feel like I have seen half of it. It has a climate and seasons, which mean that things grow there. They grow in Syria too. Jordan is also full of wildlife which is very cool. After one night in Amman we headed of to Petra. I cannot do justice to Petra except to say that it is very big, my feat hurt A LOT and I was tired by the end of it. We walked for hours up mountain and back down them and everywhere you turn there is something stunning to see. Even if you have no interest in the history, which is fascinating, it is a great place to walk. We took one donkey ride, which in hindsight I regret. There is a lot of satisfaction in just walk. The donkey ride was up 865 stairs and would have taken us easily and hour plus to walk, we had done another trek the day before. It was easily the most terrifying 30 minutes of my life. Massive vertical drops either side, and I am riding a donkey with a mind of its own. Not fun. I thin Tim enjoyed being able to scrabble around the site most, pretending that he was a mountain goat. It is great fun just being able to wander up hills, and in someways feels more like a theme park than an ancient city. In the photos you will see that Tim and I covered from head to toe, with hats, this is because of the heat, they were the sort of days that no matter how much sunblock you put on, you would still burn. Petra is well worth a trip, and you need at least two days to explore it in any detail
Cons of Arabia was next. A night camping in Wadi Rum desert, where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed. Beautiful coloured sand and rocks everywhere you look. We took a one hour camel ride up a mountain to see the sun set and it was well worth it. The camping was a bit nerve wracking as we were the only people staying overnight. Neither of us got a good nights sleep. When the tourists had gone home, the Bedouins decided that it was time to put on some Arabic dance music and show us an example of repressed homosexuality. A wonderful experience. Men dressed up as girls, dancing the female steps, kissing and flirting with one another in a more overt way than at any teenage disco. Wonderful.
Finally the Dead Sea. Painful, surreal and painful some more. It tastes horrible, it hurts when it goes in your eyes and any cut you have is just unbearable. Worth it though. The mud found on the sea floor is also great for your skin, and Tim and I covered ourselves in it. It is quite fun to think that I could have floated across to the West Bank, and to think that it is 330M deep at its lowest point.
We nearly missed our flight on the way home as the bus stop was moved to another garage and we got stuck in traffic. We went straight from check-in to our seats on the plane. In fact, if we were in the UK we would have missed our flights, it is only because the Arabs are so relaxed about everything...
Syria was amazing, it is obviously a country rich in heritage and culture, but it is also more than that. Everywhere you go someone is trying to make some money, it is real working country with lots of beautiful things to see on the side. On a trip to Palmyra, a stunningly well preserved roman town we ended up playing cards with some children who were about 10 or 11. They spoke basic English, a requirement because they work in the tourist industry. Mahmood, who played alongside me introduced himself as the owner of the bar we were playing. When questioned a little further he is in fact manager, his uncle spends most of his time in his other bar in Homs Syria's third largest city. This wasn't unusual, everywhere we looked male children were learning a trade of their fathers or uncles. The card game was wonderful, it was great to talk to these children about everything and nothing and I felt privileged to spend time with them just relaxing and enjoying the game. They do play by rather unorthodox rules tho, shuffling the cards mid-play, it's just not cricket!
We were lucky enough to meet friends of mine in Damascus, and they took us up the road where Bashir lives, one journey I will never forget. We could not stop and we had to drive with a purpose, no slowing down. Our friend showed us a guy in a suit and dark glasses just stood by a tree. They are the private guard. All along the avenue were dozens of these men in suits and shades standing behind trees. A real combination of James Bond and Men in Black, and a truly bizarre experience.
We ate and drank some amazing things while on holiday. The dark red juice Tim was describing is made from Tamarind and absolutely wonderful, a bit like burdock for those who are old school enough to remember what that tastes like. Unfortunately we could never find any Jalab, a date drink even our friends couldn't find any for us. Lots of meat, always grilled and enough bread to feed and army. By the end of the second week we decided that we needed some variation in our diet so we traveled 150K to grab a burger. The burger was made with kofta meet and tasted the same as everything else.
By the time we reached Aleppo we were exhausted and very pleased to be staying in a lovely (no cockroaches) 'hotel' It was run by two wonderful young men with a lot of drive and ambition. They grew up in Kuwait but had moved to Syria in their early teens. They youngest was working in the hotel to pay for medical school in England. They offered us free tea when we got their (much needed) and lent us towels and toilet roll. They were some of the nicest people we met. Aleppo was more business orientated than Damascus. In many ways it was more welcoming than Damascus, this is probably because it is used to foreign people. There are more Iraqis, Lebanese and Armenians living in Aleppo than anywhere else in the country. Personally I think it has benefited from the diaspora and feels like a truly modern city. We decided that we needed some air conditioning and modern comfort, so stopped in the Sheraton for drink and my god, it felt great! After that, we went on to a restaurant in an old merchant's house. This was our most expensive meal on holiday and cost a grand total of 15 pounds, including a bottle of local wine! The food was amazing and there was a live oud player. Worth every single piastre.
We then caught a night train. Tim and I were like little children in our excitement. We had secreted away a bottle of Syrian wine in order to have on the train and just couldn't wait to get on. We had a sleeper and the beds were definitely necessary or we would have got no sleep at all. I had a real leather harness to stop me falling off the top bunk. Timmy obviously got a bit over excited by all this...
A quick rest in Damascus before it was off to Jordan.
It was much easier leaving Syria than getting in and we didn't have to pay any exit tax! Jordan is much more western than Syria and in some ways it was a relief being able to speak English again. I learnt more Arabic in two weeks in Syria than I have in a year in Bahrain. We stayed in a great place in Amman called The Cairo hotel. The owner was a wonderful man who gave us presents when we left. Our trip would have been a lot more difficult without him as we had no guide book.He was so friendly and so helpful and possibly one of the calmest men I have ever met. He also spoke excellent English, which helped!
Jordan is a fantastic place I don't feel like I have seen half of it. It has a climate and seasons, which mean that things grow there. They grow in Syria too. Jordan is also full of wildlife which is very cool. After one night in Amman we headed of to Petra. I cannot do justice to Petra except to say that it is very big, my feat hurt A LOT and I was tired by the end of it. We walked for hours up mountain and back down them and everywhere you turn there is something stunning to see. Even if you have no interest in the history, which is fascinating, it is a great place to walk. We took one donkey ride, which in hindsight I regret. There is a lot of satisfaction in just walk. The donkey ride was up 865 stairs and would have taken us easily and hour plus to walk, we had done another trek the day before. It was easily the most terrifying 30 minutes of my life. Massive vertical drops either side, and I am riding a donkey with a mind of its own. Not fun. I thin Tim enjoyed being able to scrabble around the site most, pretending that he was a mountain goat. It is great fun just being able to wander up hills, and in someways feels more like a theme park than an ancient city. In the photos you will see that Tim and I covered from head to toe, with hats, this is because of the heat, they were the sort of days that no matter how much sunblock you put on, you would still burn. Petra is well worth a trip, and you need at least two days to explore it in any detail
Cons of Arabia was next. A night camping in Wadi Rum desert, where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed. Beautiful coloured sand and rocks everywhere you look. We took a one hour camel ride up a mountain to see the sun set and it was well worth it. The camping was a bit nerve wracking as we were the only people staying overnight. Neither of us got a good nights sleep. When the tourists had gone home, the Bedouins decided that it was time to put on some Arabic dance music and show us an example of repressed homosexuality. A wonderful experience. Men dressed up as girls, dancing the female steps, kissing and flirting with one another in a more overt way than at any teenage disco. Wonderful.
Finally the Dead Sea. Painful, surreal and painful some more. It tastes horrible, it hurts when it goes in your eyes and any cut you have is just unbearable. Worth it though. The mud found on the sea floor is also great for your skin, and Tim and I covered ourselves in it. It is quite fun to think that I could have floated across to the West Bank, and to think that it is 330M deep at its lowest point.
We nearly missed our flight on the way home as the bus stop was moved to another garage and we got stuck in traffic. We went straight from check-in to our seats on the plane. In fact, if we were in the UK we would have missed our flights, it is only because the Arabs are so relaxed about everything...
posted by Tim Heidi Arthur KofiI X at 12:52 pm
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