Syria: Palmyra

Scenes from my afternoon in Palmyra

I left Mar Moussa after breakfast on Wednesday. There were five of us leaving at the same time and we were able to get the use of the "teleferique" to carry our luggage down the hill. The girls were nothing short of dumbfounded that I had a SUITCASE!

We took a shared taxi to Nebek and there we split up: Samera and Juyu went to Damascus; Kelly, Sandrine and I went to Homs. The shared minibus to Homs left at 11 and took about one hour - it was just 55 syrian pounds (just over a dollar). The bus was full and included a friendly Iraqi called Adnan who was keen to talk. Kelly and I both felt that we had to apologise for the Iraq war and Adnan was quite clear that life had been better under Saddam. He is one of thousands of refugees from his homeland - all as a result of the Bush-Blair war. It really makes one feel ashamed.

We were soon in Homs where Kelly and Sandrine were staying so I said goodbye to them and was led to the bus to Tadmor as the Syrians call Palymra. Once again I had to go through the slightly bizarre rigmorole of giving not only my passport details but also my father's and mother's names! Syria clearly likes to keep an eye on its "ajanib" but I should have thought that my passport number would be enough.

This was to be my first taste of the LUXURY BUSES that pound the Syrian desert. You have large leather chairs - just like first class on an airline - a television and frequent cups of water. The windows were all curtained both to keep out the sun and the bleak views. There is nothing to see and I had forgotten how unremittingly relentless is the desert: flat sand for ever and ever! The journey from Homs to Tadmor took about two hours and we were let off at the "garage" on the outskirts of town. The approach to Palmyra gives a fantastic view of the ruins and a taste of things to come. Even before I was out of the bus my bag had been taken by a driver who had loaded it into his car and was busy giving me the card of a hotel where he was about to take me. As I had no idea where this hotel was I quickly grabbed my Lonely Planet and said NO - take me to the Oasis Hotel - one of their recommended stays. This was in the centre of town and undoubtedly better than the driver's option. After a quick shower I wandered into the ruins where I spent a good two hours or more snapping too many pictures of the amazing ruins in the afternoon sun. Palmyra is not only Syria's number one tourist attraction - it is also one the world's great Roman sites. I cannot believe that I have not been here before even though this is my third or fourth visit to Syria - I am unclear. But it is definitely one of the MUST SEE sights of the middle east and I was very happy to finally make it! I walked through the ruins up the hill to the impressive castle that overlooks the whole town. According to LP this is THE place to see the sunset. Unfortunately the sunset was very disappointing on Wednesday but the views were impressive nevertheless. I waited until dusk and then made my way back down the hill where I had a beer with the friendly staff at the Ishkar Hotel. After some time at the Internet cafe - and retrieving my jacket from the Oasis (it was cool) I had a lonely dinner of mansaf in a nearby restaurant. There are a few tourists around but they are not as friendly as the crowd at Mar Moussa!