The Silken Route

Test Blog from RM

2009-04-06T08:49:00.001-07:00

Two Monday mornings left to go….

2009-03-27T06:39:00.001-07:00

It was 13:28 and I was expecting a visitor in App Support…

The Silken Route – a slight detour to RM

2009-03-24T06:56:00.001-07:00

It's amazing where one finds himself sometimes. One moment you are tranversing the jagged sierra of the Karakoram mountain range in the wild beauty of Pakistan, and then, a mere 10 months later you are an application support consultant in RM, Milton Park, by Didcot.

Udaipur and The Holli Fetival – 1 day

2008-06-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

22nd March … Holi is in full swing. We are hiding in the sanctuary of our hotel. Outside is mayhem. We have missed most of the morning as we have been asleep since we arrived on the night-train from Delhi. Outside the wooden, barnesque, door of our hotel we can hear squeals of laughter, screams of shock, and the wet splats of paint-bombs. Shadows from gangs of marauding imps play under the

Delhi – Udaipur via Sleeper Train, 1 night

2008-06-13T10:07:00.001-07:00

21st – 22nd March. …Tock We had to seriously revise our plans today. Merryl had a conference to attend in Chicago the next month so we needed to obtain, at least for M, a multiple-entry visa for Paksitan. This did not appear to be possible. So instead of following the Silk Road: India - Pakistan – China - Tibet – Nepal, we decided to change our itinerary: the new Route was to be India

Delhi - 3 days.

2008-06-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

19th March … Tock Not to be found idling. We hopped out of bed early and had breakfast in the roof-top café of the hotel. There were plenty of back-packers hanging out upstairs. We got chatting to an English guy who had been travelling around India for nearly six months. We all of us were discussing Tibet. Unfortunately recent events had transpired that motivated the Chinese government

Ajanta – Delhi 1 day.

2008-06-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

March 18th Tick… We checked out of our hotel early and jumped in the taxi, bags included. We drove through the coolness of the morning to Ajanta. By 10am we arrived. The heat was already stifling. … We are driving through a small town just south of the site of the Ajanta caves. M is asleep in my lap. I am taking in the scenery. The people in the town are busy about their business

The caves of Ellora.

2008-06-13T03:21:00.000-07:00

March 17th Tock… The heat was getting more and more unbearable every passing day. It was draining us. On top of this neither of us felt too good on a daily basis. But we had things to do We had decided to visit the world heritage sites of Ellora and Ajanta. These sites were within a half a day of each other. They both were said to contain fantastically well preserved temples

Mumbai to Aurangubad – 1 day

2008-06-13T03:15:00.000-07:00

March 16th Tick… We got up the next day, knackered, but we had to get moving. We checked out and dropped our bags in reception and went out to grab a slice of Mumbai culture in the 4 hours we had remaining. We took the LP walking tour up to the Admiralty Arch along the waterfront. We planned to take a boat over to Elephantine Island but it was just too hot. We followed the tour for

Bollywood

2008-06-13T02:28:00.000-07:00

March 15th Tock… “Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you…” I have always been mesmorised by the immortal words in that song. Sunbeams certainly found us that morning. It was going to be a beautiful day. As for sweet dreams, well we both slept surprisingly well. We headed out to find McDonalds – of all places – where the Bollywood press-ganger had told us to meet him. We found the place

Goa – Mumbai. 2 days.

2008-06-13T01:32:00.000-07:00

Tick… March 14thOk. First stop Mumbai. We got up early checked out and had a last breakfast in our local café. They were such a nice bunch. As a leaving present they served Merryl her fruit salad with rat-faeces in. I would never have known as I am not an expert in rodent poo. Merryl on the other-hand is doing her PhD in the study of epidemiology in water voles. She complained. They

India and the Great Cannonball Run.

2008-06-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

… It is a warm Thursday afternoon and we have just rolled into Anjuna. We have to drop the bike off this afternoon but first we are going shopping in the flea market in Anjuna town. Then we are going to sit down and make our plans in solid water. We have 17 days left before my visa runs out for India. In this time we have 9 cities, and 8 places of interest to visit, 4 flights, umpteen train and

On the road again!

2008-06-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

March 6th - March 13th, It was time for us all to part ways again. Merryl and I wanted some time to ourselves and Marcus had plans to do a paragliding course in a town called Kamshet, about 100km SE of Mumbai.We’d been hunting around for a bike to trawl the coastlines of Goa on. We’d hoped for a Enticer but there didn’t seem to be a decent hire bike anywhere in Anjuna. Things weren’t looking very

Goa, with Merryl.

2008-06-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

March 2nd - March 5th,Merryl and I spent the next few days in a fantastic little hotel with a huge room and beach-beds outside our room. It was reasonably priced and only 25 metres from the beach. It did have the unfortunate drawback of having a group of teenagers staying next door. They were constantly stoned and drunk and played loud music and stayed up all night. Bloody kids!Marcus had taken

A long awaited arrival and an unexpected twist in the plot.

2008-06-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

March 1st,Saturday came around and Marcus was better and up and about. Merryl and Omar were winging their way across Europe and were due in at 5pm. We had been busy making plans for their arrival. As it was Omar’s birthday the next day we planned to pay for a massage for him and we asked our local restaurant to bake him a cake. They asked us what we’d like to write in icing on the cake for him.

Goa, on the road.

2008-06-01T01:18:00.000-07:00

February - the last week.The next day we were both feeling healthier than we had done in over a week. We had met a lovely couple, Miriam and Roolfe, a couple of days before, and they had recommended a great place to hire some motorbikes for a week. We had just that: one week before M arrived, and also our friend, Omar, was coming to meet us for his 30th birthday. So we decided to kill some time

Anjuna, Goa state, the first couple of days, and the Full Moon Party.

2008-06-01T01:02:00.000-07:00

February 19th - to February the something or otherWe flew into Goa airport on a hot and lazy afternoon. The flight had been brilliant. It left on time and the aircraft was brand spanking new. Well that is to say it had nice carpets and a fresh lick of paint and, as everyone knows, when you are travelling at 18,000m above sea-level, that’s what’s important.Goa has in contemporary history (i.e.

Fort Cochin, Kerala

2008-06-01T00:32:00.000-07:00

February 16th - February 19th.Kerala is marketed at tourists as God’s Own Country. Catchy slogan. It is written everywhere. On posters by the side of the road; on buses; In hotel foyers, beside the potted plants; in shop windows; on the back of auto-rickshaws. Everywhere you look, you are informed that you are standing in the country chosen by God. What God was that I found myself wondering?

Varkala – Allepe – backwater canals.

2008-05-13T23:42:00.000-07:00

February 14th – 15thHappy Birthday Alli!!! Where's my dinner? With great self-discipline we finally wrenched ourselves free of the bosom of somewhat utopian Varkala.It was time to move on. Kind of.We decided to book ourselves onto a cruise around the myriad of backwaters that make up the canals between Varkala and cochine. The Good Book had told us it is an experience not to be missed.

Varkarla Extracts - the next seven days - Kerala, India

2008-05-13T22:44:00.000-07:00

Thursday 7th February - Wednesday 13th February. … I am sitting in the Chill-Out Bar. Surprise Surprise. Tonight there is a live music evening with sitar players. The place is packed. We have grabbed a table right at the front. It is so busy we have to share with a couple. They turn out to be an aging Italian Casanova with a grey pony-tail and a pretty young American girl with dredds.

Varkarla - the next seven days - Kerela, India

2008-04-29T23:28:00.001-07:00

Thursday 7th February - Thursday 14th February. ... Marcus and I have become beach bums. We have embraced the concept with open arms and spirit. Gone are the fleeces, jumpers, thermals, socks, hiking boots, and pashmina scarves. They have been banished to the bottom of our rucksacks along with our long sleeved tops. The shorts are out. I have been shopping and I am now sporting a

Thiruvananthapuram airport and Varkarla, India, Kerala,

2008-04-29T03:25:00.001-07:00

Wednesday 6th - Thursday 7th February.I landed in Trivandrum airport at around 4am, Indian time. India is 5 1/2 hours ahead of the UK and 2 1/2 hours ahead of the Middle East. I had a brief sojourn in Sharjar for 3 hours. Given that I didn't have any Qatarian money, or dollars, or even Jordanian Dinars I was unable to purchase food on either flight. I managed to stop at the duty free shop and buy

The Middle East. Epilogue

2008-04-18T03:26:00.006-07:00

Well… That’s it. That’s the end of my journey through the ancient lands of David, Solomon, Christ, and Mohammed. From Istanbul, through to Damascus. From the Euphrates through the desert. From the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. From the Nabataen Jewel known as Petra, to the unparalleled Aya Sofia. From the desert wonders of Palmyra and Apamea, to the Natural beauty

Jerusalem, Israel. Amman, Jordan.

2008-04-18T03:23:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, 5th FebruaryThe Americans got back around 7:30am. Oh yes. They had all the fun. Mainly in my dorm. I made a decision today to leave Israel - and not beacuse of the Americans. Well not totally. I really wanted to stay. I desperately wanted to see the West Bank. I also wanted to go north to Galilea and visit the town of Megido. The place where John, of the apostles John, believed

Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Israel

2008-04-18T02:55:00.000-07:00

Monday 4th, February Happy Birthday, Mum! By the way, I don’t have a camera with me at present. So sorry for the lack of pictures. I got up this morning and headed off to Bethlehem. This is the birthplace of Jesus Christ. It is also part of the West Bank. The current policy on maintaining peace between Palestine and Israel involves big walls. And checkpoints. And soldiers. I

Back in Jerusalem

2008-04-18T01:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday 3rd February. Time to head back to Jerusalem. I did like Tel Aviv. I just think the bad weather was putting me off of it. Besides I wanted to use Jerusalem as a base to visit Bethlehem and Jericho. Both in the West Bank. I took a Sherut back to the big J. I decided to book into a back-packer’s hostel this time round. It turned out to be great fun. I had to take a dorm though.

Haifa, Acre, Tel Aviv

2008-04-18T01:42:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 2nd February. By sheer good fortune I woke up today feeling even worse. I believe this is a leap year. That means twenty nine days in this month. That also means a woman can traditionally propose to a man. God help us. I’d better stay away from email that day, eh M! ;-) And don’t think time zones are going to allow you to get away with asking me sneaky questions. To be honest

Haifa, Nazareth, Israel.

2008-04-18T01:28:00.000-07:00

Friday 1st February. Chris – the New Yorker – left today heading for Amman. Although I was feeling fluey I dragged myself out of bed and headed off to Nazareth. I spent a lovely afternoon wondering around the city where Mary received the Annunciation and where Jesus was brought up. The Nazareth of 2000 years ago was nothing more than a collection of mud huts – these days it is a sprawling

Tel Aviv, Haifa, Israel.

2008-04-18T01:27:00.000-07:00

Thursday 31st January, Woke up today feeling good. It seemed as though the weather was in a good mood also because the sun was shining. I headed out and explored Tel Aviv for the morning. It was a nice city, very modern. I spent an enjoyable hour watching the kite surfers on the beach before strolling into the spider’s web of alleyways and market stalls in the Yemonite quarter. Here I

Tel Aviv, Israel

2008-04-18T01:26:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 30th January It rained. All day. I stayed in bed until gone noon. I received some sad news also. A friend I had done Tough Guy with last January (a charity event that involves lots of pain on your part) had died in a tragic climbing accident. I couldn’t believe it. He was at Uni in Oxford. He was a fantastic young guy. Everyone he met during tough guy was enthused by his

Tel Aviv, Israel

2008-04-18T01:24:00.001-07:00

Tuesday 29th January. Today, for a change, it was raining. I was pretty happy about this. In fact I was so happy about this I stayed in bed for most of it. I spoke to M online. Found a lovely poem for her online from poems of the underground: My HeartI gave you my heart, just the other day. I meant to ask you not to lose it.Could you please put it somewhere safe for me?Try not to

Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Israel.

2008-04-18T01:22:00.001-07:00

Monday 28th January I decided to head off to Tel Aviv today. Mainly because it was still so fecking cold. I headed down to St David’s Tower first off, by Jaffa gate. It was a pretty impressive fortification that had been converted into a museum-cum-castle for education. It had some great exhibitions and was a really interesting place to hang out. Apart from it was very, very, cold. The

Jerusalem, Israel.

2008-04-17T22:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday January, 27th I still wasn’t feeling too well this morning. The weather hadn’t improved either. I went exploring the old city of Jerusalem. I wondered through the streets in a kind of semi-state of awe. It had the overall impression of a medina. The whole citadel was one big fortification. However I knew from my stabs into history these walls were to defend the religious sites

Amman, King Hussein Bridge, Jordan, Israel border. Take II.

2008-04-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 26th January. Action!! I slept through my wake-up call this morning. ‘How did I manage that?’ I was frantically thinking to myself as I struggled into my clothes at 8am to try and make the taxi. It wasn’t until I had just finished dressing when I got my wake-up knock on the door. Aaah. They’d forgotten. It had been a long night. For three nights in a row – last night

Amman, King Hussein Bridge, Jordan, Israel border. Take I.

2008-04-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

Friday 25th January. Action! I got a servise taxi to the King Hussein bridge around 10am. I was still feeling pretty weak so it was touch and go as to whether I was going to leave that morning. In the end, my evaporating window of time on my Indian visa was the deciding factor. Everyday I spent in, freezing, Amman was a day I wasn’t to spend in warm and sunny India. … I have

Beirut, Damascusm, Amman

2008-04-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, January 22nd I got up and said good-bye to Marcus this morning. Our paths had been entwined for much longer than we had anticipated - fourth months had flown by - and it was a bit of a jolt to be parting. I was impressed, but not surprised, of the recent turn of events for him in Lebanon. I am a hopeless romantic at heart and I wished him all the best. We had planned to meet again

Beirut, Sidon, Tyre and Beaufort Castle.

2008-04-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

Beirut, Sidon, Tyre and Beaufort Castle. Thursday, January 17th – Friday January 19th Leah’s mood had not changed much by the next morning. She decided it was time to leave Lebanon and head to Jordan and then perhaps to Yemen to meet Marcus and I later that month. It was understandable. If you don’t feel comfortable somewhere it is time to move on. It’s as simple as that. It was sad

San Maria Pullman Bus Station, Dora, Beirut.

2008-04-06T05:59:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 15th JanuarySan Maria bus station servise area is a great place for people watching. It helps if you can speak Arabic, but only a little. As every good person watcher knows the essence lies in the art of non-verbal communication. Rather like watching TV with the sound down and trying to figure out what everyone is up to. We arrived around 11am and immediately got embroiled in a huge

Back in the big D, Syria.

2008-04-06T00:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday, January 13th - Wednesday January 16th We got back to Damascus and headed for El-Haremein. We’d already spoken with Rach stay ing with her was right out. Her new flat was in a well to do area. Social norms in Damascus don’t really allow for single a woman to have two men staying her apartment. Tongues would be wagging. So we were back in Souq Sarojah. It was a little different this time

Tripoli, Bsharri, and the rest of Lebanon.

2008-04-05T23:41:00.000-07:00

Wednesday January 9th – Sunday January 13th. Happy Birthday Siobhan!!!Today we checked out of the Talaal New Hotel and headed north. We jumped on a bus to Tripoli sometime in the mid-afternoon. The journey was pretty uneventful. We arrived in Tripoli around 4pm. The city had a very distinctively different feel to Beirut. It was almost as

Byblos, Lebanon

2008-03-26T06:27:00.000-07:00

Wednesday the 9th JanuaryI remember thinking It’s a good thing I don’t have to work for a living or I would not be feeling good today. As it stood, the most difficult thing I had to do this morning was to get out of bed and get a pizza for breakfast. Alison had to head back to Damascus to catch a plane home early that morning and she was a happy bunny to be so early. Rob and I had planned a

Baalbek, Lebanon

2008-03-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 8th January.One of the many fascinating things about Lebanon, is the amount of archaeological sites available to visit. They are simply stunning. I met a Tunisian archaeologist in Palmyra who alluded to this fact. Now I found myself in Lebanon I was eager to experience this firsthand. The bad weather had all but passed so Marcus and I decided to join Alison and Rob on a jaunt to the

Lebanon – the next week

2008-03-11T00:49:00.000-07:00

January 2nd, Beirut – January the something or other. The next day we checked out of the grandiose and palatial accommodation we had occupied for the last three days. We were debating staying in Beirut or heading north. The main allure of staying in Beirut meant we didn’t have to lug our backpacks around the country with us. Lebanon is a very, very small country. It is approximately 240Km

New Year’s day, Beirut

2008-03-04T23:30:00.000-08:00

January 1st, 2008.Bappy New Ear!What can one usually say about New Year’s day? It hurts? It hurts the precioussss it does. Well today's was no exception. I tried to convince Marcus, and myself included, to move hotel. Hangovers notwithstanding, given the fact a storm had unleashed itself outside, we decided to stay another night in the squalid, manky, dump of a place

New Year's Eve, Beirut

2008-03-04T23:29:00.000-08:00

Monday, December 31stWe got up, at some ungodly hour this morning, of around midday. We headed out into West Beirut and found somewhere to eat breakfast. It was kinda like a fast food chain, but for Middle Eastern food. We had shish kebabs. Marcus then decided to go home and collapse whilst I went online and spent most of the morning chatting to my friend, Rom, on msn. The usual stuff: life,

Damascus, Beirut - December 30th

2008-03-04T23:18:00.000-08:00

Beirut, December 30thWe left Damascus, in a shared taxi, bound for Beirut, from the San Maria Pullman bus station. Lebanon is a stone’s throw from Damascus: indeed it was carved out - along with Palestine - from Syria, after the end of the First World War. As the Ottoman Empire collapsed so the Middle East was redefined by the Allies. The Entente forces. To the

Damascus - the rest of Christmas

2008-02-26T03:16:00.000-08:00

December 26th - December 30th... I am walking to the tourist police-station with Ammar. After this I am heading off to meet Marcus to get a taxi to San Maria bus station. From here we are departing the country once again, this time to a new destination. Ammar is also leaving to, finally off to Baghdad in a couple of days. He is very happy to be going home. We are shortly going to say

Maalula/Damascus Christmas day

2008-02-22T04:07:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!!Peace on earth and goodwill to all. Christmas morning and a 6am start. There was certainly a lot peace, not too mention quiet, in Damascus this morning. The streets were deserted. It was a crisp clear morning with the sun just beginning to break in the east as we left the house. Nat and Rach are very keen walkers. So we decided to walk down to Bab Touma - from where we were to

Christmas Eve in Damascus

2008-02-21T23:38:00.000-08:00

December 23rd -24thBack in Damascus. Back in Souq Saroujah. Back in El-Haremein. We got a shared taxi from Amman with a Spanish Journalist and an Iraqii student, studying at Damascus University. It was a lovely day to travel. Il fait beau; pleasant but not too warm. We had terrible hangovers though.The border crossing was no problem. Just the mandatory information card you always have to

The rest of Jordan

2008-02-20T00:38:00.000-08:00

Thursday 20th of December - Sunday 23rd December.We left the desert at sunrise the next morning. We got a lift back to to Rum village. Merryl was in the front. Marcus and I were freezing in the back. From here we got a taxi to Aqabar. We spent two nights here. Aqabar is an ok place. It is a fantastic location for swimming in the Red Sea. It also is the main ferry port between Jordan and

Wadi Ramm and Bad Bob

2008-02-19T23:35:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, December 19th... I am sitting atop of Ronnie. Ronnie is tethered to Bob, who is being ridden by Marcus. Merryl is at the front of the troupe atop of her camel. She has neglected to name her mount, but we will find out a little later his name is Satang. I am doing my best to stay away from Bob as he is psychotic. He has already tried to bite Satang. He is currently screaming in

Wadi Ramm day one

2008-02-19T22:21:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 18th December,We left Petra today with our hangovers and drove to the entrance of the Wadi Rum nature reserve. The reserve is located south of Petra just off of the end of the Dead Sea in the SW of Jordan. It is a massive desert area - the largest Wadi in Jordan - encompassing 720 square Km. It has long been an base for Bedouin tribes and has evidence of Nabatean settlements. It is

Cooking a la Petra

2008-02-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

Monday 17th December - evening,...We are well on our way through our second bottle of wine. My head is spinning from too much walking, too little sleep, too many viruses, too much sun, and too much alcohol, however, I am still having a lot of fun; we all are. We are on a cooking course with Natasha - the Belgium girl we met in Dana who is living in Kabul - and a French couple. I am chopping

Petra - The Rose coloured city day II

2008-02-08T06:48:00.000-08:00

Monday 17 December,We got up at – the reasonably sane hour this morning of - 9:30am. We decided to head into Petra by another route - Petra has several points of access. The Siq is the most famous and extravagant. But there are others. The Nabateans devised some very clever water management systems; not only to bring water into Petra but also to divert flash flooding that occurs in the area at

Petra - The Rose coloured city

2008-02-05T11:54:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 16th December.It has always been a dream of mine to visit Petra. Ever since I was a child. I nearly made it five years ago when I was travelling around Egypt. I opted to do my PADI advanced diving course instead. I am glad I did: it was as cheap as chips and the Red Sea is reputed to be one of the best diving spots in the world. Now though, finally getting to see this amazing place - the

Hiking in Dana Nature reserve and the first night in Petra

2008-02-05T11:08:00.001-08:00

Saturday 15th December,... Merryl, Marcus, and myself are sitting eating our lunch just above a small riverbed in Dana valley. We have been hiking since early morning and are now on the valley floor. The sun is lovely and warm and high in the sky. The valley is very peaceful. All around us are cliffs towering up with rock formations that are reminiscent of Cappodiccia. Birds, which Merryl

Wadi Mujib and some Castle and the Dana nature reserve

2008-01-31T08:48:00.000-08:00

Friday, December 14th.... The hotelier, the German speaking loon, has lost the plot. He has come back into our room for the fourth time to have the same conversation as to why we are not taking his minibus. Aside from the fact he wants a minimum of four people - and there are three of us - Marcus has already made alternative arrangements. He is unable to comprehend this. He keeps on trying to ask

Mount Nebo, the Dead Sea, Hammamat Ma’in, and Sunset at the Panorama

2008-01-22T02:39:00.000-08:00

Thursday, December 13thToday was to be a fun-packed day. We arose early and hired a cab, through the hotel, to visit a number of sights around the Dead Sea and the King’s Highway. There are a plethora of places you can visit from Madaba, so we decided to split them over a period of two days before heading to the Dana Nature reserve to some hiking. Luckily our driver for the day did not appear to

Madaba and the mad hotelier

2008-01-22T02:35:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, December 12thToday we headed south for Madaba. The town of Madaba is about 60k south of Amman. In hindsight we could have used Amman as a base. Had we done that, however, we would have never have ended up in a hotel with an absolute nutjob presiding over its management. So it was a worthwhile endeavour in the end.… Merryl and I are in our room, in El-Haramein, in Damascus. We are

Jerash and the Qala’at Ar-Rabad

2008-01-20T13:45:00.000-08:00

een December 11th…I am in the middle of a set of exercises. I am lying on one side, propped up on my elbow. My legs are outstretched and my other arm is raised above me pointing upwards. My lower torso forms an L-shape. I am holding the position for as long as possible. It is excruciatingly painful. I grit my teeth. Each exercise I do is designed to work the core muscles of the abdominals and the

Amman, the Al-Pashra hamman and the magical bookshop

2008-01-20T13:11:00.000-08:00

Monday, December 10th,…”Let’s get a taxi then.” I say, not for the first time. We have just retraced our steps from the decrepit shopping mall I confidently led us into; back along the rows of rubbish strewn shops with broken windows; back down the broken escalator, past the man throwing cardboard boxes down it onto the floor below; back through the building works with the labourer pushing a

Amman, the citadel, and not much else

2008-01-16T14:48:00.000-08:00

December 9thWe ate out in the Blue Fig Café last night. It was very sophisticated and a stark contrast to Syria. Not that Syria doesn’t have amazing restaurants, but this one was… sexy, and smooth - even the music was. It was uber cool and funky. Something we haven’t experienced for some time. We awoke this morning to find Merryl had succumbed to a cold and was not in an adventurous mood. I was

Jordan - Amman. The first night

2008-01-16T14:39:00.000-08:00

December 8thWe travelled from Damascus on a luxury bus. We had grandiose plans of arising early and visiting the Aramaic village of Maalula in the morning. Unfortunately the Oh-God of hangovers had claimed us. For anyone unfamiliar with this deity, please refer to Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather. He is the God of hangovers (due to the nature of his existence however, it is necessary to add the Oh..

The Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan

2008-01-16T14:18:00.000-08:00

Jordan is a country of dualities and has been thus, ever since the state of Transjordan was created by the League of Nations. It is constantly striving for a balancing act with its neighbours: Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Syria all share a border with it. It manages a balancing act with a flourish of political and cultural representations within its national psyche. Many of Jordan’s young

Around Damascus the last few days, Bosra, and Christmas Shopping

2008-01-14T11:58:00.000-08:00

December 3rd-6thWe decided to get out of Damascus and go and see some ruins. After all, we had not seen any for, ooh, at least a week, and Merryl hadn't seen any period. Not even an amphitheatre! And you simply can't come to Syria and not see at least one of those bad boys.Bosra lies south Damascus, about 120km. Not far from the Jordanian border. We got a bus from San Maria, the main bus

Damascus - an evening of dance - the panorama and the Golan heights

2008-01-14T04:16:00.000-08:00

December 1st - December 3rd... We are walking through the town of Quneitra. It is freezing cold and it is raining. Our guide is showing us around the ravaged and decrepit husks that were once houses, shops, and flats. He speaks very good English. We picked him up at the army checkpoint at the beginning of the village. It was not by choice. We amble along a road past a mosque riddled with

Damascus the next week

2008-01-14T01:22:00.000-08:00

November the 29th December 3rd...Marcus and I are sitting outside a cafe, smoking a nargile and trying to decide what to eat. It is late afternoon. Merryl is at the hotel, taking a nap. She is still adjusting to a total change in lifestyle and her parasympathetic nervous system is having a romp. We are smoking a nargile. The cafe is situated in a quiet backstreet, but still it is busy. We opt for

Damascus and the great chill out

2008-01-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

November 27th to December the 6thWe got up pretty late this morning and took breakfast in the hotel. We were staying across town, by the antiquated Damascus train station. Trains still run from here, up through the Barada Gorge. But not in the winter-time. We had a good lie in and then went to check into the El Haramein hotel in Souq Saroujah. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining

Damascus and a long awaited meeting

2008-01-13T05:53:00.000-08:00

November 26th - December 6th...It is evening and we are sitting in Cafe Roche on Souq Saroujah. We never really learn: we have been here three times previously. Each time we come here we vow never to return. It's not that it isn't a nice cafe, because it is. The place has a very chilled ambiance. The food is nice also, when it arrives. The owner is really friendly, and it is always busy. It is

Damascus first day

2008-01-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

November 25thDamascus claims to be the oldest continually inhabited city on the planet. Here is a list of cities on Wikipedia that also share the same claims. Note the 'continually' statement here. There are older cities but none that have managed to avoid falling by the wayside at some point. For a list of other cities check out the Wikipedia reference here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Latakia day two: extending visas and Tartus

2008-01-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

November 24thWe got up this morning in Latakia with a plan to extend our visas. We had obtained multiple entry visas for Syria before leaving the UK. Unfortunately, Syria is slighty anal in its approach to foreign visitors. By this I mean that you have to register your passport details with every hotel you visit and most buses you travel on. You also have to also extend your visa - even though

Qala'at a Saladin, Latakia, and Tartus

2008-01-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

November 23rd - 24thKatie left this morning, heading for Aleppo. Per had left for Tartus to check out an apartment. Marcus and I decided to take a trip to Saladin's castle in the North and then to be dropped in the town of Latakia where we planned to spend the night.We headed off early and had a pleasant drive up through the Jebel Assyria in the morning sunshine. We got to Qala'at A Saladin late

Hama, the Assassins Castle, and the Magnificant Krak Des Chavaliers

2008-01-04T05:48:00.000-08:00

November the 22nd.We organised a day trip to two castles today. The first was Qala'at Ibn Wardan, in the Jebel Assyrian mountain range, more commonly known as the Assassin's castle.We shared a taxi with Katie and a German guy - I have forgotten his name - it worked out pretty cheaply for us. The assassins castle is situated in the city of Masyaf. It is strange to see the castle looming up amidst

Hama first night

2008-01-03T04:28:00.000-08:00

November 21st.We left Palmyra this afternoon. Marcus had made a recovery so he was fit to travel. We were heading to Hama. Hama is a lovely town in from the coast in the West of Syria. It is famous for its waterwheels, known as Norias, which were used to draw water from the ancient viaducts to provide sanitation and irrigation.Before 1982, Hama, was a vibrant, antiquated, and beautiful town. One

Palmyra the valley of the tombs and last day

2008-01-03T03:17:00.000-08:00

November 20th.I really must give up smoking crack...The other people we met the day before got up at sunrise to visit the ruins. Not really being that insane just yet, we instead got up about 11am and went to visit the valley of the tombs. These are run as guided tours. You can only go at certain times because the museum has the keys. They are pretty big keys and the keymiester carries them

Palmyra exploring the ruins

2007-12-28T06:34:00.000-08:00

November 19thI really must give up drinking 12% beer...A little history:The ancient city of Palmyra is one of Syria's must see places of antiquity. Not only for its superb archaeological ruins of the Roman city that once stood here, but also because it boasts one of the largest, and most complete, temples in the Middle East: The temple of Bel.Palmyra was, and still is, also known as Tadmor - the

Palmyra first night

2007-12-27T08:29:00.000-08:00

November 18thAlthough I could scarcely contain my joy this morning, the impossible seemed to happen: Mr pipe thwacker was up at 7am once more. You cannot even begin to imagine my elation when I heard those dulcet tones reverberating around my head like a jack-hammer.We checked out pretty early and went to grab some breakfast before heading off. I had one beady eye on the look-out for a guy with a

Dier-Ez-Zur, Dura Europos, and Mari

2007-12-24T01:18:00.001-08:00

November 16th-18th<16th>We got into Dier-Ez-Zur pretty late last night. We checked into a reasonable hotel. The rooms were ok apart from someone had white-washed the the bedroom walls in some chalk based paint. We got it all over our rucksacks. What was immediately apparent when we got here was the complete lack of European tourists, which was very nice. The other thing I noticed straight off was

Rasafa and Qala'at Jabar

2007-12-23T07:46:00.000-08:00

November 16thWe planned to use Raqqa as a base to visit the desert fortresses - Qala'at Jabar, Qala'at Najm, and Rasafa, however we got up late, and by the time we got our act together it was quite late. Also because we are in winter, the days are much shorter and the sun sets around 5pm This meant we had to skip Qala'at Najm. We hired out a minibus for the day after haggling with a whole bunch

Aleppo final day, citadel and Raqqa

2007-12-19T01:49:00.000-08:00

November 15th... Happy Birthday Dad! We spent this morning exploring the last part of the old city in Aleppo: the Citadel. This magnificent fortification towers over the Old City. A monolithic testament to a by-gone age. It no longer has a military function and now serves mainly as a tourist attraction. But once this place was a repository for Muslims in the Crusade wars. Fortifications

Around Aleppo the Dead cities and Apamea

2007-12-10T01:02:00.000-08:00

November 14thWe got up early today and headed off on a shared service to see the sites around Aleppo. Two guys that were supposed to join us dropped out. Here we met Jules, a very cool and chilled out Auzzie guy who is travelling the middle-east before heading to London to work. We found ourselves again at St Simoen as one of the party, a Mongolian girl, wanted to visit the basicalla. From here

Syria Aleppo (Haleb) part III

2007-12-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

November 13thAnother day, another smoothie. We got up this morning with firm and resolute intent(ish) to do something. But first things first, Falafels. There is a wonderful falafel shop (I wrote down the name but have since lost it) just opposite the cinema off Sharia Al-Baron. Falafels cost the equivalent of 15p and are delicious for breakfast especially with fresh mint and chilli sauce. We

Syria Aleppo (Haleb) part II

2007-12-08T23:32:00.000-08:00

November 11-13th Our first night in Aleppo we decided to hit the town and wander around the old city, looking for somewhere nice to eat. We ended up at a very swanky restaurant with amazing food that cost a fraction of what a UK meal would do for this quality of service and cuisine. We even threw in some nice Lebanese wine. Syrian cuisine is unbelievable. By unbelievable I mean, I can't believe

Syria

2007-12-02T00:52:00.000-08:00

November 11thSyria.. is a place of magic and mystery. It is home to some of the oldest known settlements on Earth. There is evidence of civilisations dating back to 6000BC at the site of Ebla and 4500BC at Telle Harari; in the Mesopotamian city of Mari; and further references to the existence of Damascus have been traced much further back in Egypt. It also boasts some of the greatest

Syria Aleppo (Haleb)

2007-11-22T10:38:00.000-08:00

November 12th.We have been in Aleppo a day now. We crossed the border yesterday. The journey from Goreme took slightly longer than we anticipated: it was supposed to take twelve hours, but it ended up taking nigh on twenty-one. Suffice to say we were a little knackered by the time arrived. The border crossing was pretty smooth, if not a little mundane. We got chatting to some people on the bus,

Goreme and Cappadocia

2007-11-19T08:44:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 7th November - Sunday 11thCappadocia is like nowhere else I have ever been on earth. It was used in parts of the Star-Wars film: on Tattoine. The desert houses that look like fairy mushrooms. It is basically a series of valleys were volcanic rock has formed and over centuries the loose sediment around it has eroded to leave wonderful and surreal blobs, valleys, of rock. It is like some,

the rest of Turkey - quick Synopsis

2007-11-19T07:10:00.000-08:00

Monday 29th October - Tuesday 8th NovemberI am afraid I am going to have fly through the rest of Turkey. Unfortunately time is flying by and, although I want to record this adventure as much in as much detail as possible I am going to have to move along with some alacrity: Internet cafes are slow and few and far between and I don't wish to spend all my life in them. We spent the next day after

Hiking along the Lycian way and the bee incident day two

2007-11-15T06:28:00.000-08:00

Sunday 28th October Got up this morning feeling a bit stiff but ready to rock. Our host gave us a taste of a real Turkish breakfast. Everything was fresh and delicious. We stuffed our faces and then set off to hike the next leg: 8 kilometres Ferraliye. It was a fantastic morning and we made pretty good time. [oh a couple of things I wanted to add here that I forgot earlier on. Selcuk is all

Hiking along the Lycian way day one

2007-11-15T05:35:00.000-08:00

Saturday October 27thhttp://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=19580&l=457f7&id=513701387We dragged our arses out of bed early in order to get going early - only to find all the staff got up half an hour later than said on their notice board. A bit of an argument ensued and from that a frosty breakfast with no cereal. I ate my cheese and honey in silence - Thorsen has never got his head around the

Fethiye

2007-11-14T12:21:00.001-08:00

Friday October 26thmmmmm... sunshine. Waking up to to breakfast on a balcony overlooking a marina in Turkish Autumn sunshine is most definitely where it is, as Marcus would say, is where it is at.We had decided to do two things whilst we were here: Firstly book ourselves a trip on a Guleg from here to Olympos - more on that later, and secondly, Fatima and Thorsen had read up on doing some hiking

The Travertines and Heriapolis

2007-11-14T11:44:00.000-08:00

Thursday October 25thRight. Any more f*cking mosquitos want some?I was up splatting them again at 6am. I had been bitten again in the night. I think Marcus killed another three. It was nothing compared to Thorsen and Fatima's room though. Thorsen killed over twenty and poor Fatima had been bitten on the eye - quite a common place apparently.On a plus it was finally sunny. We checked out of our

Around Pumakkale and the Kaklik caves

2007-11-14T09:06:00.000-08:00

Wednesday October 24thA mosquito flew in my ear at 4am this morning. I got up and realised I had been bitten twice on the arm also. I tried to kill it but I couldn't find the little git.I then got woken up by the call to prayer at dawn. I could hear the pitter patter of tiny raindrops.I finally got up around 8am and twatted the mozzie. It was, of course, engorged with my blood. It cheered me up

Final day in Selcuk, the ruins of Ephesus, and the trip to Pumakkale

2007-11-13T10:31:00.001-08:00

Tuesday October 23rdOk. This morning was not good. Mainly because my head felt like I had a Frenchman living in it: Lots of banging.We also still not had our laundry. We managed to accost the reasonably sane owner and he shouted inside and it finally appeared 10mins later. There is nothing like a pair of fresh pants to put a spring in one's step!We had gotten up really early to try and get a

Selcuk, more rain, the case of the missing Laundry, and Simon

2007-11-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

Monday October 22ndhttp://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=19572&l=e64d7&id=513701387Well guess what happened when we woke up this morning? You'll never believe it! It was raining. nevermind; we had bigger fish to fry: First and foremost, our laundry, Second the fact everyone in this hostel was nuts... and then there was Simon.We had put our laundry in on Saturday night when we first arrived. It

a couple of days in sunny, kicking, selcuk

2007-11-13T09:17:00.001-08:00

Sunday 21st OctoberWell Selcuk is a very nice place to wonder around for say - 2 hours. I had provisioned today to do absolutely nothing. But after three of four hours I cracked and got up and went out for food and a walk.If you ever make it to Selcek there is the most phantasmic kofte take away called Sisci Yasarin Yeri down on the main street for 3 lira (1.20). After this strenuous effort we

Troy - again sort of - Selcuk, Ephesus, and more rain

2007-11-13T09:01:00.000-08:00

Saturday October 20thI had better start making these briefer as so much as happened. I would prefer to write at my own pace, but from a combination of sporradic internet connections and having too much fun, I am getting behind. So I am going to try and get a shimmy on.Ok. So we awoke in Cannakale to pouring rain. We decided that Troy could go hang itself and we booked ourself on a bus south - all

Canakkale: Gallıpolı and Troy... well sort of

2007-11-08T03:33:00.000-08:00

Public facebook photos are here:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18266&l=4c918&id=513701387We awoke this morning ın a new location; how exciting! And it wasn't raining either which was just top! I headed downstairs and booked us on to a tour of Gallipoli. It was quite a long day - running from 12pm to 7pm. Marcus and I went out and grabbed a kofte for breakfast - in the absence of eggy-weggs

Last day in Istanbul

2007-11-06T08:03:00.000-08:00

Thursday October 18thWe got up this morning eager to be off now. Up until now this has just been a long week-end holiday. Now we can really start travelling with our big rucksacks and permanently injure our spines, necks, knees, etc...We got the train to the Marmara coast - South-side Sultanahmet to get the ferry from Yenikabi to Bandirmi. We hiked to the Cat terminal only to find that the times

The Bosphorus Strait part II

2007-11-06T07:41:00.001-08:00

Wednesday October 17thThe sunshine greeted us once again as we got up today. We ate our Turkish breakfasts and, in what is rapidly becoming a gastronomic tradition, Marcus got my egg [I don't know if you are familiar with Turkish breakfasts but they consist of the following: Honey, bread, Turkish goat's cheese (known as white cheese) black and/or green olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, Cay(tea) and

Topkapi palace and chilling with Nargiles

2007-10-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

Monday 15thThis morning brought with it some much needed sunshine. We decided to visit the Sultan's palace first off this morning. It presides over the Sultanahmet area, the entrance to the Bosphorous Strait, and the Marmara Sea. It's pretty much the Mayfair of Istanbul and rightly so; this is the palace of Emperors. It's also pretty expensive to get in!We wandered up through the fırst courtyard