Turkey to Aleppo

Christine:

We arrived in Aleppo, Syria very tired but in good spirits. When we finally got to the train station in Istanbul, we discovered that the train wasn't running that day - they said was broken. So, we made our way to the bus station and got tickets for a coach all the way to Antakya. It was a 14 hour trip and the worst bit of the road was right in the middle of the night, so I only ended up with one hour of sleep. Barry managed 2 or 3 hours. The coach was actually quite comfortable and modern - we were served beverages and given a snack. There was a movie (in Turkish of course!). We befriended a lovely guy from Oman on the trip - he was helping us by translating the driver and steward's announcements and questions. We told him what we were doing and he chatted to the driver and found out that the same bus company had a minibus going to Aleppo that morning, just when we were getting in. It would be cheaper and easier than trying to get a share taxi. When the bus arrived, he helped us communicate with getting the ticket for the next bus, getting our money changed to Syrian pounds, and letting us know what was all going on. He was an answer to prayer (along with the bus leaving Istanbul at the right time for us to catch it and the bus going to Aleppo at the right time for us). The Aleppo bus didn't actually leave until 9:30 am, but they needed our passports when we got in at 7:30 am so they could put them on the manifest which they then faxed to the Syrian border post so they could pre-vet everyone. Anyway, after all that, we made Aleppo.

We got a room at the Baron Hotel, and it is better than I expected! It is fairly shabby and run down, but in a gentile sort of way. Think shabby chic. We are loving it's little idiosyncracies. We hit the city after freshening up - went through the souk and up to the Citadel in the city, which is an amazing fortress that the Crusaders were never able to take. The souk was like stepping back in time - narrow cobbled passageways, there was no electricity so people were using candlelight or battery-operated LED lights, sacks of nuts and dried fruit, meat hanging on hooks, women gliding around in full-length dresses and headcoverings, Arabic swirling around our heads.

It is a very cool city - noisy and dirty and busy and hot - but the people are wonderful and we are enjoying it. Tomorrow the car will pick us up and take us to Damascus via Krac de Chevalier. Apparently, my friends in Damascus from Stratic have arranged a whole itinerary for us for the next 3 days!

Barry:

The wheels on the bus go round and round and round and round ---- for 14 hours if you don't include the waiting about in coach stations, border posts etc. Hang on, my writing has gone black! Syria is a must do destination; the people are great and we have had a lot of fun so far. The citadel there at Aleppo is truly amazing for a manmade object - the cisterns underneath are enough to amaze let alone the citadel above which is an absolute warren of passages and minor fortifications with covering fields of fire. It is easy to see why it never fell even to the Crusaders.
We are staying in the Baron Hotel, shabby colonial granduer, drinking in the same bar as TE Lawrence and Agatha Christie (they are not residence currently), G&T in the lounge bar my good man, if you will.

And for Alice and Phil (ops room) move the pins down from turkey about 700 miles to Aleppo and tomorrow Damascus.

Miss you all