Day 24 (18/06/08) Cappadocia to Aleppo (Syria)
Travelled: 526km
Debbie: I am travelling on 2 RSA passports – one in my maiden name which happens to have all my visas in it and one in my married name which arrived days before we left London and as we are travelling in Arab countries I was advised to travel as a married woman. Once we had explained why I had 2 passports we then had to convince them that the 2 passport photo’s of me were ME!. I had to haul out my ID book, drivers licence, other ID photo’s I had on me just to show them various other pictures of me to show them that I was the same as the passport photo’s. We ended up in the chief’s office (which was actually great as it was 37 degrees outside and he had aircon) to sort out the confusion which took about an hour – but all the officials involved were very polite and nothing was aggressive. We then had to get the car though customs and by now the whole border post knew about us and were amazed at our vehicle and trip so the customs office gave us tea and we exchanged pleasant conversation while they filled in a ton of forms. Once we were on our way we had to navigate with Syrian drivers who drive like bloody hell. We knew that the Sheraton hotel in Aleppo had parking so we decided to head there and see what they could offer us as we knew that there was no camping in Aleppo. Driving in Aleppo was nothing Ive ever experienced – I just shut my eyes tight! We didn’t know where to go so just headed into the city centre and when we eventually saw the sign for the Sheraton we jumped for joy. We managed to get the only room left which was in club class and we decided we needed a treat so booked ourselves in. Club class means we get free drinks and snacks and internet in the Club class lounge so we decided we could get some money back by taking advantage of the free stuff J !! We felt like kings – huge room, huge bath, slippers, TV with BBC – a real treat after 2 days in a tent. Bwana also gets a treat – a parking in the shade, underground and with a security guard. The whole hotel staff came out to see Bwana and were amazed at what we were doing. Andrew made one of the concierges day by letting him sit in the passenger seat when Andrew went to park. The best thing so far about Syria is the cost of fuel. It cost us £25 to fill up Bwana’s 100L diesel tank - £25!! We were paying £145 for a full tank in Turkey. Just wish Syria was a bigger country so we can really take advantage of the fuel costs!
Andrew: Border entry: Fairly simple and officials helpful. $102 for diesel tax, $10 for misc entry fee, $54 3rd party insurance. Also got first page in the Carnet de Passage stamped, I didn’t realise we needed it for Syria, I thought it only kicked in from Egypt but all was good, just got to remember noe to get it stamped out.
Day 25 (19/06/08) Aleppo to Palmyra
Travelled: 343km
Debbie: When I read about Palmyra in the Lonely Planet I was expecting ruins, markets, nice things to buy and lots of touts. Well I was incorrect. After leaving the Syrian main “highway” we headed right into the desert and 40 degree heat. On arrival in Palmyra all we saw were ruins. Nothing else! We stopped at the “5 star” hotel and they agreed to let us camp in the car parking. The only thing that made the hotel 5 star was the fact that it was the only hotel on the ruins – all the rest are in the village. We couldn’t get over the heat so we found the hotel bar which had aircon ... BUT it was full of staff who had nothing to do as we were the only people in sight so it got rather annoying having 3 staff stare at us and then every 2 minutes one would come by and ask “is it ok”. At about 5 we ventured onto the ruins – evening and first thing in the morning are the best time to view them. Its quite incredible what is there BUT as you wander around minding your own bees wax you suddenly get pounced on by guys on scooters trying to sell you the biggest load of cr@p there ever was AND they wont take no for an answer. Eventually we actually had to be rude to them to get rid of them. Not only are there dudes on scooters but there are also dudes on stinky camels who also hound you for rides. Once we had had enough we sat at the hotel restaurant and watched the sun set over the ruins – really spectacular. Then it was time to shower ... Andrew didn’t show me where the showers were till it came to the moment ... and it was for a reason as it was in the staff’s changing room!!! Now let me remind you all that we are in a Muslim country and its only MEN that work – women stay at home. So much to my utter disgust I posted Andrew at the door and instructed that NO ONE may come in. I don’t think the Syrian men have seen many Western women so I had spent all day feeling a bit like I was in Italy having greasy Italians stare at you all day. The cuisine here has been the best so far and what makes it better is that its cheap as anything. All our meals we have had meat, salad, bread and things like humus, smoky eggplant, beers and water – we have eaten like pigs – and every meal had cost no more than £14. They do what they call “mezze” and its a huge array of small starts which precedes the main course. They make a salad called tabbouleh which consists of bulgur wheat, parsley and tomato, with a sprinkling of sesame seeds, lemon and garlic – it’s delicious. Dishes range from pickled vegetables to savoury pastries. Then as we settled down in the tent to try sweat out the night the desert winds got up ... and they blew like I have never seen before.
Andrew: On the way to Palmyra we made sure not to miss the turn off as straight ahead was sign posted Bagdad, not sure we want to end up there, this about a close as we want to be to the border especially when you drive past several very active army bases. The ruins are very impressive and the vast majority of them you can meander around for free, the down side is that you are pestered by locals and the only info we had on the ruins was from the Lonely Planet. We are in real desert country today and the temps soared into the 40’s.
Day 25 (20/06/08) Palmyra to Damascus
Travelled: 301km
Debbie: Today was long and hot. Bwana broke down. Again. 40km from Damascus. Its a long story which I’ll leave to mechanic Andrew to tell you but the short story is... 09.00 we hear a funny noise and as we stop the fan belt goes and smoke comes out of the engine. 11.00, 37 degree’s on the dial and we are still trying to work out what the problem is as Andrew has established that it’s more than just a buggered fan belt. No one has stopped to help and then suddenly along come the blimmen military (with guns!!) all 4 of them can’t speak English and all 4 are very serious, solemn and seem pissed off – we didn’t enjoy their attitude but who were we to argue with men with guns? They tow us to a point and then flag down a pickup truck who then take us on the tiny truck who battles to hold the weight of Bwana to a Land Rover Service centre 10km from Damascus (lucky we had the address details written down). BUT Friday is holy day in Syria so the Service centre was not open. 13.30 and 40 degree’s on the dial we arrive at the Land Rover Service centre and after a few calls to Paul at Foleys and after reading the instruction manual Andrew managed to do a bloody good job in getting us up and running again. 17.00 we go searching for somewhere to stay. We had planned to get to Damascus early so we could find parking and then find a cheap pension to stay in ... well by 17.00 we were dehydrated, tired and couldn’t be bothered to find a cheap hotel so checked into the Le Meridien as they had parking and were the cheapest hotel with parking we could find. What a shite hotel – aircon broken, safe broken, room shabby (for what we are paying for it) and cheeky staff with attitude... Thanks to Foleys and Paul for all the help today. When we left Paul put together a kit of spares for us and so far he has been spot on with bits that we will need – so far we have had parts for every niggle. Funny thing is that we have had the Land Rover for 18 months before we departed and everything that has gone wrong is stuff that apparently can just happen at any time – trust our luck for it to all start happening on our tour... but hopefully this means when we are in the more remote parts we won’t have any troubles.
Andrew: I seem to start a lot of my entries with “well”, well it was another “well” day. After rising at sparrows to see the Palmyra ruins with the sunrise we set of for Damascus where we planned to spend a few days to see the Old City and souks as well as have a few things done to the landy at the service centre. Just before Damascus the fan belt went, I had been keeping a eye on the temp gauge and there was no prior indication of overheating, so I was fairly confident no damage had been done. The more concerning bit was that the coolant was gushing out of somewhere, but couldn’t find any broken hoses. My initial thought was to get the new fan belt on then limp into Damascus and continually keep the water filled, but no... Once I fitted the fan belt I discovered that the water pump pulley was loose. So it was a quick call to Dr Paul Foley and the diagnosis was made immediately, buggered water pump which caused the fan belt to come off. No way of telling beforehand and to Foley’s credit they had packed a new water pump with a gasket in our spares kit. Once we had been towed to the Land Rover service centre and no one was around I decided to crack on with the job myself. About 3 hrs later and a few calls to Paul the water pump was installed Bwana was back on the road and I was thoroughly dehydrated, but happy.
Day 26 (21/06/08) Damascus
Debbie: We were up early as we wanted to get to the Land Rover Service centre and be first in the line at 08.00. We were first and had to wait 2 hours for someone to show up but lucky the owner, Zouher, drove passed on his way to do something else, saw us and phoned his son Basheir and told him to get to work. Basheir was awesome! He spoke good English and put his top mechanic to work on our Landy. It took them all day to do the service and a few other things that Mr Andrew had asked to be done but a good job was done. The whole time I got to sit in the office (with a fan) and was served tea, tea, tea and more tea by the tea man who’s job it is to make sure everyone always has tea. Basheir also got us lunch – some nice local pastry things as well as an amazing chicken wrap. After a long day turns out there is another oil leak that was not spotted before and Mr Andrew decided that he would get Basheir to fix it which means the Land Rover has to stay at his garage till tomorrow. We got to meet his father, Zouher, who has been to the UK on several Land Rover courses and then has taught his mechanics. Basheir gave us a very good price on the work they did and we have been very impressed by the level of service. I totally recommend them to anyone who comes this way. We got a taxi back to the hotel and went to reception to see if we could change rooms. We managed to speak to someone who could speak English and he very kindly made sure we got to change rooms to one with a working aircon and safe box which we need as we have had to take out our passports and cash from the Landy safe now that it’s not with us for the night. Some people might argue that we are not spending enough time seeing the sites in each country but you forget that we are driving everywhere so we experience a lot of the day to day life and see a lot of the country while driving. We also get to meet a lot more local people and get to do things that are not in the Lonely Planet and far from the crowds which we actually enjoy a lot more.
Details
Land Rover
Albasel Center
Harasta
Homs Aut (near Nissan com)
Telephone: 0944217011
Email: alpasel_center@hotmail.com
Day 27 (22/06/08) Damascus
Debbie: We spent the morning walking around Damascus Old Town. We were not blown away by it but what was refreshing to see is that their souks we all geared for the locals rather than full of touristy things. They have stunning silk and handmade fabrics but they were hideously expensive so I didn’t get anything. Basheir had told us to go to his friend’s restaurant so we went there for lunch. It was a traditional old city restaurant and once again the food was great and again we experienced true Syrian hospitality as the owner wouldn’t let us pay for our lunch. After lunch we headed back to Land Rover to have some tea and then pick up our Land Rover. It’s purring like a very happy kitten now which is a great relief as I don’t feel like another break down for at least 20 days. Again its hot hot hot here and we are going to have to stock up big time now on water as its only going to get hotter now until we are through Ethiopia.
Andrew: The Land Rover Albasel Centre has been very satisfying, all spare parts used were of good quality brand names and at very reasonable prices and the labour was cheap as chips as well. Workmanship seemed very good only complaint was bits of grease and oil weren’t cleaned very well, but for £1.50 at the hotel a kind gentleman washed the car and sorted that out. If you are passing though this way it is a well recommended pit stop for a service to your vehicle. They are very friendly people and can offer lots of information on where best to stay and where to eat.
Travelled: 526km
Debbie: I am travelling on 2 RSA passports – one in my maiden name which happens to have all my visas in it and one in my married name which arrived days before we left London and as we are travelling in Arab countries I was advised to travel as a married woman. Once we had explained why I had 2 passports we then had to convince them that the 2 passport photo’s of me were ME!. I had to haul out my ID book, drivers licence, other ID photo’s I had on me just to show them various other pictures of me to show them that I was the same as the passport photo’s. We ended up in the chief’s office (which was actually great as it was 37 degrees outside and he had aircon) to sort out the confusion which took about an hour – but all the officials involved were very polite and nothing was aggressive. We then had to get the car though customs and by now the whole border post knew about us and were amazed at our vehicle and trip so the customs office gave us tea and we exchanged pleasant conversation while they filled in a ton of forms. Once we were on our way we had to navigate with Syrian drivers who drive like bloody hell. We knew that the Sheraton hotel in Aleppo had parking so we decided to head there and see what they could offer us as we knew that there was no camping in Aleppo. Driving in Aleppo was nothing Ive ever experienced – I just shut my eyes tight! We didn’t know where to go so just headed into the city centre and when we eventually saw the sign for the Sheraton we jumped for joy. We managed to get the only room left which was in club class and we decided we needed a treat so booked ourselves in. Club class means we get free drinks and snacks and internet in the Club class lounge so we decided we could get some money back by taking advantage of the free stuff J !! We felt like kings – huge room, huge bath, slippers, TV with BBC – a real treat after 2 days in a tent. Bwana also gets a treat – a parking in the shade, underground and with a security guard. The whole hotel staff came out to see Bwana and were amazed at what we were doing. Andrew made one of the concierges day by letting him sit in the passenger seat when Andrew went to park. The best thing so far about Syria is the cost of fuel. It cost us £25 to fill up Bwana’s 100L diesel tank - £25!! We were paying £145 for a full tank in Turkey. Just wish Syria was a bigger country so we can really take advantage of the fuel costs!
Andrew: Border entry: Fairly simple and officials helpful. $102 for diesel tax, $10 for misc entry fee, $54 3rd party insurance. Also got first page in the Carnet de Passage stamped, I didn’t realise we needed it for Syria, I thought it only kicked in from Egypt but all was good, just got to remember noe to get it stamped out.
Day 25 (19/06/08) Aleppo to Palmyra
Travelled: 343km
Debbie: When I read about Palmyra in the Lonely Planet I was expecting ruins, markets, nice things to buy and lots of touts. Well I was incorrect. After leaving the Syrian main “highway” we headed right into the desert and 40 degree heat. On arrival in Palmyra all we saw were ruins. Nothing else! We stopped at the “5 star” hotel and they agreed to let us camp in the car parking. The only thing that made the hotel 5 star was the fact that it was the only hotel on the ruins – all the rest are in the village. We couldn’t get over the heat so we found the hotel bar which had aircon ... BUT it was full of staff who had nothing to do as we were the only people in sight so it got rather annoying having 3 staff stare at us and then every 2 minutes one would come by and ask “is it ok”. At about 5 we ventured onto the ruins – evening and first thing in the morning are the best time to view them. Its quite incredible what is there BUT as you wander around minding your own bees wax you suddenly get pounced on by guys on scooters trying to sell you the biggest load of cr@p there ever was AND they wont take no for an answer. Eventually we actually had to be rude to them to get rid of them. Not only are there dudes on scooters but there are also dudes on stinky camels who also hound you for rides. Once we had had enough we sat at the hotel restaurant and watched the sun set over the ruins – really spectacular. Then it was time to shower ... Andrew didn’t show me where the showers were till it came to the moment ... and it was for a reason as it was in the staff’s changing room!!! Now let me remind you all that we are in a Muslim country and its only MEN that work – women stay at home. So much to my utter disgust I posted Andrew at the door and instructed that NO ONE may come in. I don’t think the Syrian men have seen many Western women so I had spent all day feeling a bit like I was in Italy having greasy Italians stare at you all day. The cuisine here has been the best so far and what makes it better is that its cheap as anything. All our meals we have had meat, salad, bread and things like humus, smoky eggplant, beers and water – we have eaten like pigs – and every meal had cost no more than £14. They do what they call “mezze” and its a huge array of small starts which precedes the main course. They make a salad called tabbouleh which consists of bulgur wheat, parsley and tomato, with a sprinkling of sesame seeds, lemon and garlic – it’s delicious. Dishes range from pickled vegetables to savoury pastries. Then as we settled down in the tent to try sweat out the night the desert winds got up ... and they blew like I have never seen before.
Andrew: On the way to Palmyra we made sure not to miss the turn off as straight ahead was sign posted Bagdad, not sure we want to end up there, this about a close as we want to be to the border especially when you drive past several very active army bases. The ruins are very impressive and the vast majority of them you can meander around for free, the down side is that you are pestered by locals and the only info we had on the ruins was from the Lonely Planet. We are in real desert country today and the temps soared into the 40’s.
Day 25 (20/06/08) Palmyra to Damascus
Travelled: 301km
Debbie: Today was long and hot. Bwana broke down. Again. 40km from Damascus. Its a long story which I’ll leave to mechanic Andrew to tell you but the short story is... 09.00 we hear a funny noise and as we stop the fan belt goes and smoke comes out of the engine. 11.00, 37 degree’s on the dial and we are still trying to work out what the problem is as Andrew has established that it’s more than just a buggered fan belt. No one has stopped to help and then suddenly along come the blimmen military (with guns!!) all 4 of them can’t speak English and all 4 are very serious, solemn and seem pissed off – we didn’t enjoy their attitude but who were we to argue with men with guns? They tow us to a point and then flag down a pickup truck who then take us on the tiny truck who battles to hold the weight of Bwana to a Land Rover Service centre 10km from Damascus (lucky we had the address details written down). BUT Friday is holy day in Syria so the Service centre was not open. 13.30 and 40 degree’s on the dial we arrive at the Land Rover Service centre and after a few calls to Paul at Foleys and after reading the instruction manual Andrew managed to do a bloody good job in getting us up and running again. 17.00 we go searching for somewhere to stay. We had planned to get to Damascus early so we could find parking and then find a cheap pension to stay in ... well by 17.00 we were dehydrated, tired and couldn’t be bothered to find a cheap hotel so checked into the Le Meridien as they had parking and were the cheapest hotel with parking we could find. What a shite hotel – aircon broken, safe broken, room shabby (for what we are paying for it) and cheeky staff with attitude... Thanks to Foleys and Paul for all the help today. When we left Paul put together a kit of spares for us and so far he has been spot on with bits that we will need – so far we have had parts for every niggle. Funny thing is that we have had the Land Rover for 18 months before we departed and everything that has gone wrong is stuff that apparently can just happen at any time – trust our luck for it to all start happening on our tour... but hopefully this means when we are in the more remote parts we won’t have any troubles.
Andrew: I seem to start a lot of my entries with “well”, well it was another “well” day. After rising at sparrows to see the Palmyra ruins with the sunrise we set of for Damascus where we planned to spend a few days to see the Old City and souks as well as have a few things done to the landy at the service centre. Just before Damascus the fan belt went, I had been keeping a eye on the temp gauge and there was no prior indication of overheating, so I was fairly confident no damage had been done. The more concerning bit was that the coolant was gushing out of somewhere, but couldn’t find any broken hoses. My initial thought was to get the new fan belt on then limp into Damascus and continually keep the water filled, but no... Once I fitted the fan belt I discovered that the water pump pulley was loose. So it was a quick call to Dr Paul Foley and the diagnosis was made immediately, buggered water pump which caused the fan belt to come off. No way of telling beforehand and to Foley’s credit they had packed a new water pump with a gasket in our spares kit. Once we had been towed to the Land Rover service centre and no one was around I decided to crack on with the job myself. About 3 hrs later and a few calls to Paul the water pump was installed Bwana was back on the road and I was thoroughly dehydrated, but happy.
Day 26 (21/06/08) Damascus
Debbie: We were up early as we wanted to get to the Land Rover Service centre and be first in the line at 08.00. We were first and had to wait 2 hours for someone to show up but lucky the owner, Zouher, drove passed on his way to do something else, saw us and phoned his son Basheir and told him to get to work. Basheir was awesome! He spoke good English and put his top mechanic to work on our Landy. It took them all day to do the service and a few other things that Mr Andrew had asked to be done but a good job was done. The whole time I got to sit in the office (with a fan) and was served tea, tea, tea and more tea by the tea man who’s job it is to make sure everyone always has tea. Basheir also got us lunch – some nice local pastry things as well as an amazing chicken wrap. After a long day turns out there is another oil leak that was not spotted before and Mr Andrew decided that he would get Basheir to fix it which means the Land Rover has to stay at his garage till tomorrow. We got to meet his father, Zouher, who has been to the UK on several Land Rover courses and then has taught his mechanics. Basheir gave us a very good price on the work they did and we have been very impressed by the level of service. I totally recommend them to anyone who comes this way. We got a taxi back to the hotel and went to reception to see if we could change rooms. We managed to speak to someone who could speak English and he very kindly made sure we got to change rooms to one with a working aircon and safe box which we need as we have had to take out our passports and cash from the Landy safe now that it’s not with us for the night. Some people might argue that we are not spending enough time seeing the sites in each country but you forget that we are driving everywhere so we experience a lot of the day to day life and see a lot of the country while driving. We also get to meet a lot more local people and get to do things that are not in the Lonely Planet and far from the crowds which we actually enjoy a lot more.
Details
Land Rover
Albasel Center
Harasta
Homs Aut (near Nissan com)
Telephone: 0944217011
Email: alpasel_center@hotmail.com
Day 27 (22/06/08) Damascus
Debbie: We spent the morning walking around Damascus Old Town. We were not blown away by it but what was refreshing to see is that their souks we all geared for the locals rather than full of touristy things. They have stunning silk and handmade fabrics but they were hideously expensive so I didn’t get anything. Basheir had told us to go to his friend’s restaurant so we went there for lunch. It was a traditional old city restaurant and once again the food was great and again we experienced true Syrian hospitality as the owner wouldn’t let us pay for our lunch. After lunch we headed back to Land Rover to have some tea and then pick up our Land Rover. It’s purring like a very happy kitten now which is a great relief as I don’t feel like another break down for at least 20 days. Again its hot hot hot here and we are going to have to stock up big time now on water as its only going to get hotter now until we are through Ethiopia.
Andrew: The Land Rover Albasel Centre has been very satisfying, all spare parts used were of good quality brand names and at very reasonable prices and the labour was cheap as chips as well. Workmanship seemed very good only complaint was bits of grease and oil weren’t cleaned very well, but for £1.50 at the hotel a kind gentleman washed the car and sorted that out. If you are passing though this way it is a well recommended pit stop for a service to your vehicle. They are very friendly people and can offer lots of information on where best to stay and where to eat.
