We are in Syria, in a place called Palmyra. It is out in the desert, east of Damascus and not too far from the Iraq border ( not really too near either!) It has ruins which date back to Roman times and earlier but we haven't visited them yet. We haven't had internet access until now and our phones don't work out here at all.

We had a day in Damascus and walked around the old town, including the souks (bazaars),visited 2 mosques, one the largest mosque in Syria (I had to wear a grey robe with hood covering all my clothes and head!), and also saw 2 old Damascene houses which had been converted to hotels and were very attractive behind very plain walls. We moved on to Aleppo, which is in the north near the Turkish border and from there went to Krac des Chevaliers (Crusaders Citadel) which is near the Lebanese border. This fortress is amazing, built for the Crusaders in the 12 century and Richard the Lionheart was there. Much is original with huge stone vaulted ceilings, stabling for 400 horses and accommodation for 2500 soldiers.We go back to Damascus from here and then into Jordan on Sunday.

The food is pretty good - lunch is sometimes ordinary but we had a wonderful dinner in Aleppo ata restaurant in a converted 14thcentury house. There were 7 of us and we couldn't eat all that they put out for us!