We are back in Damascus for a final night. I have only created this entry for completeness. I like the following quote from Mark Twain (found in my Lonely Planet guide) to sum up the timeless nature of Damascus... "...no recorded event has occurred in the world but Damascus was in existence to receive news of it. Go back as far as you will into the vague past, there was always a Damascus....She has looked upon the dried bones of a thousand empires and...

Today sees us leaving Hama for Lebanon. Hama is famous for its water wheels, but it is also famous for a massacre in the 1980's led by the former President. It is the home of the Muslim Brotherhood, now outlaed in Syria. In the 1980's (not sure of exact year) the Syrian army was uunleashed on the city. Basic guts was residents were told to leave or if they stay they would be treated as insurgents and legitimate targets. As well as destroying 99 percent of t...

Today sees us leaving Hama for Lebanon. Hama is famous for its water wheels, but it is also famous for a massacre in the 1980's led by the former President. It is the home of the Muslim Brotherhood, now outlaed in Syria. In the 1980's (not sure of exact year) the Syrian army was uunleashed on the city. Basic guts was residents were told to leave or if they stay they would be treated as insurgents and legitimate targets. As well as destroying 99 percent of t...

Today sees us leaving Hama for Lebanon. Hama is famous for its water wheels, but it is also famous for a massacre in the 1980's led by the former President. It is the home of the Muslim Brotherhood, now outlaed in Syria. In the 1980's (not sure of exact year) the Syrian army was uunleashed on the city. Basic guts was residents were told to leave or if they stay they would be treated as insurgents and legitimate targets. As well as destroying 99 percent of t...

Aleppo is interesting. Today, being a Friday is a holiday as it is effectively the equivalent of our Sunday so it is the holy day. We woke up to a myriad of calls to prayer this morning at 5.30am which I will try to record tomorrow. We are staying is the old city, (the place we are in was built in the 1400's) and we have at least three mosques within a few hundred yards, all with their competing minarets bristling with speakers to ensure the faithful receive t...