Ok...in Athens at the moment and it's absolutely pouring. Caught a train from the airport and then had to walk through the wet to my hotel. It's all good though, I have a lovely view of the Acropolis from my room which is very cool.

Ok I believe I was up to last Sunday in updating. We left pretty early in the morning to head first to Jerash (Roman ruins) and then into Syria. It took less than 2hours to arrive at Jerash where we had a tour around the city ruins. It was pretty good just having the 3 of us there as we could move pretty quickly through the site and didn't have any troubles hearing the guide. We walked first through the forum and then down the main road where you can still see the indentations from chariots that used to pass through there. We walked through a cathedral and the Temple of Artemis, where I put my hand in the column and could actually feel it moving - that was to prevent the columns collapsing in an earthquake, which clearly worked as they are still standing today! We then went around to the theatre which was really cool...although bizarrely some locals put on a small performance every half hour or so that includes the use of bagpipes??? The acoustics in there are amazing though. The tour ended here so we wandered down out the main gate and past the hippodrome where they still have chariot racing performances twice a day. It was back to the truck then and off to Syria. A couple of hours drive only to the border and we crossed over surprisingly quickly (an hour) and then another couple of hours to Bosra (not to be confused with Basra in Iraq!) We had lunch at our home for the night - a restaurant where we slept out the back on big mats - and then went to have a look in the citadel which is right next door. It was so cool to wander around in the fortress and we went around and around until we came to a massive ampitheatre in the centre. The size was incredible so we played around in there for a while, dancing on the stage and stuff which was cool and then back outside. We went on a tour with a local around the old city of Bosra, which is fascinating because people just live literally in the ruins...at one point it was just bizarre to see laundry hanging between ruined buildings! We had a look in a really old mosque (the first one I had been in and we had to take off our shoes and wear gowns to cover our hair) and some Turkish baths and then just walked through the city. Had dinner and then watched old reruns of American comedies before heading off to bed at a reasonable hour.

Next morning we left early early to drive to Palmyra. There was a slight change to our itinerary for the week to account for the Hajj festival being on. The Hajj is the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and the festival itself goes for 9 days with the first 4 days being holidays meaning a lot of the shops would be closed in Damascus (originally our first stop). We shifted everything forward a day so would do Damascus right at the end when hopefully more stuff would be open. We drove all the way out to Palmyra, on the way passing a sign that said it was 172km to Iraq (where we camped was less than 150km from the Iraqi border...our campfire would totally have shown up on their radars!) Palmyra is an ancient Roman city in ruins. We had lunch and then went on a tour through the ruins, first to the Temple of Bel. It was really cool we saw a sacrifical altar and looked under these massive stones to see some elaborate carvings of Pegasus, Cupid and a lion - the stones originally made up the arch over the entrance to the temple. We then wandered down to the rest of the town where we walked under a massive arch, down the main street, saw baths, store fronts and a tetrapylon. I got to ride on the back of our guide's motorbike back through the ruins to the entrance which was fun. Back on the truck then and off to find a place to camp for the evening. We drove a little out of the town and found a lovely spot half cordoned off by rock mountains and tried to make windbreaks out of the truck, mats and tables as the wind was absolutely freezing. The spot we had picked had this cool little rock jutting out of the ground which looked like a lounge so we put a mat over it to sit on and built the fire in front of it. We sat around the fire and chatted for hours while we waited for dinner...it took longer than anticipated but was worth it...Neil our leader is an awesome cook! Spread out mats and blankets and slept under the stars.

Woke up the next morning to the feeling of rain on my face...I know rain in the desert??? Not something you hear of everyday. We packed up our stuff quickly but then the rain stopped so we had a leisurely pancake breakfast. Left later than anticipated but it was all good. We were driving to see a couple of ruins not usually included in the itinerary as they were off the beaten track. First was a couple of old castles in the middle of the desert, muchly ruined but still cool and then on to Rasafa. Rasafa are these massive old ruins in the middle of nowhere in the desert so we spent a couple of hours exploring them on our own which was loads of fun - I climbed a couple of turrets and we went down into a vault which was just huge! Had lunch here as we were running behind and then off to Aleppo. We were going to stop and have a look at the Euphraites River but unfortunately the rain kicked in again so we just kept driving. Arrived in Aleppo around 5pm to shower etc. before dinner. I had the cutest little room with a step up to the bathroom. I had another wet room (seems to be all the rage) but the water ended up all over the floor in my bedroom as well because the shower was angled in slightly the wrong direction. Went out for dinner at a local place (Bec and I were the only women in the place) and had a lovely meal and then I went with Neil and Johan to the Baron Hotel for a couple of drinks before bed. The Baron Hotel is very much faded grandeur and the drinks are outrageously expensive but it was nice to visit there.

Got a bit of a lie-in the next morning as we weren't going on our city tour until 10am so didn't need to get up for breakfast until 9.15am. Went to a little juice bar just down the road where we had a pint of mixed juice each (just lovely but so filling) and some cheesy rolls - I was so full i didn't need to eat anything until dinner! Met our guide, Jihad, at the hotel and he then took us on a walking tour of the old city of Aleppo. Wandered first past the clock tower and then onto the old city. Were going to look in the mosque first but because of the holiday it wasn't open yet so we headed onwards to return later. Went off into the souk (market) which is usually crazy but again because of the holiday there weren't nearly as many shops open as normally would be which was a shame. We walked through the butcher district (the souk is roughly divided into sections where the shop-owners sell specific wares, so if you are looking for a particular item you need to find the alleyway that stocks it) and out of the main gate. Had a look around outside and then back through the city proper to look at the buildings etc. Loads of khans scattered throughout the souk (khans are massive areas where caravans of camels and people would come to sell their wares in the markets and are blocked off by theese huge metal doors) which was cool. Oh, I forgot to mention that as part of the Hajj each family must kill a sheep on the streets and give the meat to the needy. So...as we were walking through we came across loads of sheep being slaughtered so there was entrails and blood and sheep parts everywhere which was not very pleasant. At one point I even turned around in the market and saw a sheep killed which was horrible as I had not been expecting to see it...needless to say I didn't eat lamb for dinner that night! Anyway we wandered through to see the citadel which was massive and very cool (Bec and Dave went back later to go inside when I chose to go shopping) and then back to the mosque. Again we had to take our shoes off and bec and I had to wear gowns to cover our hair. Had a look around, it was a beautiful mosque (although we saw a lovelier one in Damascus) and then the tour ended so we were left to our own devices. Did a bit of shopping and then I went back to the hotel to have a nap (well deserved I say) before dinner. Johan and Neil had had their heads shaved earlier in the day at a local barber (not the best idea at the beginning of winter) so they were then known as the two baldies. Had dinner at another local restaurant which was again really nice and then to bed early as we had an early morning the following day.

Left at 6am to go to Hama, Crac de Chevaliers and Damascus. Slept in my sleeping bag on the truck (so warm and I slept so well...didn't get much sleep the night before as the streets were really noisy and some kids in the hotel kept running up and down the stairs aargh!) and we arrived in Hama at 8am to look at the giant water-wheels and have breakfast. The wooden wheels were quite impressive but the park and surrounding area were horribly polluted which really detracted from the site. Had breakfast and then on the road again. Arrived at Crac de Chevaliers at around 11am. Crac is a relatively intact castle up high and is so amazing. I had an incredible time touring around despite the biting wind and freezing cold temperature! We walked through the outside wall and then over the moat (no longer filled with water) stopping to check out a secret passage, before heading into the castle proper. We got to look around some soldier's barracks, command towers, kitchens, sit in an old olive oil jar (just like Ali Baba), climb down into a dungeon (so very very awesome) and I even climbed up into the princess tower. It really was a fantasy come true! We had lunch on the truck (which included brownies for dessert...yum!) and then off to Damascus. We arrived at our campsite at around 6pm and the owner let us sleep in some spare rooms he had rather than having to put up tents in the freezing cold. I had the best shower of the whole trip...seriously it was so hot and awesome and I didn't want to get out! Had dinner around the campfire, fantastic meal of steak (unfortunately not camel as they were out when neil went shopping in Aleppo), capsicum, onion and the best jacket potatoes I have ever had!, got stuck into the vodka someone had left on the truck from the last leg and then headed off to bed quite late.

Slept in the following morning as once again the shops wouldn't be opening until later because of the holiday. Had another leisurely pancake breakfast (so good) and then off into town around midday. I played some ball games with some local kids at the campsite before we left which was so much fun, they were so eager to play! We wandered around the souk, looked in the most beautiful mosque and were going to head over to the Christian Quarter but we were so busy shopping we lost track of time so didn't really see much of it. Had a local lunch of a shish tawook which was interesting but delicious! Got back to the campsite around 7pm (after an exciting cab ride where we got so lost, asked so many locals and ended up having to follow a man on a tractor!), had dinner and chatted around the campfire and then off to bed. I really enjoyed both Damascus and Aleppo. I felt safe everywhere I went and was hardly hassled at all! I even bought a few DVDs (100 syrian pounds for 4 - the equivalent of $2.50) some of which haven't even been out at the cinemas yet!

Left pretty early the next morning, the last day of the tour, to go back into Jordan. Once again it was a really quick border crossing so we were back in Amman way earlier than anticipated. Had lunch with the guys and then Neil and Johan were heading onwards to Aqaba. Local meal again, schwerma this time, and then back to the hotel to farewell our fearless leaders. Had a short nap, called home and then went out to dinner to a lovely restaurant down the road with Bec and Dave. Packed my bag, booked a cab for the follwoing morning and went to bed.

Slept in, taxiied to the airport and then waited for my flight, 2 1/2 hours later and here I am in Athens! The rain seems to have let up now so I'm going to head back to the hotel, then out for dinner somewhere and to bed ready for (hopefully) nice weather for some sight-seeing tomorrow. Met a couple on the plane today so hopefully going to have dinner with them tomorrow night which will be nice. Okay, hope the update made sense (I know it's like an essay) but I probably won't write again until I get to Rome! Sadly only 10 days of my trip left! Miss you all xxx