A long edition this time as the internet café in Hama was on go-slow(er)! On Sunday I left Palmyraat 6 a.m. to avoid the heat on thejourney to Hama. I was the only foreigner on the bus, which was full to bursting - there was even a garden chair in the aisle. The ceiling was covered in blue & gold carpet, there were blue and gold curtains and tasseled pelmets, and decorative chrome handrails. A video was playing of some kind of concert in a mosque, with lots...

I travelled from Damascus to Palmyra yesterday by bus across the desert. It wasn't a very exciting journey as the landscape doesn't vary much, but it was interesting to see a few small settlements and roadside "restaurants" (one was called Bagdad Cafe 66!), and some Bedouin camps with sheep and goats (no camels - they get around in 4WDs these days). Palmyra is a very small oasis town with the ruins of a big Roman city, which is the only reason people v...

Just a quick entry this time - I've put some notes on the photos and I've been in the internet cafe for ages! This is day 4 in Damascus, to,orrow I move on to Palmyra, about 4 hours away, where there are vast ruins of a Roman city in an oasis. They say you have to see it at sunrise and at sunset, so I'm staying a couple of nights. Since the last entry I've spent a morning at a village in the hills with 2 convents. One has a chapel that was built in 300-325 AD -...

I'm in Syria - Damascus, to be precise. There were lots of unnecessary panics on the way (had I forgotten my purse? Was the ash going to get in the way? etc etc.) but Rescue Remedy helped, and I arrived at the hotel soon after midnight last night. I wanted to leave again straight away when I saw the room and the sanitary facilities, but it was too late at night. I slept very little, and was woken by the slightest things - rain (which I really didn't expect - I th...