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...