The drive to Palmyra takes about 2 hours through the desert but as the truck and camper were desperate for washing we spotted a car wash going through the town of Homs and had the whole thing washed inside and out and vacumed inside and leathered off. It took them 45 minutes and cost £1.50 whilst we spent the time sitting chatting (this is definately a pass time in Syria) with the local lawyer and cosmetic surgeon. The cosmetic surgeon gave us his card and I thought he was saying something to do with buttocks but he was saying botox!!! Like everything else in Syria it was probably very cheap but you may end up looking like Ivy Tyldesly from Coronation Street all those years ago with big swollen lips!!

Next stop diesel again. Although we had half a tank left as we drove through the town we saw massive queues 3 abreast outside garages selling diesel and as we were to drive through the desert we thought we had better fill up. On the outskirts we saw a garage with a smallish queue and joined it and soon a tanker arrived. We were the star attraction we were surrounded by taxis, minibuses, tractors,lorries with nobody speaking English but we managed to get by. For two hours we joined in showing them on the map where we had come from and where we were going and then they all discussed this and then wanted to look in the camper. If anyone new joined the queue they would be brought up for a look inside the camper and an explanation on the map.

At long last it was obvious things were moving and engines started and everyone drove at the one pumps that was working with no order whatsoever. After a few minutes the pump attendant came to us and gestured for us to come to the front where they filled us up with 86 litres for about £6.. I think a fight would have broked out at home if someone had jumped the queue!!!!

Soon we lost all vegitation and were in the desert proper with wagons and trucks zooming past along the well tarmaced highway until we reached Palmyra. We chose a hotel with decent parking (although some children knocked off our door mirror) and fantastic views over the ruins.

We ate dinner at a popular restaurant called Pancake House and the owner sat with us drinking tea and bringing out his plans, with all the official Government stamps, for a new development he was building just out of town. He got on to talking about how useless it was to have Tony Blair as Envoy to the Middle East when he couldn't even run his own country!!! In actual fact a lot of what he said about the Arab world did make sense, it was an interesting chat although we did wonder at one stage when he was showing us his plans whether he was going to ask us if we wanted to invest!!!!

Palmyra is one of Syria's main attractions and one of the world's most splending sights. Colonnades, temple remains and burial tombs dating back to the 2nd century AD still remain in this desert oasis setting. It really is a spectacular site, especially as the sun sets over the ruins. There is no entrance fee except to some of the more complete structures and you could easily spend 2 days exploring the whole site as you need transport to get out to some of the more remote areas like the tombs. Even for anyone not particularly interested in ruins Palmyra was a fascinating place to visit.