Nightmare, nightmare, nightmare - guess why??Yep, the guide!!!She was late again so we went to the first stop with our driver and took a self guided tour of St Paul's Chapel, which is said to be the place where St Paul (Saul) evaded death at the hands of the Jews by being lowered in a basket over the city walls and making his escape from Damascus.When our guide finally arrived it was to inform us that we were being joined by another group of 6 people, one of whom was in a wheelchair - not really the best omen for a walking tour of an ancient city with cobbled streets!So, we lost it at this point, walked out and insisted on having the private tour we paid for.Our agency relented and finally arranged another guide but sadly we got stuck with the old while the other group waited 45 minutes for theirs to turn up!

As a result of the morning's delay and debate about our itinerary we had to forgo the National Museum and Tekieh Suleimanieh, both of which we'd paid for in the package. Instead, we had to spend time waiting for her to go to the toilet, buy snacks (she had a bad stomach from the cold), buy ice-cream and pray in the mosque...we still can't help thinking that we had the roles of guide and tourist somewhat reversed!In future I think I'm going to walk around waving a bright umbrella conspicuously above my head.All said and done, we did still manage to see the Umayyad Mosque, Azem Palace and St Ananias house, the latter having nothing to do with pineapples!

We finally dumped the guide off at 1700 so it's just us and the driver for the rest of the trip.Drove to Homs for an overnight ready for Crac Des Chevaliers in the morning.

The Grand Mosque of Damascus, commonly known as the UmayyadMosque, stands on a site that has been considered sacred ground for at least 3,000 years.It was 1000 BC at the latest when the Arameans built a temple here for Hadad, the god of storms and lightening but the present structure was built between 706 and 715 AD by thousands of craftsmen of Coptic, Persian, Indian and Byzantine origin.The tomb of Saladin stands in a small adjoining garden and the mosque holds a shrine which is said to contain the head of John the Baptist.

Al-Azem palace was built in 1750 by the Ottoman governor of Damascus As'ad Pasha al-Azem.The palace has two main wings: the haramlik and the salamlik.The family wing, or haramlik, is a private space that is connected to the kitchen and servant quarters.The public area reserved for the outside guests, called the salamlik, contains the formal halls, reception areas and exclusive courtyards for entertainment.The palace now houses the Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions.