As were drove away from the Euphrates we entered proper desert landscape; flat, rocky, with scattered Bedouin tents in the distance and herds of sheep grazing the meagre vegetation. Anne was particularly excited when we came across a herd of camels so we pulled over for the obligatory photo of the Land Rover by a camel. There was nobody watching the camels, but some had blankets and others had bells so they weren't wild. We shared our flat bread before leaving them to their grazing.
We were looking out for the road off to the East Wall Palace (or Qasr al-Heir al-Sharqi), an 8th century AD Umayyad complex 40km to the north east, but upon finding the sign it pointed up a dirt track that headed off into the desert. We werenít entirely sure it was correct, but decided to try it anyway; we do have a Land Rover after all. We bounced along the track for a couple of kilometres, sticking to a north easterly direction as other tracks criss-crossed our path, and enjoyed the escape from tarmac, although it wasnít to last. We soon intercepted a proper road which turned out to be the road we should have taken - it left the main highway a bit further west (although it wasnít signed). SPOT
The East Wall Palace used to hold a strategic position on the desert trade routes into Mesopotamia, but is now isolated with just a couple of Bedouin settlements nearby. The site caretaker was waiting for us on his Yamaha motorbike and opened the gate to let us in, then proceeded to guide us around, pointing out various parts of the complex, much of which still lies buried under the desert sand. After a spot of lunch in this barren landscape we returned to the main road, stopping alongside a couple of shepherds who were after cigarettes; they were rather grabby, reaching into the Land Rover's open window and wanting our packet of tissues as well as anything else not nailed down. We parted with a few Camel cigarettes and a tissue and then made our escape. Two hours later we pulled into Palmyra and were definitely back in tourist territory. SPOT
We booked into a cheap hotel in town, then drove up to the 17th century AD castle overlooking the mainly 2nd century AD ruins of Palmyra, a city that grew rich as a staging post for the caravans passing between the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia and Arabia. Whilst the light was starting to fade, we still got a good impression of just how extensive the remains are, spread over 50 hectares. We drove to view the Great Colonnade by spotlight, and when we returned to the Land Rover parked by the Monumental Arch a man called Mohammed was waiting for us. It turned out he runs a campsite located to the side of the huge Temple of Bel and had spotted our tent. We accompanied him to have a look at the place and, over a cup of sweet tea by the fire, said that we would camp tomorrow night. We didn't know there was a proper campsite in Palmyra, although I'm quite glad of having an en-suite tonight; hopefully I'll be fully recovered tomorrow.
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