Very annoyingly the Toyota guys had avoided the US$100/week diesel tax when they came into Syria, just by saying they used benzene instead of diesel. Nobody checked their vehicles and didn't seem to notice the obvious diesel rattle, so they got away with it (for now at least, they may get caught when exiting Syria). We can't decide if we are naive overlanders for not trying the same tactic, or if we're just happy to be honest about these things and not set ourselves up for trouble later (probably the latter).
A return to the souk to explore its southern extension to the second of the two surviving city gates (Bal al-Qinnesrin) resulted in our purchasing a tablecloth. I think Anne blames me for being too nice and engaging the shop keepers in conversation, but I'm sure the tablecloth will come in handy on our travels. We got a 'Good price' as they were clearing stock as it's the quiet time of year and we were their first customers of the day; at least that's what we were told during the selling process. I also got my penknife sharpened and we tried some warm milky custard type drink sprinkled with cinnamon that the locals seemed to be enjoying with a slightly sweet bread roll; Anne really wasn't impressed, but I think it could grow on me.
On the road down to the gate we stopped to look into a former mental asylum (Bimaristan Arghan) which was housed in a lovely 14th century building, the cells opening onto a beautiful courtyard, off which corridors lead to other cells, courtyards and treatment rooms. A young Syrian student was taking photographs on his phone to send to his girlfriend who is currently in America and he started chatting to us. He invited us back to see his grandfather's house nearby, a traditional building centred on a courtyard (but the house is now empty, waiting to be sold). It was so nice to see behind one of the small metals doors we had been passing, and Ahmad asked if he could accompany us to the city gate and citadel as he needed a break from studying (he's in his final year of a textile engineering degree and his exams start in ten days).
Ahmad was the perfect 'tour guide', telling us about the old city and its sights, he also took us to buy two of the specialities of the city (olive soap and zaíatar, the latter is a spice mix served with olive oil and is used for dipping bread), bought us falafel wraps for lunch and gave us an insight into Syrian life and the culture.
The citadel is perhaps more impressive from the outside than inside, but itís the views of the city that you really go up for as itís the highest point in the city with a 360 panorama over Aleppo, which stretches as far as the eye can see (housing over 2 million people). The fortifications were never breached in battle (not surprising when you see the massive gateway complex), and the throne room within the main keep has been restored to its former glory.
After a glass of tea, Ahmad walked us back to our hotel via the vast public plaza and large park that lie to the west of the Old City and he seemed sorry to say goodbye (maybe it was because he no longer had an excuse to avoid his revision).
We popped over to a nearby 4* hotel in the evening in order to use their wi-fi to check emails and update the blog, but ended up having dinner there as well (we were seduced by pizza and pasta, although both were slightly 'different'). However, after being unable to open up my blog page, a quick Google revealed that Syria currently blocks Blogger, which is going to make updates slightly tricky to do until we leave the country. Apologies in advance for when you get three weeks worth of blog all in one go!
(Tory - Mike's Sister in Law - is updating MikenAnne's blog for them :))
No comments:
Post a Comment