Syria/Lebanon, Part II

Took a week off to zip around Syria and Beirut with Sherman and Alick. Was hoping Katie could join but apparently my company was not worth taking leave for. The plan was to chill in Damascus, bus to Aleppo and snoop around there for a bit, then check out Krak des Chevaliers and Palmyra, the best crusader castle and roman city ruins, respectively, that Syria has to offer. All this would be topped off by a quick visit to Beirut where I could load up on chocolate, good food, and women.

Food was excellent (and cheap) as expected, and we ate about a ton of ice cream. Each. Everything went according to plan except for the chilling in Damascus and the women in Beirut.

Time I would normally have passed in a cafe with a good magazine or a little stuff from work (yes) in both cities, with Levantine (need I say more?) ladies actively approaching me to chat and giggle for no other reason than that I was Chinese, was instead spent on a walkathon around town leading my visitors around as they snapped away with their cameras. Quite certain we each walked about 40km over the course of the week.

Krak des Chevaliers was awesome. Palmyra could be better had I not visited Jordan and Yemen first. Aleppo defines charm. Hope the pics can speak for themselves.

Speaking of charm, Alick definitely seems to have a way with attracting the attention of Syrian women. Must be the striped shirt, waistbag and big-ass tripod. Decided against leading them to Beirut's party-central and a whole lot of other places because of said big-ass tripod. The documentary-style narration he'd provide for his video recordings would not have helped either. "April 14th 2006. We are now at Rue Monot, the city's famed centre of night-life, occupying one square kilometre in the South-Eastern part of the city known as Achrafiye and attracting hundreds of Beirutis every weeken...."

No.

Hope to set foot on West Africa sometime in the next few weeks. Time's a-tickin' away. My days in the region are numbered.

Comments

[Brian]

what geography will your company place you in next?