Goreme, Turkey. 21.7.2010

Fairy Chimneys

We awoke at 6 am to witness a remarkable site. Around twenty hot air balloons were floating in the sky above the surreal landscape beneath. Flight conditions are especially favourable here and ballooning is a popular way to see the extraordinary landscape of gorges and cones. We met up with our guide and drove off road in the valleys to see the troglodyte dwellings and peribacalar (fairy chimneys). These structures can reach heights of up to 40 metres, have conical shapes and are topped by caps of hard rock resting on pillars of softer rock. The local villagers call them kalelar ( castles). The geological explanation is that erosion wiped out the lava covering the tuff (consolidated volcanic ash)leaving behind the isolated pinnacles.


The Dutch and the Belgians

It is quite amazing how many Dutch and Belgian cars you see here. It’s holiday season so you see lots of Germans, French, Italians and Dutch but Dutch/Belgian cars are everywhere due to the fact that so many Turks who reside in Holland and Belgium are also home to see their families during the holidays. We entered a little shop in Goreme and we didn’t have to try to speak Turkish as the friendly owner had lived in Belgium for 37 years! Of course, the kids got free ice-creams.








Testi-kebap

We ate lunch in a local restaurant and tried the Testi kebap (pottery kebap with meat or mushrooms and vegetables cooked in a sealed terracotta pot which is broken theatrically at the table). After the kids made mud pies on the camping (there was no mud before we got there!) and had a swim and relaxing time around the pool.

Syria to Turkey. 20.7.2010

Border

We rose early as we planned to drive all the way to Goreme in Turkey (Cappadocia). First we had to negotiate the Syrian- Turkish border post at Kilis. We chose this crossing as the Bab al- Hawa crossing, which is closer to Aleppo, is generally busier and the road beyond Kilis is better. Indeed the border crossing was not too busy but as any of you who have lived in the Middle East will know, you need a large dose of patience when dealing with anything bureaucratic. Eventually after many stamps in the passports, little pieces of white paper and two and a half hours we were on our way. Interesting little fact here- we saw lots of old Syrian cars turning to rust at the Turkish border post. These cars were presumably not roadworthy enough to enter Turkey. Turkish officials were checking Syrian cars thoroughly. Petrol is also much cheaper in Syria so they don’t want you bringing in petrol either. Luckily they just asked us if we had petrol and didn’t make us empty our truck!

Gaziantep to Goreme

In contrast to Syria the roads are well-maintained in Turkey and there is a plentiful amount of service stations and rest areas. Yes, you still see houses that are half finished (either the owner needs to get more funds to build further or the builder has gone bankrupt) but Turkey is certainly more developed, cleaner and greener. We drove along the coastal highway from Gaziantep to Tarsus(birthplace of St Paul) on a relaxing road with no chaotic drivers, three lanes (so trucks can overtake each other easily and not slow the fast lane down) and no potholes. What an easy drive! We drove inland to Cappadocia through picturesque villages, valleys where you can see for miles and tree covered mountains. Even though I'm a keen geographer I hadn’t realised how much of Turkey is forested. In fact, an impressive 26.7 % of 779, 452 sq km is tree covered. The highway climbs up to 1400m past Ala Daglar National park (with Mount Demirkazik standing at 3756m). It’s simply beautiful! We arrived at Goreme at 6 o’clock and found a very good camp ground- Kaya camping. The breathtaking view of Goreme’s famous fairy chimneys- rock columns, mushrooms,pyramids and the valleys of cascading cliffs which were formed when Erciyes Dagi erupted is amazing. Tired and hungry, we ate and put up the tent. We had stepped into a magical children’s fairy tale and with that we closed our eyes and went to sleep.

Syria and its people

In restaurants, shops and on the streets they call to us ’Ahlan wa Sahlan’- you are welcome

Bicyclists, cars, boys carrying trays of bread, donkeys, men pushing trolleys full of goods all vie for space on the narrow streets whilst calling out to each other “Hi, how are you?” “How’s your health?” “How’s your family?”

Syrian sheep herders think nothing of guiding their goats in the fast lane of the highway- towards you!

Farmers drive their tractors on the hard shoulder and bicyclists zip across the highway to the adjacent village

Old ladies tell us melancholic tales of how they lost their family members when the French bombarded Damascus to suppress the rioting in 1925

Lattakian hotel workers turn up at the door to repair the toilet when we ask housekeeping for extra toilet paper and towels

In Aleppo, guys sit around and smoke nargilehs and exchange opinions about football

At Crac des Chevaliers the enthusiastic waiter tells us ‘’We have mezze with barbecued chicken or do you want barbecued chicken with mezze?’’

In Damascus families sit together in their small courtyards and watch television

Taxi drivers are helpful, eager to practise their English and believe they are rally drivers

In Hama complete strangers come up to us and tell us ‘Welcome to Syria.’ Everyone smiles and nods and looks fondly at our kids. ‘Salam’ they say

Their hospitality is unparalleled.

Aleppo 19.7.2010

Lawrence’s footsteps

Today we stopped off at the Baron Hotel on the way to the old city. We have been following in the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia so I figured let’s go and see one of the most famous hotels in the Middle East. The bar and the sitting room are looking very old and worn and in the sitting room there is a very nondescript cabinet with a signed bill from Lawrence. To me the hotel looked exactly as it must have done when Lawrence walked in here from the desert nearly 100 years ago.

Travelling with children

We ventured further through Aleppo’s bustling streets. Just like Damascus the city is a jammed labyrinth of run-down apartments, minarets, mosques, churches and vendors selling their wears on busy street corners. Drivers move forward before the traffic signal has turned green, constantly honking their horns in a desperate struggle to move forward down the chaotic streets. We arrived at the more peaceful Al-Jdeida area, Aleppo’s predominantly Christian district. We had to find a restaurant quickly as Amber was quite sick with stomach cramps. She had been ill yesterday but the heat probably didn’t help. Having a sick child when you are travelling is very worrying. Suddenly, sight-seeing, exploring, enjoying, shopping, eating and discovering no longer seem important. Aleppo’s souk and its Citadel are well worth a visit. Unfortunately we missed this and went back to our hotel. The kids played games in the hotel room and watched movies. We missed parts of Aleppo but our little girl is now in good health. Happy children= happy travels!

Lattakia to Aleppo. 18.7.2010

Lattakia to Aleppo

The road from Lattakia to Aleppo begins as a dangerous, single-lane highway with trucks trying to overtake each other on the downhill bends of windy roads! The road is incredibly picturesque with farms, orchards, forests and hills and you could easily forget that this country has a desert in the east. Lots of the fruit and vegetables available in Qatar came from Syria and here you can see it all growing. Lorries pass carrying all manner of watermelons, tomatoes, cucumbers and grapes. Eventually, the road becomes a brand new dual carriageway. We have no GPS for Syria and the map I bought in Qatar is ten years old so we were pleasantly surprised to find the best road in Syria. However, the road itself was not quite finished so traffic drove both left and right on both sides of the dual carriageway! We arrived in Aleppo, again chaotic streets and erratic driving surrounded us. Aleppo has a one-way system which adds to the confusion when you are trying to find your hotel. And we thought Qatari roads were difficult, you haven’t seen anything until you come here to Syria! We parked our car at the hotel and walked into the ancient city of Aleppo ( one of the world’s oldest). The old city is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and when you walk around the streets it really does feel like you have stepped back in time. There was even a shop selling buckets of coal! We had a little wander around and then decided to get a taxi back to save the kids legs. Our friendly taxi driver didn’t quite know where our hotel was so located so he read the map whilst driving along, negotiating the road and conversing with us in broken English all at the same time. I am glad to report that we all got back in one piece, just!

Crac des Chevaliers, Tartus,Lattakia. 17.7.2010

Crac des Chevaliers, Qalaát – al- Hosn

The crusader knights’ castle stands high upon the hill overlooking the break in Jebel Ansariyya- Homs Gap. The castle’s position helped to assure authority over inland Syria. In the 12th century the crusader knights rebuilt the castle which was originally a fortress built by the emir of Homs in 1031. Crac was able to resist sieges and attacks even one led by Saladin himself ( his castle is on the same coast line). This was due to Crac having an outer wall with 13 towers. Then a moat and an inside wall and central construction built on a rocky platform. It’s very impressive and you can understand when you walk around it why the castle never fell to the enemy. In fact when the Mamluk Sultan Beybars marched on the castle in 1271 the knights at Crac were a last outpost. Jerusalem was already lost and the retreat of the Christians was already underway. The last soldiers at Crac departed for Tripoli as they were surrounded by Islamic armies on each side. Thus the castle never fell nor got destroyed. The chapel was converted into a mosque after the Muslim conquest. Amber found this room and as we walked into it it did look like a church in its design but right in the middle was an Islamic Minbar (pulpit).

Tartus and Lattakia

We drove towards the Syrian coast. Firstly to Tartus in the hope of finding a hotel or camping near the sea and sands. Alas, this part of the Syrian coast is not really geared up for tourists and Tartus despite having a pleasant corniche is ramshackle, litter strewn and worn. Lattakia is similar although less ramshackle and more pavement cafes. A huge port occupies the coastline so we travelled further north to the blue beach. Still no campings! Disappointed we stayed at Le Meridian hotel because we wanted to swim and enjoy the beach and pool. This hotel was perfect for this, although the swimming pool also had salt water! Weird! Contrary to the rest of Syria this was not a friendly place. Staff were unhelpful and the mass of Arabic tourists from Oman, UAE, and Syria made it the busiest place we have seen so far on our trip in Arabia.

Seidnayya, Maalula and Hama. Syria 16.7.2010

We said our goodbyes to our friends at the Damascus Hostel. Raymond et al made our time in Damascus an enjoyable one and the kids especially loved it.

Seidnayya
We headed out to Seidnayya, this is where Our Lady of Seidnayya Convent is perched high upon a rocky outcrop.During the time of the crusades the Christians considered Seidnayya second in importance to Jerusalem.Today, it still remains an important place for Christian pilgrimage.This is due to the presence of a portrait that may have been painted by St Luke. The portrait of the Virgin Mary has many miracles attributed to it and both Christian and Muslim pilgrims come here.

Maalula

Next stop Maalula famed for being one of only three villages where Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ, is still spoken. We headed up the steep sided hill to the Convent of St Thecla. St Thecla was a student of St Paul and one of the earliest Christian martyrs. The legend says that when Thecla was cornered by soldiers sent to execute her she prayed to God. Immediately lightning appeared and struck the cliff creating a cleft in the rock and she was able to escape. We visited the St Thecla Gap a small siq (cleft) cut through the rock by run-off water from the plateau above the village. The siq reminded us of the siqs in Wadi Rum and Petra, albeit a much smaller version.






















Hama

Throughout the Middle East the giant, wooden water wheels of Hama are very famous. These water wheels called Norias make a loud, creaking noise as they turn. They are 20 metres in diameter and the wheel and the blocks that they are mounted on are all wooden- hence the mournful groans! There have been Norias here since the 4th century AD but of the 17 Norias that survive today(all reconditioned) these were designed by the Ayyubids in the 13th century.














Ancient Funfair

Hama is quite a conservative place, most women have headscarves and long clothes. Contrary to Damascus where more women can be seen wearing western- style clothes and eschewing the headscarf. We visited a local park and the Norias and Amber spotted a funfair. The funfair looked like it had been built when my mother was a girl. There were only 3 dodgem cars working but Thomas managed to run fast and wrestle for a car for him and his sister. The kids had a ball and we got lots of friendly, inquisitive smiles. We were the only western family around and with our blonde hair we got lots of friendly stares. People came up to us and introduced themselves, asked where we were from and welcomed us to Syria. Other people said hello or salam as we walked by. So hospitable!