Category Syria
2019 Ends, 2020 Beckons
“A postponed journey means a very special future opportunity.” So say I after having to cancel two booked trips last January, which have now been re-scheduled for early 2020. More of those later, what about the trips actually undertaken in 2019? Athens A late February stay in our central Athens apartment so we could visit […]
Sunday Photos – Camels
Today’s photo collection features that ridiculous looking but truly amazing creature, the camel. Without the ship of the desert there would have been no Silk Route, no Samarkand and perhaps little or no amazing Islamic architecture throughout Central Asia. We have much to thank our hump backed friends for. Kraka the Camel, Krak des Chevaliers, […]
My Top Ten Big Cities Outside Europe – Number One, Aleppo, Syria
Aleppo, Syria – population 1.8 million (estimated) Vying with Damascus to be the oldest continually inhabited city in the world (6,000 years and still counting despite the recent devastation), Aleppo became my favourite from the moment that we met in May 2009. I had travelled by train from Istanbul to Adana in Turkey and then […]
My Top Ten Big Cities Outside Europe #7 – Damascus
#7 – Damascus, Syria (population estimated 1.8 million) I visited Damascus in 2009, two years before civil war broke out. As a government stronghold, the main city has seen relatively little damage compared to the territories that were held by ‘rebel factions’ or ISIS. I have documented my love of Syria many times on this […]
Monday Morning Blues #16 – Umayyad Mosque, Damascus
Every working Monday me and a few of my Twitter pals (@wilburstravels) post a picture on Monday morning aimed at beating those Monday morning blues. Why not join in and spread the word? Post a picture from a wonderful place that features the colour blue. My choice today is of the fabulous mosque in the […]
Sunday Photos – Citizens of Syria
Yesterday I was honoured to give a talk about my 2009 journey from Istanbul to Damascus at the wonderful Globetrotters Club in London. The journey took me from Istanbul to Ankara, Adana, Antakya, Aleppo, Raqqa Province, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Palmyra and finally Damascus, a distance of over 1,000 miles in 12 wonderful days. I finished […]
A-Z April Challenge, St Simeon’s Monastery, Syria
St Simeon’s Monastery is located some 30km north of Aleppo. St Simeon is the guy who legend has it was driven up the pole! Simeon the Stylite lived for 37 years in the 5th century on top of a one metre square platform atop a 15 metre high pillar. He had already lived in solitude […]
