Category Syria
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. We travelled by bus from the Roman ruins at Palmyra and […]
My Favourite Travel Photos – 1 to 5
I am completing my favourite travel photos with my famous five, the quintet that I (currently) love the most. Hotel Baron, Aleppo, Syria This photo signifies so much. Hamish and I travelled to Syria overland from Istanbul by train, bus and taxi in May 2009. This was actually the third time of trying to get […]
My Favourite Travel Photos – 6 to 10
Continuing my favourite travel photos with my second favourite batch of five. The Mekong River, Luang Prabang, Laos In all my travels I have never seen a sunset as lovely as the one in Luang Prabang. On both my 2010 & 2015 visits I lingered for over and hour at a time to capture the […]
Sunday Photo – Father’s Day
Syria For Father’s Day I have chosen some pictures of Syrian dads with their children taken in May 2011. I always wonder how they have fared since………… Please donate a little currency to the UNICEF Syrian Children Appeal if you have some to spare.
A-Z April Challenge (Cities Visited) – D for Damascus
The capital was to be the last port of call on our magical Syrian tour in 2009. Damascus vies with Aleppo as being the oldest continually inhabited city in the world, both having a history of over 6,000 years. Like its Northern neighbour (see my entry for A), Damascus is stuffed with highlights. Umayyad Mosque […]
A-Z April Challenge (Cities Visited) – A For Aleppo
As many of you may know, Aleppo is my favourite city I have ever visited. We all know the fate that befell this metropolis inhabited for the past 6,000 years that is situated on the ancient Silk Road. I won’t dwell on the horrendous occurrences of the last 9 years though, but will show things […]
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 […]
