Tag Archives: Palmyra
Syria Before The Conflict Part 7, The People
Now I have come to the end of my posts on my 2009 tour of Syria it is time to consider the people who I came across. I have purposely concentrated on the Syria that I saw on the trip – fantastic history, fabulous architecture and wonderful people. As I now often reflect on what […]
Syria Before The Conflict Part 4, Roman Ruins
After a couple of nights in Hama we were half-way through our Syrian adventure. We had decided to take another train part of the way for the hell of it – for less than an hour between Hama & Homs. We stopped briefly in Homs, first negotiating a taxi for the ride south, a price […]
Monday Morning Blues – Camel Photo Bomber, Palmyra, Syria
I took this shot in May 2009 and it always makes me smile.
The Syrian Conflict – Ten Years of Misery for Millions of Innocent Children
UNICEF have just sent me an email to remind me that the conflict in Syria will now been tragically going on for precisely a decade as of Monday. This is what they have sent me: Powerful stuff. Ten years. TEN YEARS! Close your eyes and imagine yourself ten years ago and then think of your […]
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, […]
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 […]
Syria Before The Conflict Part 7, The People
Now I have come to the end of my 2009 tour of Syria it is time to consider the people who I came across. I have purposely concentrated on the Syria that I saw on the trip – fantastic history, fabulous architecture and wonderful people. As I now often reflect on what has happened these […]
Syria Before The Conflict Part Four, Roman Ruins
After a couple of nights in Hama we were half-way through our Syrian adventure. We had decided to take another train part of the way for the hell of it – for less than an hour between Hama & Homs. We stopped briefly in Homs, first negotiating a taxi for the ride south, a price […]
My Top 15 Travel Pleasures – 9 to 7
9. Riding Unusual Transport You tend to try new modes of transport on your travels, be they animal (elephant in Laos, donkey in Luxor, camel in Wadi Rum), man powered (cyclo in Saigon, rickshaw in Singapore, canoe in Vietnam) or mechanical (street car in Hong Kong, felucca in Aswan, helicopter in Monaco). My favourite mode […]
Palmyra’s Triumphal Arch
With the news that there was a marble replica that would be in display in London for three days, I had of course to go and look for myself. I visited the historical site myself in May 2009 and you can see the replica and the original photographed by me below. This is how the […]
