Tag Archives: Syria
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 […]
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 […]
Carry On, Follow That Camel!
Camels of the Middle East, Africa & Central Asia The unusual title for my blog post is actually the title of one of my favourite films in the long running series of comedic ‘Carry On’ films that became a much loved staple of UK cinema in the ’50s, ’60s & ’70s. This one had our […]
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 […]
A-Z April Challenge – Norias of Hama, Syria
In May 2009 I was lucky enough to visit Syria. This is how it was before the tragic conflict. Hama is famous for its norias, huge wooden water wheels used to lift water from the River Orontes to irrigate the crops. It is claimed that they date back to 1100 BC and although no longer […]
