Aleppo

  Well got into Syria ok in the end. A little hairy in that my Kiwi friends had to shell out an extortionate 210 US dollars for a visa, but it only took another half hour to complete. More hairy was our arrival in Aleppo. We had been sent off in 3 taxis from Turkey, with the reassurance that we would meet up with our Syrian guide at our hotel in Aleppo. Imagine our consternation then at finding our taxi driver didn't know our hotel, only that it was near the Sheraton. Still we found it with the aid of a passing 10 year old. But no guide. The hotel didn't have our names. No one spoke English to an appreciable degree (our taxi driver had a vocabulary that might have reached two figures, but not 3, certainly not enough to form a whole sentence) and Aleppo is just pandemonium. And most signs are in Arabic script. But we managed somehow (in part thanks to lobby staff at the Sheraton), and eventually found our guide had been delayed at Damascus and wouldn't arrive until breakfast next morning.

Aleppo is really Eastern. The place is part medieval, part modern hell. But overall I quite like it. Hell is the traffic. Sort of North Circular Road but without any form of lane discipline, or any crossing points. Only way of crossing a road is just to wait for the slightest gap in traffic and then launch yourself into the whirling milieu. I just haven't worked out whether this is best done with eyes shut or open. Haven't seen an accident yet, but the cars certainly bear some scars.

Another issue for the squeamish is culinary hygiene. By our hotel is a baker. In front of the hotel is a main road of terrifying proportions with cars pouring in every direction. The bakers put their flat breads on the railings by the road to cool down. And if the heady brew of carbon monoxide and bromides are not enough, the said breads often fall on the pavements, only to be picked up and replaced on the fence before being packed up to head off to the various restaurants. And after a quick sortie through the souq's butcher section, well lets just say I ordered the vegetarian option for dinner. (Which incidentally did include meat, just not MUCH meat. Interesting restaurant too - no menu. We just got ushered into the restaurant kitchen (much smaller than mine at home) and allowed to view the various simmering vats of stews and soups and take our pick.) Neither refrigeration nor clean hands appear to be prerequisites for this trade.

Well we did a little sightseeing on our own, mostly of the souq, ie the market-place. A medieval warren of covered stalls that weave around in an impressive and oppressive manner over 1.5kms. There are sections for various products - butchers, spices, soaps, textiles, jewellery, well all sorts really. It would make a wonderful venue for a film with a chase scene on scooters. Bond film producers please note. Its really narrow and busy with shoppers, but still people drive down on motorbikes or push wheelbarrows of goods virtually as wide as the thoroughfare, mostly pushed by little boys probably only around 10 and weighing a tiny fraction of their loads. Its really great for a while, but can get a bit on top of one, especially the touristy bits. Sadly the stall holders no little of my distaste for olive oil soap, shiny head scarfs or bling jewellery.

On escaping this there are a few points of interest, mainly the great mosque and the citadel. The mosque of course was another exercise in appropriate clothing. For me in jeans and t-shirt no hassle. The girls had to be covered in what looked like frilly curtains from head to foot - only face peeking out. But the mosque was worth it for the serenity of the courtyard alone. Also contains the bones of Zachariah (doubt they have been carbon-tested for authenticity) which are behind a glass window. And for the sake of propriety, women are only allowed to look into the right side of the window and men the left. Obviously.

The citadel is Aleppo's most striking feature. A huge man made mound topped by a citadel of ancient provenance, but rebuilt by Muslim dynasties. It contains mostly ruins, but just entering the gates across the enormous moat is an event. It also includes the old baths, illustrated by the worst shop-mannequin dummies you have ever seen in case we couldn't imagine what a man in a towel would look like. But overall a nice spot, especially if you like ruins.

We all went our separate ways after lunch and so I tried to find an old school now converted into an exhibition on the preservation of the Old City. I quickly realised this was going to be a mission and a half and would only be achieved by allowing myself to get lost in the souq, ask for directions until eventually hitting pay-dirt just as I decided to give up. Basically it was unsignposted in a maze. And I can't say particularly worth the effort, other than for the satisfaction of finding the needle in a haystack

Same could probably be said for the Armenian Church of the 40 Martyrs, despite the young priest trying to show us round, examine the icons and convert us into Armenian orthodoxy in 10 minutes. I didn't want to ask what the average congregation was, but I doubt it amounted to much. Similarly sceptical about their Leonardo Da Vinci, although the judgement day icon was suitably amusing with little devils chasing sinners into fires and various torments. Still this Christian quarter offers some nice quite alley-ways and a lovely little place to sink a few cold (Lebanese) beers.

Well time to sign off and get another ice-cream. This place is part internet cafe part ice-cream parlour. The ices are more reliable.