Umayyad Mosque - Damascus, Syria

Syria is an amazing country. It has much more of an Islamic culture than Turkey did, which in my opinion makes it more interesting. I like the smaller city of Aleppo a little better than Damascus. But Damascus isn't bad either; it's just bigger and a little bit more "modern" relative to Aleppo. Aleppo is just slightly smaller and has a little more character. The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus was worth the visit. It was built in 705 C.E. It's supposed to be the 4th most important mosques in the Muslim world (behind the mosques in Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem). The mosque is noted for its age, size and the stunning Byzantine-style golden mosaics that cover the courtyard walls.

Mausoleum of Saladin (Salah ad-Din)– Damascus, Syria

The Mausoleum was originally built in 1193. It’s the finally resting place of Saladin - or to give him his proper Islamic name Salah ad-Din (‘restorer of the faith - was one of the greatest heroes of Arab history. Salah ad-Din defeated the Crusaders during numerous battles during the 11th Century.

Update - Damascus, Syria

We made it to Damascus. We’ll be spending a few days here in Damascus and taking a day trip to Lebanon to see Baalbek. While I’ve been to Lebanon before, I have never been to Baalbek. We didn’t have time to visit Baalbek on my last trip. Quote for the guidebook “Baalbek, the “Sun City” of the ancient world, is the most impressive ancient site in Lebanon and arguably the most impressive Roman Site in the Middle East.” With a set-up like that it was hard to pass-up the day trip. We’ll also be visiting Beirut while in Lebanon. What I remember most for my last trip to Beirut was the amazing falafel shops!

Check out the map for locatation of the cities in Syria.

Krac De Chevaliers (Castle of the Knights) – Exterior

The castle has been described as “the epitome of the dream castle of childhood fantasies”. The first fortress known to have existed on this site was built in 1031 by the Kurds. It was later expanded by the Crusaders Knights around the middle of the 12th century to its current form. Despite repeated attacks and sieges on the castle, the Crusaders held firm. The Crusaders ultimately retreated from the castle in 1271 after a number of their other outpost were lost including the city of Jerusalem.

Krac De Chevaliers (Castle of the Knights) – Interior

Krac De Chevaliers (Castle of the Knights) - Interior

Krac De Chevaliers, Syria

As you can see in the evening meals are prepared. And since there isn't a kitchen available, we have to make do with what's available...and as you can see sometimes the views are amazin. Dawn and Emma are peeling potatoes for dinner.

Krac De Chevaliers, Syria

"Tent Sweet Home". Most of the time when we camp it's at an official camp site, but, there are times when "official" campsites are not available. When such is the case, we "rough" camp. "Rough" camping basically entails driving off the road prior to sunset and setting-up "camp" in some empty field. In the morning we break camp and go on our way. Not a bad way to see the rural countryside. Here Dawn and Hazel setting-up tent outside the Castle of the Knights.

Aleppo, Syria

Aleppo, Syria

Aleppo, Syria

(l to r) Myself, Joanna (a.k.a. Jo), Frank and James (all group members)

Soap Making Factory - Aleppo, Syria

We visited a soap making factory while we took a walking tour of the city, Aleppo in northern Syria. Soap making has a history dating back some 500 years. The soap is made from olive oil. Bars of soap are stacked on the left. On the right the soap is being dried, prior to being cut and stacked.

Cutting the Soap - Aleppo, Syria

Cutting the Soap - Aleppo, Syria

Cappadocia - Goreme, Turkey (Central)

This area of Turkey is famous for its fanatic’s natural rock formation. Over the centuries people have carved houses, churches, fortresses, even complete underground cities, where early Christians sought refuge in soft eerily, eroded volcanic stone.

Group Photo - Goreme, Turkey

Group photo in front of the Fairy Chimneys (l to r) Frank, Bob, Hazel, Sonja, Tour Guide, Yi-Ching, myself, Andy and Roberto.

Bob and Hazel - Cappadocia, Turkey

Bob and Hazel are the senior members of our group. They are both retired and roaming the world. This is their third overland trip. Previously they “overlanded” in African and North America (Alaska to Panama Canal).

Rock Formations, Cappadocia- Goreme, Turkey

Rock Formations, Cappadocia- Goreme, Turkey

Balloon Ride- Goreme, Turkey

A small group of us took a sunrise balloon ride. While it was my second balloon ride (first one was when I worked for a propane company as a teenager) the scenery this time was much more spectacular (i.e. as compared to N.J.), as we floated over the Cappadocia rock formations. Best words to describe the ride…peacefully, silent (when the gas burner was off) floating.

Balloon Ride

Balloon Ride

View from balloon

View from balloon

View from Balloon of the Rock formations - Goreme, Turkey

View from Balloon of the Rock formations - Goreme, Turkey

Ephesus - Turkey

Ephesus is the best-preserved classical city in the eastern Mediterranean and is one of the best places in the world to get a feel for what life was like in Roman times. I copied that sentence for the Lonely Plant Tour Guide. I though it was a good of an introduction as any. We will be seen many Roman ruins during our travels in the middle east. On April 1st we’ll be going to Baalbek in Lebanon, then after that ( don’t know the exact dates, but) we’ll be seeing Jerash and Petra in Jordan, as well as Palmyra in Syria.

Library – Ephesus, Turkey

This library was amazing. It was built in 114 C.E. (Common Error a.k.a. A.D.) and used to hold 12,000 scrolls in the niches around the walls. Architectural trickery was used to make it look bigger than it really was. In general, the sophistication of the Roman Civilization was amazing. Likewise, it somewhat dumfounding that once it was lost, it took so many years to duplicate the sophistication.

Overland Truck – Turkey

Here we stopped for lunch. The overland truck also converts into our kitchen. It’s equipped with two tables, a four burner gas grill and all the kitchen utensils to cook a meal. We take turns cooking. The capability to cook on the truck saves on the cost of meals and allows freshly cooked meals. We shop daily at local fresh produce markets. At first I thought shopping was going to be a pain…haggling on the prices, not speaking the language, etc… but our first experience went off without a hitch. And actually, it was a great way to experience the markets. The markets are always colorful and vibrant.

Shopping – Turkey

Shopkeeper, myself and Roberto (l to r) shopping at a local market in Turkey. Roberto and Frank (not pictured, he’s taking the picture) comprise our cooking group. There are total for four cooking groups which results in us having to cook every four days or so. Depending on whether we are camping or staying in hostels. When staying in hostels, which we usually do in cities, we generally eats at local restaurants to experience the local foods. Typically, when we camp, we cook off the truck.

Frank Burns – Turkey

Frank is the third person of our cook group. He’s the also the comical, curmudgeon. Economizing on verse, he posts his postcards simply "Times are rough, times are hard, here is your f******g post card. Love, Frank." Similarly, Frank always has a joke...here is today's joke. "The ------ (insert favorite nationality, Irish, Polish, Italian, whatever) invented a VCR that copies programs that you don't want to watch from the TV and plays them back when your not at home."

Dish Washing – Turkey

And as you would expect where there is cooking, there is dishwashing. Three stages of dishwashing: pre-soaking, washing and rinsing. Pictured our illustrious leaders (a.k.a.drivers/navigators/mechanics/nurses/guides/fixers/entertainers) : Sonja, Jim and Andy (l to r). They are all employees of the overland company, Exodus. Sonya has been with Exodus for approximately two years and is the official group leader that will “lead” us to Bangkok. Jim has been with Exodus for seven years and will only be with the group until Tehran. Andy is a new employee of Exodus, and he’ll also accompany us to the trip final destination in Bangkok.

Truva (Troy), Turkey

As you can see from the picture, the “Troy” movie crew donated the Trojan “horse” to the city. According to Homer, Paris abducted the beautiful Helen from her husband, Menelaus, King of Sparta and whisked her off to Troy, thus precipitating the Trojan War. When 10 years of carnage failed to end the war, Odysseus came up with the idea of a wooden horse filled with soldiers, against which Cassandra warned the Trojan in vain. It was left outside the west gate for the Trojans to wheel inside the walls.

Gallipoli, Turkey

It’s the “place” that the Mel Gibson movie is based on. That is, the place where the British, Australian and New Zealand forces made a futile attempt to take Istanbul during WW I. They were fought off by the Turkish forces. The commander of the Turkish forces at the time was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He later became President and known as the father of modern Turkey.

The group has arrived – Istanbul, Turkey

There are twelve passengers on the overland truck and three group leaders for a total of fifteen. The truck can probably hold a total of twenty, so there is some extra room to share. The majority of the people in the group are British. The outliers are two Canadians, one New Zealander, one Taiwanese, and my self (the America). We don’t have a group photo yet, but I’d say the average age around the mid 30’s. Everyone in the group has been getting along great (so far). Then again it’s just the first day.

P.S. I got my Iranian Visa approval from the foreign ministry. I’m psyched the country is suppose to beautiful and the people very friendly, it just the government that is messed up (just like in the U.S.).

Sweet Shop – Istanbul, Turkey

Sweet Shop

Amazing Food – Istanbul, Turkey

Amazing Food

Spice Bazaar – Istanbul, Turkey

Spice Bazaar

Still waiting for the group to arrive – Istanbul, Turkey

I learned how to use the remote on my camera.

Update – Istanbul, Turkey

The weather is just starting to get warm, not what I was expecting. We were experiencing snow flurries two days ago. Today, however, it’s sunny and 55 F. Looking forward to the warmer weather as we move south later in the week. I know I shouldn’t complain, in a couple of month its suppose to be in the 100’s and extremely humid (June in India).

I’m still fascinated by the computer in the hotel, not only is it circa 1998 with Turkish key boards, it is also plugged up with spare ware. Everybody has access to the internet and the hotel staff has very limited knowledge of computers. The receptionist wouldn’t let me use the computer yesterday. I later learned someone default the home page to an explicit, animated adult site. The receptionist didn’t know how to change the homepage and decided it was best to pull the plug. Computer maintained appears to be provided, on a volunteer basis, by the hotel guests.

Everything is going well so far. The thing I’m missing most right now is a place to run. I couldn’t find a place in the city. Hopefully, I’ll have more opportunities as we travel south into the country side. My legs and lungs are wanting.

Highlights – Istanbul, Turkey

I checked out most of the major tourist hotspots - Topkapi Palace, Aya Sophia, and Blue Mosque – each has its own story and all are on UNESCO World Heritage List (they have to be important, see pictures below). The one worth commenting on is Istanbul’s main feature the 1,400 year old Aya Sophia, built in the 6th century as a Byzantine church. In the 15th century structure was converted it to a mosque when Ottoman Empire captured the city and changed the name of the city from Constantinople to Istanbul. Today, the structure is major tourist revenue for the city, but nevertheless, quite impressive. Per the guide book it took 1000 skill labors and 10,000 unskilled labors 6 years to build. The structure is 56 meters (184 ft) and the dome is 30 meter in diameter with 30 million gold mosaic tiles covering the interior (something to impress the kids).

Aya Sophia

Interior - Aya Sophia - Renovations

Interior - Aya Sophia

Interior - Aya Sophia

Blue Mosque

Interior - Blue Mosque

Interior - Blue Mosque

Interior - Blue Mosque

Topkapi Palace

Random Mosque - There are a lot around town

Food – Istanbul, Turkey

Searching for things to do, I found a restaurant that offered a cooking class. The food here is excellent. I’m surprised Turkish food isn’t more popular in the States. In the class, we learned how to make Spicy Lentil Soup, Stuffed Eggplant, Topkapi Chicken stuffed with rice, dill, pistachios, and tomatoes, and some type of really sweet Turkish desserts. Turks are known for their sweets. An upside of the cooking class was we got to eat the food we prepared. A downside was some of the portions were mangled by other participants during the pre-process. Next time, I’m going tag the portions I prepare.

Cooking Class

Self Portrait - Istanbul, Turkey

Before departing on this trip, I was asked not to just post photos of tourist sites (you know who you are), but to also post some pictures with me in them -- well here you go -- since I don’t have any friends yet (people from the group should be arriving this evening) and I didn’t want to bother a stranger, to much effort :) ---a self portrait in the Aya Sophia with the soon-to-be ubiquitous orange hat.

Self Portrait - Interior - Aya Sophia

Istanbul, Turkey

I made it to Istanbul. I’m typing on a Turkish keyboard, using a Turkish version of Windows 98 and I can barely see the letters on the screen. Interesting. I’m exhausted and my luggage is still in Frankfurt, Germany. It should be arriving ın Istanbul around 8PM. The plane was delayed in Newark, NJ because of the ice-snow storm. Hopefully, my sister-in-law made it home safely after dropping me off. I arrived at the airport at 3pm and the highways were a parking lot with numerous accidents. The plane took off at 7pm and the NJ Turnpike was still a parking lot (as viewed from the plane). Thank you, Theresa. I’m going to take a nap.

Only One More Day

The countdown is on...I can't wait to leave. I'm all prepared, just waiting until March 8th (tomorrow). I've planned my stay in Istanbul...hotel reservations, sites to see (many of them I’m still reading about), food to eat and alcohol to drink. I'll have six day to see Istanbul, before I meet up with the group on March 15th.

The most frequent question so far has been... do you know the people you'll be traveling with? The answer is no! However, on March 15th, when I met the group, I'm going to take a group picture and post at the subsequent internet cafe. Say tuned...

First Glitch

The first glitch in my travel plans is that my Iran Visa Request was rejected. They accepted everyone else on the trip except me. No one else on the trip is American, however. The tour company is going to try to reapply. If I don't get a Visa, I'll have to fly over Iran and Pakistan to India and meet up with the group there. The tour company believes there is a direct correlation between Iran Visa rejections and what going on in the news. Thank you, GW for making the world safer!!