We loved Turkey…. and kebabs. Turkey is one of the few places we have been where we could easily see ourselves living. Istanbul is a vibrant, classicly modern city with culture spewing out its ears. Turkey has so much to see that our measly 13 days barly even scratched the surface. Turkey shot right to the top of our list of places to return to.

Syria, on the other hand, was too complex a society to even begin to get a handle on in the few days passing through so I will reserve my opinion until the next time…

(Be sure to check out the Turkey and Syria photo gallery here)

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June 12, 2009 – Day 169 – Aleppo, Syria

Since we are really just in transit to Turkey and don’t have enough time to really see Syria this time around, we checked out early and caught a bus to Aleppo. Unfortunately, we spent most of the day traveling and didn’t get to Aleppo til early evening.

The drive north

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June 11, 2009 – Day 168 – Damascus, Syria

The day was slow, uneventful, and really really hot. We wandered lazily through the Grand Bazaar glancing into the doors and windows of the thousands of shops selling everything from duvets to cheap souvenirs to tea and fruit. A man with a mustache dressed in black gypsy pants, a brightly embroidered, ruffled shirt and a fuzzy black hat sold tea from a 3 foot tall samovar making clinking melodies with the tea cups on his fingers.

Syrian Tea Seller

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June 10, 2009 – Day 167 – Damascus, Syria

“What do you mean you won’t take us to Syria?” We were both flabbergasted at the idea of not being able to get a bus to Damascus. We had tried nearly 10 bus companies and none would take us even just to the Syrian border because we are Americans. Lucky for us, we found one company who didn’t speak enough English for us to explain that it would take a long time so they took us to the border, but when they were told by border officials just how long it would take for us to get visas we were promptly kicked off.

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