Aleppo
After spending on more night in Damascus it took a 4.5hours bus ride and we made it to Aleppo.
Aleppo is a 4.5 million people commercial and industrial city. It is much larger than I
thought. The traffic is just as bad as in Damascus. What surprised us all is the fact that we have-not seen even a single accident.
The highlights so far:
-Visiting the souq in Aleppo, 12 kilometers of merchants selling anything and everything
-visit to St Simeon cathedral, 20 km out of Aleppo, great history and sights
-visit Aleppo Citadel, great history, (site history goes back to 1800BC) and great
example of a military fortification.
-visit a local hammam (Turkish bath)
Food was great all along and really really cheap. Last night we went to a restaurant in the Armenian quarter and for a three course meal with some alcohol for four people we paid 2085 SYPounds, or about 42USD. This was a really nice restaurant. On the street you can eat with as little as 2 USD for a quick meal
Lessons learned:
It is not as easy to find pay [phone as you would think. I was able to find a calling card is just hard to use….
There are not as many internet cafés in Aleppo
Not too many people speak English around here, an that makes very difficult to communicate and to fully understand what local life is all about
On the same note I really have a hard time configuring key board back to English
Excellent cell phone coverage so far in Lebanon, Damascus to Aleppo and Surroundings
People are very friendly and willing to help, if only they could speak English, or some other language I understand….
Traveling during Ramadan is not as difficult as people think; there
Are many restaurants catering to the tourists and locals are really understanding of
foreigners. However is very bad etiquette to eat or drink on the street.
For a country that is famous for its trading history and skills Syria is doing a very poor job of promoting itself. Some more marketing would really help as there is definitely a lot to see and do over here.
Another poor marketing example is the hammam I visited this evening, Great و architecture and experience, however very hard to find. If you visit Aleppo do not miss: HAMMAM AL SALLHIA on BAB AL MAKKAM street phone 0988014848 (you can call them but unless you speak Arabic …..)
ُEasier to get there is to find Ismail, he sells “special” olive oil soap in front of the Citadel and get him to take you there. His English is “excelent”, all 50 words of it…
More from an internet café with a better keyboard
Cheers
Traveler2007
November 21st, 2007 at 2:19 pm
hey, im sorry to tell you, but you paid too much. 2085syrian lera makes 42 USD yes, but a meal at a very fancy restuarant in Damascus for 3 people with alot of food costs no more then 1500syrian lera.
allepo is much cheaper then damascus, my friends and i (about 6 people) at at an extreamly nice and fancy restuarant for only 1200syrian pounds. on the street you said you can eat for as little as 2USD. sorry you overpaid again.
on the street you can eat for most expensive being 25syrian pounds (0.50 USD)
i dont know who told you these prices but you were taken for a fool.
i am a syrian, i know what im speaking about.
—-
other then this, i am very glad that you came to visit syria and the middle east and hope you come to visit again.
p.s it seemed like you hardly spent any time in damascus?
November 21st, 2007 at 2:40 pm
i just wanted to say something else, next time when you come to visit, go to the ministry of tourism in damascus.
they will give you a whole book for free about syria and ALL the touristic sites,hamams,libraries,musiums,souqs etc…
with all their phone numbers and opening and closing times. the book also has all the cultural does and don’t, expected prices etc.. it is very good.
allepo is filled with hamams, souqs(underground souq, soap souq, ministers souq, silk souq, gold souq etc..) and other amazing places.
damascus is also filled with many amazing places as well. i am sorry that you didnt get to go to them.but please like i said, next time go to the ministry of tourism and they will give you a list of every single hamam,souq, etc etc with all their phone numbers, as well as a detailed map of whatever city you are in with all the places listed on it.
they also provide tours that cover every single city in syria. its cheap too , about 120 USD per person , the busses provided are very comfortable and delux as well.
please do more research before visiting next time!!
yes, it is very difficult for someone who hasnt gone to the ministry of tourism and who isnt syrian/arab to find these small hidaway places. every corner contains a historical site.
so come back again but go to the ministry of tourism first.
p.s : yes like our dear ismail said, the soaps(any kind) made in allepo are truley wonderfull. they are the first hard soaps of the world. they are all organic,and contain absolutely no chemicals at all and are all medicinal and healing. they are great for hairloss,eczema etc as well as for washing clothes or to be put in closets to get rid of bugs.
December 16th, 2007 at 9:02 am
wail jassar
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read.
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