Aleppo

Our first stop in Syria was Aleppo. Due to more lack of planning on our part ("want to go to Syria tomorrow?", "Sure, why not?"), we couldn't find a cheap hotel. (BTW, cheap in Syria means really really cheap. A three hour bus ride is $1.50!) However, this kind of worked out as we were forced to blow some cash and stay in the Baron Hotel, which had a tonne of character. Agatha Christie used to stay here with her archaeologist husband, and it was here she wrote the first half of Murder on the Orient Express. The place was right out of the 1930s and also had the most ancient hotel staff we had ever met.



We took a trip outside of Aleppo, to see the ruins of the Basilica of St. Simon, built around a column from which he preached for 40 years. Now it looks a bit like a boulder.


We also really liked the markets in Aleppo (souqs), which were full of smells and vendors selling everything.