Hello from Palmyra, Syria

Petra is an amazing place to visit. We walked and climbed around the sites for hours - it was very hot in the sun but the shady spots were very welcomed. The myriad of colours in the sandstone rocks and cliff faces are wonderful and inside the caves where the sun does not reach, the colours are really vibrant.

Our aches and pains from all the walking and climbing is taking a few days to wear off - but we have been enjoying all the activity. A couple from Townsville, Jayne and Adam, were heading in the same direction as we were - to the Dead Sea, so we teamed up and booked a taxi for the following day. After our day of walking, we headed up to the Cave Bar where we enjoyed a cold beer - the side rooms were actually tombs from long ago - we opted for the open air and enjoyed the evening breeze and the lights.

Our trip from Petra was about 300 klms down the mountain ranges to the lowest place on Earth, the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is 387 metres below sea level and the sea is about 31% salt - a high concentration of salt due to evaporation. We noticed the temperature rising and the hot dry heat as we drove further north, summer temperatures here exceed 40 degrees.

At one point Pat yelled at the driver as he was heading straight into the back of a parked bus! The driver quickly swung away from the bus and asked why Pat was so concerned - after all, he had been a driver in King Hussein's army for 42 years - no need to worry!!! Jayne and Adam were happy Pat yelled out, as they also felt he was going to collide - I was sitting behind Pat and was just enjoying the local scenes and missed the excitement.

We decided it was time for a treat so checked into the Dead Sea Spa Hotel to have a good beach with access to the sea. Our accommodation included breakfast and dinner, so we were all looking forward to a great dinner. After checking in we headed straight to the private beach - what a hoot! Floating is the name of the game! It's impossible to stay on the bottom - the old body just pops up to the top - lean sideways and it's an involuntary roll - what a scream! Pat and Jayne decided to give themselves a mud pack and within minutes they were walking around like mud men.

Apparently the mud and water here is very therapeutic and people travel from all over the world to relax in the waters and enjoy the healing properties. There is a Medical Centre here at the Spa and there are people in wheelchairs and many others walking with sticks. People also come here for treatment for skin disorders such as psoriasis. There are some European Medical Funds which pay for trips to the Dead Sea for treatment - interesting....

It was a great experience and the water felt great although after about an hour our lips were tingling. The views from the Hotel are great - we can even see Jerusalem on the top of the mountains across the Dead Sea. Jayne and Adam's room had sea views so we were invited over to watch the sunset from their balcony - it was wonderful.

We have been thoroughly enjoying Jordan and the people, whose warmth and friendliness is infectious. "Welcome to Jordan" is heard everywhere - out of cars and shops as we walk by - even little children join in the chorus. Litter is also under better control in Jordan and street cleaners are kept busy both in trucks and on their brooms.

The Holy Land has many religious sites which we enjoyed visiting. We went to the River Jordan where John the Baptist baptised Jesus Christ and also visited Mt Nebo where Moses looked out across the Promised Land after spending 40 years lost in the desert. We could also see the city of Jerico from Mt Nebo.

Amman is the capital of Jordan and sits quite close to the border with Syria. Amman is another big city and from there we booked a service taxi to Damascus the capital of Syria which is the oldest inhabitated city in the World. Jayne and Adam did not have a visa for Syria so were hoping to organise their visas at the border Our driver took us directly to the correct places where we had our visas stamped - Jayne and Adam's visas were organised in about 20 minutes so all went well.

Looking at this dry barren countryside, it is hard to imagine that so much fruit and vegetables are grown here, but as we headed into Damascus the highway was full of trucks loaded up with their produce.

The Lonely Planet recommended accommodation in the Sharia Bahsa area of the Saroujah district - known as the travellers' ghetto. The roadways are so narrow our taxi could not fit into the street so we walked the rest of the way. The hotels are very busy so it took a little while to find a hotel. We checked into the Al-Diwan Hotel for a couple of nights - the management people are very nice. We headed out into the little streets once again and found a great little courtyard restaurant where we had dinner - the bill was about $6 Australian.

In the morning we set out to find an ATM to stock up on some Syrian Pounds then we headed into the Old City of Damascus which is surrounded by what was initially a Roman Wall. The Mosque is a very busy part of the Old City - muslims are called to prayer 5 times a day - so the music and call to prayer is heard all over the city. It's the 4.30am call to prayer that I'm not too fussed about! We walked for hours around the Souq al-Hamidiyya where the shops and sellers are fascinating. Syria is a great place for shopping both with quality and price. There is a shop called Bekdach inside the Souq which sells ice cream topped with flakes of pistachio - what a treat - Pat had the chocolate and I had the vanilla. The shop has hundreds of people in it at any one time - it has to be seen to be believed.

Our bus headed northwest out of Damascus towards Palmyra. Palmyra in the centre of the Syrian desert became a necessary stopping place for caravans taking the shortest route from the Arab Gulf to the Mediterranean, as well as for those taking the Silk Road. This area is an oasis and the water here has sulphur properties - the water has helped in the growing of olives, date palms, cotton and grains.

There is also a valley of tombs here for anyone interested in exploring underground. The beautiful ancient city of Palmyra covers quite a large area and dates back to the first and second centuries. It is even suggested that there are more ruins in Palmyra than anywhere in Greece or Italy. The Syrian people are very nice and seem to be very relaxed about having many visitors come into their country. Of course tourism is a big drawcard in this part of the world, but numbers have decreased since 2001.

We have just finished dinner - I chose a lovely traditional Bedoin dish while Pat branched out and ordered barbequed camel!!