The Syrian border was a minutes walk from my hotel in Nusaybin. I was the only person there so it took no time at all leaving turkey. Entering Syria was a little different. Before even getting to immigration a handful of people wanted to see my passport and check all through my baggage. Once in immigration i had to fill out the same forms that i filled in when applying for the my visa back in London. And then through customs the same thing. Everyone was real nice about the whole thing, how is your father? What do you do? Did you enjoy turkey? and always finishing with 'welcome to Syria'.
I had planned to catch the train to Aleppo. After traveling 4000 km by bus in Turkey it seemed like a good option and at 175 Syrian pounds (less than $5) was extremely cheap. I caught a taxi to the train station who did there best to convince me that taking a bus was a better option. I said no I'd like to the the train. They said ok but you'll have to go to the ticket office in town to buy tickets. Another taxi ride and the ticket office also did there best to convince me the bus was a better option. Ok so another taxi ride and i was at the bus station. Syrian taxi drivers must come some where below lawyers and marketing execs on the list of what is wrong with the world. They use the horn in place of indicators and even if there is a red light will use it to hurry those in front. When it finally does go green they'll stop in the middle of the intersection and talk to the traffic cop holding up everyone behind. At the bus station i was charged 200 pounds. even though the meter only said 50. I tried to explain this. He said it was broken. Blatantly ripped off by its hard to get upset over less than 2 quid. The bus to Aleppo, a trip of nearly 500km was only 190. More bag searches and passport checks and we were off.
About an hour in to the trip a fight broke out between the attendant and someone sitting down the back. Me not understanding a word of Arabic (other than thank you which they definitely weren't saying) had no idea what was going on. Being only 80km from the Iraq border images of hostage situations or suicide bombers flashed briefly through my mind. But the bus turned back to Qamishle. At the bus station some people got out and the fight continued, the police were involved and it got quite messy. A lady sitting in front of me said 'problem......cigar' giving a smoking gesture. So apparently we were delayed for 3 hours because someone wanted to have a smoke.
We ended up arriving in Aleppo quite late. I had no idea where i was as it seemed we weren't at the bus station but on the side of the road some where. My bag was the last to be offloaded. The taxi drivers swarmed. The fight was epic, having no regard for the contents of my bag or even whether i wanted a taxi in the first place. The victor stormed away with his prize and I followed him (my bag) to the smallest Fiat ever made held together by cable ties and duct tape. I tried to explain where i was going. I didn't know the name of the hotel in Arabic and he didn't know the street even though i later discovered i pronounced it perfectly. After some exchanges we finally managed to agree on the Sheraton Hotel which was more or less where i wanted to go. At this time i notice the meter wasn't running. I asked him to turn it on repeatedly. Turns out no matter how short the distance the tourist rate is 200.
I got dropped of the Sheraton and walked to my hotel which I discovered was fully booked. After having entire towns to myself in Turkey this came as a shock. The clerk rung around and all were booked. It was approaching mid night and I was getting a little worried. Then the clerk said we have one with no toilet. And i finally had somewhere to stay.
Aleppo would probably be my favourite city on the trip so far. People are friendly, its not that messy and theres plenty to see and do. The only trick is crossing the street. Traffic is constant and there are few traffic lights (not that it matters). I found that the trick is to wait for a local to cross and use them as buffer between you and the oncoming traffic. I rate the souqs here higher than the Grand bazaar in Istanbul. More variety, more character and less people grabbing you by the arm and dragging you into there stores. Though anyone who speaks English will try to get you into there store. Of course there all in the lonely planet guide.
I had planned to catch the train to Aleppo. After traveling 4000 km by bus in Turkey it seemed like a good option and at 175 Syrian pounds (less than $5) was extremely cheap. I caught a taxi to the train station who did there best to convince me that taking a bus was a better option. I said no I'd like to the the train. They said ok but you'll have to go to the ticket office in town to buy tickets. Another taxi ride and the ticket office also did there best to convince me the bus was a better option. Ok so another taxi ride and i was at the bus station. Syrian taxi drivers must come some where below lawyers and marketing execs on the list of what is wrong with the world. They use the horn in place of indicators and even if there is a red light will use it to hurry those in front. When it finally does go green they'll stop in the middle of the intersection and talk to the traffic cop holding up everyone behind. At the bus station i was charged 200 pounds. even though the meter only said 50. I tried to explain this. He said it was broken. Blatantly ripped off by its hard to get upset over less than 2 quid. The bus to Aleppo, a trip of nearly 500km was only 190. More bag searches and passport checks and we were off.
About an hour in to the trip a fight broke out between the attendant and someone sitting down the back. Me not understanding a word of Arabic (other than thank you which they definitely weren't saying) had no idea what was going on. Being only 80km from the Iraq border images of hostage situations or suicide bombers flashed briefly through my mind. But the bus turned back to Qamishle. At the bus station some people got out and the fight continued, the police were involved and it got quite messy. A lady sitting in front of me said 'problem......cigar' giving a smoking gesture. So apparently we were delayed for 3 hours because someone wanted to have a smoke.
We ended up arriving in Aleppo quite late. I had no idea where i was as it seemed we weren't at the bus station but on the side of the road some where. My bag was the last to be offloaded. The taxi drivers swarmed. The fight was epic, having no regard for the contents of my bag or even whether i wanted a taxi in the first place. The victor stormed away with his prize and I followed him (my bag) to the smallest Fiat ever made held together by cable ties and duct tape. I tried to explain where i was going. I didn't know the name of the hotel in Arabic and he didn't know the street even though i later discovered i pronounced it perfectly. After some exchanges we finally managed to agree on the Sheraton Hotel which was more or less where i wanted to go. At this time i notice the meter wasn't running. I asked him to turn it on repeatedly. Turns out no matter how short the distance the tourist rate is 200.
I got dropped of the Sheraton and walked to my hotel which I discovered was fully booked. After having entire towns to myself in Turkey this came as a shock. The clerk rung around and all were booked. It was approaching mid night and I was getting a little worried. Then the clerk said we have one with no toilet. And i finally had somewhere to stay.
Aleppo would probably be my favourite city on the trip so far. People are friendly, its not that messy and theres plenty to see and do. The only trick is crossing the street. Traffic is constant and there are few traffic lights (not that it matters). I found that the trick is to wait for a local to cross and use them as buffer between you and the oncoming traffic. I rate the souqs here higher than the Grand bazaar in Istanbul. More variety, more character and less people grabbing you by the arm and dragging you into there stores. Though anyone who speaks English will try to get you into there store. Of course there all in the lonely planet guide.
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