Bacchus and Baboons

Before we left Thursday night, we were witness to an amazing traditional Syrian wedding right here in our lobby. We saw the men drumming and chanting, and the traditional sword fight.

The arch the groom walked under

The weekend has passed very quickly for me here in Syria. On Thursday, just before the spa experience, I learned about the weekend plans- to head north. We left Friday morning for Maaloula, about an hour north of Damascus. This is the only town in the world where Aramaic is still spoken, the language of Jesus. We went to the Convent of Saint Serge and Saint Bacchus, a beautiful building hundreds of years old built into the mountainside.

So much luggage, ready for Aleppo, Jared in between

The city of Maaloula

The Convent of Serge and Bacchus

This man followed us on our hike, driving past and parking so we would buy nuts/fruits from him

Winding around in cave paths

Modernization?

Donkey

We continued along Friday to the famous town where Crac des Chevaliers is, the castle of the crusaders, it is one of the largest and oldest in the world. It was a gorgeous castle, with incredible views.

Crac des Chevaliers

Me at the castle

Views inside the castle

Aqueducts

Me and Steph on the outer walls

Beautiful mountains, our hotel is down there somewhere

On Saturday, we woke up at our lovely hotel and moved northwards towards Aleppo, final destination. On the way, we stopped at a town with very famous water wheels.

Water wheels

Our driver got an ice cream while we looked at the wheels. He was such a great driver. Over 10 hours total all weekend he drove, and the bus was supplied with water in a cooler, bananas, and apples for us. We also watched movies- Mamma Mia, Kingdom of Heaven, and Tristan and Isolde. Strange combination of films…

Driver with his ice cream

Once we got to Aleppo, a town only 1.5 hours from Turkey, we went to the Citadel there. It was enormous, up on a hill, orginally with a moat and drawbridge.

The bridge to the citadel

My lemon mint drink, so refreshing, it was HOT- about 96 in the sun

The group finds some shade

Hiking up the citadel interior

After the Citadel, we checked into our hotel in Aleppo- it was amazing, with an enormous courtyard all the rooms looked out on.

My door is at the top of the stairs on the left

We went to the suk, or market Saturday night, an enormous market, the biggest in Syria. Famous mostly for Armenian silver, soaps, and linens. There was a really interesting contrast here, tons of stores that sold all types of lingerie, some quite riske, while the majority (if not all) of the women we saw at the market were completely covered in black, head to tow, some without eye holes, and were carefully examining the lingerie in lots of stores.

This man made a pair of earrings for me on the spot that I designed, from pearls and Armenian silver!

We met this French couple at the market, where we all sat and had tea in one of the shops. I was ecstatic to practice my French with them. They are 3 years in on a 13 year bicycle trek across the world. An incredible couple. I am hoping to welcome them to USA when they make it there in a few years.

Today we woke up and went to a mosque in Aleppo, and then had an uneventful 5 hour ride back to Damascus, save the fact that we met baboons at a pit stop.

The baboons in this decrepit cage devoured the bananas we gave them and it was possibly the cutest thing ever.

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