Links:
Visit the Man on Seat 61 for more travel information about the Toros Express.
See more photos from Syria and Lebanon in the June section.
May |  XML |
- From Istanbul to Damascus
- First Days in Istanbul
- With the Toros Express to Aleppo
- In Aleppo
- From Aleppo to Damascus
- In Damascus
From Istanbul to Damascus
On the route of the old Orient Express
The plan slowly developed in the beginning of the year to travel to Istanbul. Just to get a break form university and to get out of Paderborn for a while. Then I saw a documentary about the old Orient Express and that it is still running on part of the old route as the "Toros Express". So, Sebastian and I did some basic research, got our visas for Syria and off we were... To an unforgettable journey where we met so many great people.
When you're finished with the photo's of May, the story goes on yet in the June section.
First Days in Istanbul
The plane landed at four o'clock in the morning and we had no place to stay. But, fortunately we met Cenk on the plane and we could stay in the place of some of his friends in Istanbul, Hasan Ali and Taifun. They were very kind and helped us a lot with buying the train ticket and all. Thanks again!
Since it was our first time in Istanbul, we had to visit all the sights like the Haya Sofia and the Blue Mosque. We didn't have enough time to see much more. There's only a certain amount of architecture and sights that you can digest in a day. Next time I'll try not to miss the Topkapi Palace.
First days in Istanbul
With the Toros Express to Aleppo
Every thursday morining, there's a train leaving from Istanbul to Aleppo, Syria. We had a quite reasonable ticket for a comfortable first class, two berth sleeping cabin. (For travel information on the Toros Express visit the Man in Seat 61 on travelling to Syria)
Two days before we left, we met Sebnem who was so helpful and showed us around in Istanbul. Thanks very much! We've had a really great time. She accompanied us to the trainstation. It is on the Asian side and so we had to cross the Bosphorus with a ferry in the moring.
Then, on the train, there were many European travellers. We met two English guys, two German couples, some Syrians and particularly Ralf and Richard. Ralf works for the German railway and also in his freetime he loves to travel by train. He said he always tries to spend a few days a year travelling without his girlfriend to go on a train adventure. As far as I know, he wanted to get from Istanbul through Syria into Oman in 6 days. Hope you made it! Ralf was sharing his cabin with Richard from Holland. He was on his way to India and planned to travel through Syria for some time.
Also, before crossing the Turkish-Syrian border, Javier from Barcelona and Monica from Brazil joined us on the train. They also wanted to travel on to India.
travelling to Syria
In Aleppo
It was already night on the second day when we arrived in Aleppo. We went with Ralf, Richard, Javier and Monica to check out one of the budget backpacker hotels that the Lonely Planet suggested. For the price, it was a really nice hotel, the Zahert al-Rabin. We sat together on the roof terrace, talked about our travel plans and also met many other travellers that were staying in the place - people coming and going to different countries in the Middle East or India, people travelling in all different directions. For fun, to study or to work.
Really amazing was the food in Aleppo and generally in Syria. Quick eats on each corner sell many dishes with fallafel or grilled lamb that come with fresh salad and a lot of fresh mint. Restaurants offer, besides the proper dishes, a large variety of Mezze. Mezze are small starters like Tapas in Spain. Humus, Moutabal, fried vegetables, grilled meat and yogurt sauces are just a few examples.
In Aleppo, we visited the citadel, a large and old city fortification which today is a UNESCO world heritage. And of course we strove the souqs, the small market streets of the bazar where people come to trade all different things like jewellery, clothes, handicraft and foods. At the end of the day, we went into Aleppo's 650 year old hamam with Richard. Try to go if you're around. It's been so relaxing.
Three days in Aleppo
From Aleppo to Damascus
Because we all had our individual travel plans, we all went our own directions again after the days in Aleppo. Ralf had been off right away to get on the next train and Richard as well as Javier and Monica had to go to Damascus to get their visa for Pakistan. Roughly, that was our direction, too, but we decided to visit the old town of Hama for the day. The town's famous landmarks are the huge norias, waterwheels spread all along the Orontes river. They were used to water the surrounding fields during the last centuries.
Hama
In Damascus
In the afternoon, we got on the bus again to leave Hama for Damascus. We had a vague date with Richard in a backpacker's hotel in Damascus, but he wasn't there. The hotel guy didn't recognize him on a picture I showed him and since the hotel didn't have such nice rooms left for us, we went to look for another hotel.
Then, we met Javier and Monica coming around the corner and so we stayed in the hotel they've found for themselves.
Damascus is very noisy and stressing, I think. I met a French guy who was living there for six months then and he said that life in Damascus is quite relaxing. But, well, if you're only there for two days and want to see as much as possible, it can be quite exhausting.
Nevertheless, Damascus has a real lot of nice places and streets. The souqs are wider than in Aleppo and many streets around the big Omayyad Mosque are hung and roofed over with twines of wine. There are a few places to sit and have a tea and shisha. Especially the big and old Omayyad Mosque is worth seeing. It has been the center of the Muslim power after Mekka and before it moved to Bagdad in the middle of the 8th century. Many other religious temples occupied the same ground and also a church, before the mosque was built.
In Damascus
The story goes on yet in the June section.
