Aleppo

I arrived in Aleppo, Syria’s second city a couple of days ago. The town vies with Damascus as the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world – for about 8000 years! It is a busy merchant city and its markets are some of the liveliest and most colourful in the Middle East. I spent my first day wandering through the enormous maze of the famous souk. The exhilaration of the constant bustle in the market is infectious and it can be hard to even see the beauty of some of the old houses as you are avoiding bumping into people, donkeys or carts. It’s best to take it slow.

After a couple of hours in the market I headed up to the citadel. The citadel sits on top of a large mound of earth and looks down over the whole city. It is one citadel that really looks the part and withstood many an attack. Originally built in the 3rd century much of what survives today dates from the Mamluk rule from the mid 13th century until the early 16th Century. Inside I found several mosques, a palace and towers giving great views across the stone-coloured city. The fort had many traps too, and once had a moat and many an invader met their end when they came to Aleppo.

In the evening I had a delicious dinner of baba ganoush (an aubergine, tahini and lemon paste) with spiced chicken, yoghurt and pitta bread with Angie, a girl from London and shared a couple of imported beers (the local variety won’t win too many awards).

Today I visited the Christian area where people are less conservatively dressed and the markets are a little bit more upmarket. In a short row you can find a Greek Orthodox church, a Syrian Catholic Church and an Armenian Orthodox Cathedral giving an idea of the variety of Christians that are still living in Aleppo. After visiting many hotels in the area operating out of beautiful old houses I had some lunch and did some photo editing before heading out to see the Grand Mosque.

The mosque is a beautiful structure and a hub of activity. It is not only a place of worship but the court is also a meeting place, a playground for the children and the halls inside also provide a place for people to just relax and there were many people inside just snoozing. Later I met up with another Dave, an English guy I met yesterday and we went out for dinner and a few beers. Tomorrow I will head out East to Deir ez-Zur, a town on the Euphrates.

- David