Deir ez Zur and the Euphrates valley

So I left Aleppo on the train and headed East into Deir ez Zur, a dusty town on the Euphrates. The town itself is not a pretty one but the Euphrates gives it some character and as its off the tourist trail there is a genuine warmth from people there. The first day myself and David from London decided to visit some of the sites further along the Euphrates on the way to the Iraqi border. The drive is through beautiful sparse desert coloured with lush green along the rivers edges. We stopped for a short while at Qala’at ar-Rabha, a large abandoned and crumbling castle sitting on top of a big mound looking out over a town in the distance. Then we drove down to Dura Europa, an extensive Roman fortress city with a setting on a cliff that overlooks the flash of green that is the Euphrates flood plain some 90m below. Founded around 280BC the city was known for its religious tolerance with a synagogue, church as well as Greek, Roman and Mesopotamian temples existing side by side. The city thrived up until it was captured by the Persians around 256 from when it started to fall into the decline.

From there we drove further south to the site of Mari, just 10km from the Iraqi border. Mari’s roots go back much further – about 5000 years. The most famous of Syria’s ancient leaders, Zimri-Lim set up his city here and controlled the main trade routes between Syria and Mesopotamia. The site is undoubtedly of huge historical importance. Unfortunately however most of the items found on site that are over interest are on display in the museums of Damascus and Aleppo. The site continues to be excavated, and the men doing the work seemed quite surprised to see us and kept asking us to take their picture, without necessarily wanting to see the result, something that happened frequently in Deir ez Zur as well.

Yesterday we explored Deir ez Zur, wandering the markets and exploring the Euphrates area and the spectacular suspension bridge. The town was very friendly, and several shop keepers and market stall owners offered us apples, bananas and olives but refused to accept any money. In the afternoon I had arranged for a boat to take us out and explore the Euphrates and the two islands for about an hour. The day was quite misty which added a certain mystique to the trip, and while not spectacular it was nice to float on the river, away from the bustle of the town. I thought it would be a nice way to see the sun go down, maybe arranging for some tea to be served on the boat for when we take our groups out. Next stop Palmyra, Syria’s most famous attraction.

- David