Well it has been a while since I posted. The trip has been pretty full on for the last three weeks or so. After Goreme we headed south to Aleppo and the transition from Turkey to Syria could not have been more obvious; instantly you are aware that you have passed into an Arab state. The dress and the attitude is immediately and starkly different. We were greeted in Aleppo with the usual crazed driving and cacophony of car hornes but here to look out of the window of the truck is to look out onto an alien culture (alien at least to us). While traditional islamic dress is evident in Turkey, it is diluted by a western influence. In Aleppo it is the norm. It is rare here to see a woman without her head covered and men more often than not are dressed in traditional robes. The culture shock is immediate and stark.

Aleppo itself is at first impression grubby and dilapidated, full of smog belching cars and ancient crumbling architecture. After the beauty of the southern turkish landscape this can only add to the impact of the cultural change. Our hotel was in keeping with the town that housed it; not without charm, if you find charm in things that fail to work and floors encrusted with the grime of milennia, but for us for a few days it was home. The showers were at least hot which is a luxury that I am coming to appreciate greatly..

As with so many first impressions, though, ours were at once revealing and deceiving. Grubby and dilapidated yes, but Aleppo is also packed to its crumbling rafters with friendly, helpful people and this if nothing else is a good reason to make it your introduction to the Arab nations. A day wandering the soucs in the old city left me with a warm smile etched onto my face. The characters who placed it there had made my visit to this town an interesting and amusing one whilst of course trying to sell me everything from kinky underware (who in this country wears it when women are covered from head to toe with modesty protecting garments the mind boggles to comprehend) to camel intestines. Added to this a wonderful tour of the impressive crusader citadel and in the end I was sad to leave this place.