Going to Sharm el Sheikh

We got up around 8 am and went to see the Red Sea. It was about 160 km to Sharm el Sheikh. On the way there, we stopped in Dahab and had to pass several check points. In general, the policemen at the check points were friendly and did not check the car. We only had to show few timrd our passports. Around 2 pm we reached our destination – the most tourist place on Sinai – Sharm el Sheikh. More than 30 km of hotels. After one months of travelling in Muslim countries, we felt like at some European sea resort. We went to see the beach and found out that most of the beaches are private and since we do not stay in any hotel, we can not access them, but we managed to do that. Before the sunset, I had my first swim in the Red Sea and was amazed by the beautiful corals and fish. After this nice experience we to meet Agnieszka’s friend Małgosia, who works at the Polish diving center called Nautica. She arranged a nice apartment for us, very close to the sea. It was nice to take a hot shower and sleep in a normal bed.

Going to Egypt

We got up around 8 am. I filled the tanks with fresh water. It comes from a very deep well and supposed to be good for drinking. We use it only for tea and cooking. The sky was still cloudy, but the rain stopped. Our next destination was a sea port in Aquaba.  Egypt is less than 20 km from Jordan, but I would have to drive through Israel. In order to get to Egypt without going through Israel, we had to take a ferry from Aquaba. We got to the harbour around 11 am and found out that the fast ferry boat (1.5 hour) leaves at 1 pm and the slow boat ( 3.5 hours) should leave around 2 pm.  The slow boat was cheaper, so we decided to take it. Since we stayed 1 day more, I had to pay 5 JD for the car and we had to pay 5 JD departure taxes. The boat ticket was 35 USD and I had to pay 175 USD for the car. It would have been much cheaper to go through Israel but then, I could not go back through Syria or Libya. We got on the boat at 1 pm hopping that we will leave soon. At 3 pm I found out that the boat will leave around 5 pm and that we should be in Nuweba (Egypt) at 8:30 pm. It was true and we were happy, after one month, to finally reach Egypt. Getting visa was easy and it cost 10 USD. Bringing the car to Egypt was a bit more complicated. I needed to get Egyptian licence plate, insurance and new car papers. It cost around 120 USD and took 2 hours. The only problem was with my carnet. Because the car is registered to my company, my name was not there. I have showed that it is my company. After some discussion they let me go. Again, nobody checked the inside of my car. The only thing I had to show was the fire extinguisher. Luckily, before I left I bought a new one, which was big enough. We entered Egypt before midnight and spent our first night close to the Hilton Hotel which was well guarded. 

Wadi Rum and the bedouins

Our last stop in Jordan was the Wadi Rum - nice desert. It was less than 100 km and the route was good. We arrived to the tourist center around 9 am and got all the info: we had to pay 2 JD entrance fee and 5 JD for staying over night with our camper. We went to the nearby beduin village. Here we met one young guy and arrange the trip to desert. Our first idea was to take the camels. But we would have to hire another camel for the guide. We decided to take a short camel ride to the spring and than take four hour trip in jeep. Riding camel was easy but not too conformable. I was happy that i do not have to spend the whole day on the top of this desert creature. Our guide / drive had an old Toyota Landcruiser. He told us that he is 29 and is not married and he was very interested to take pictures with Agnieszka. The desert landscape had many colors and beautiful mountains. We had a small picnic with a beduin tea. After the picnic our guide offered us for additional 20JD to go to see few more sites and the sunset. We did not want to pay more money even when he lowered the price t o 15 JD and we told him to leave us in desert near the spring. We were happy to walk back and enjoy the sunset. It was almost dark when new toyota stop and we were asked if we want to go for a ride. Inside were to man (beduins). They spoke very good English and they told us that they come from the village and that they run small business. It was dark when we have stopped in front of a beduin tent. We were greeted by an old beduin and we were t old that he is the head of the family. We sat by the fire and drank beduin coffee and very good tea. We did nit understand the discussion but we felt happy to finally meet the "real" beduins. We were offered bred, olives and olive oil. The beduin run out of the battery for his flashlight and asked if i have some spare batteries. I did not have any but I gave him my dynamo flashlight which does not need any battery. He was quite happy and offered us t o stay over night. Since we had no idea where we are we decide to come back. Before we left i took picture of them. It was very dark and latter I discovered that he was holding in his hand big machine gun. When we cam back to our car our guide was waiting for us. He wanted to invite us to his home. we were quite tired so we invited him for our tea and I printed few pictures for him. He was very happy especially for the one with Agnieszka and offered us free desert ride next time we come. It was raining all night. We were quite lucky to experience rain in desert.

Petra mountain walk

There was a free Internet at the visitor center so we checked our emails and find out that there was a big storm in Europe and that many people died. It was a firs new from Europe in almost one month since we left. There was still al lot to see in Petra. I printed few pictures of the beduin kids and the kids with mules taxes. In the theatre we met the sister of one guy I med pictures of and soon he came with his Michael jakson. I gave him the picture and hi was happy and offered us a free ride. We arrange to take us to small Petra in the evening. letter we met his very quite small sister and mother selling some rocks. We visited the Byzantine church with very nice mosaics of animals and we stoped at lunch in a empty coffee place. It was very to lay down and I was getting lazy to clime up the monastery. Soon a guy who was selling the send art bottles in the church appeared and we started to talk. he told us that he has bend working at the in the church site for 13 years and he helped with the excavation. He was happy to find out that Agnieszka is form Poland and told us that he has been working wioth one polish Archeoliogist and he could speak few words in Polish. He told us that his brother works the Monastery and invited us to his house in the beduin village for a tea in the evening. He came back in 5 minutes and told us that there are not too many tourists and that he will come with us and show us the way. He spoke very good English and we were very happy to find such a good guide. As we were climbing up to the monastery he told us that he has not been there for six months. On the way he met many of his friends and relatives selling jewelry. He told us that he has been married , but
after 10 years he has divorced and he has 2 small kids with his new wife. In the monastery we had a nice tea with his brother and friends. After this nice rest on the top of the mountain he led us to the beduin village through the very nice mountain route. It was very nice walk with not tourists only beautiful view on the surrounding mountains. The last part of the route we were driving on the pickup truck with a goat. We got tea and food and went to see how hi makes the sand art. He told us that he has been doing the sand bottles for almost 20 years.
Everyday after he comes back from his work at the church he makes 30-50 bottles. He showed us this old art and made four very nice glass bottles for us. We walk to our home and were happy for this new experience.

Exploring Petra

At 8 am we were ready to explore the ancient Nebetan city Petra. We bought the two days pas for 26 JD ( 35 USD). The one days pass costs 21 JD, but one day is not enough to explore this big city Petra is the number one touristic attraction in Jordan and tourism is important for the locals - mostly beduins. They are offering rides on camels, horses, mulls or chariots and selling souvenirs. Since there are not too many tourists in January they are quite desperate. We were happy to walked and did not take any offers for very cheap the animal rides. It is quite hard to describe what this site looks like. It was build by Nebetans in ??? BC as their capital. They have controlled the important caravan routes. Im more than 500 years they have carved inside the sand stone many churches and thumbs. Most of them were very well preserved. The who city is berried in the canyons. After 3 km walk we have reached the Treasury with very well preserved carved pillars and portals. We decided to see the high sacrifice place and climbed up the mountains. On the way up we met few very young guys offering mule rides. The all spoke very good English and told us names of their "air-conditioned" four leg taxis. One was called Michael Jackson. I made few pictures of them and we told them that we do not have much many and that we are very happy to walk up. They replied "no money no honey" and we left them behind waiting for more lazy and rich tourists. On the way up we met several beduin girls trying to sell us some jewelry. We were quite good not buying anything for the "very good price". On the top we were joined by a young boy. He showed us a way to the sacrifice place and on the way back managed to sell us one nice necklace. It was getting late and we did not see much yet. As we went down we met few beduins and their goats. One small girl told us "come come" and took us the the place where they live.It was one cave house. They had about 20 goats and few nice kids were running around. The sun light was very nice and the kids very quite so I took few pictures. We found out that they have been living there for 10 years. On the way back we met few polish which were traveling from Egypt. We were quite happy that we can travel ourself and not with some organize tour. We were quite tired and so we decided to take the last 1 km a horse. The regular price was 7 JD but we got it for 1 JD. I went i bit but the horse was only walking so I let it to Agnieszka who is good horse rider. It was not much faster. The owner of the horse sat also onthe horse and drowe away with Agnieszka. It was not too far to the entrance, but I could not see Agnieszka. I was getting a bit worried, but I found them in the horse hospital. We met there another guy who told us that he just came back from Europe. He invited us for coffee and told us that we can meet latter and make fire in some cave. We went back to the car and made dinner. He cam around 8 but we were too tired after te whole day walking and we stayed in the car and went sleep.

Dead sea

We found out that it is possible to go to Jerusalem which is only 50 km from the boaŕder. We got up at 7 am and arrived to the King Hussein bridge at 9 to find out the possibilities for 1 day trip to Jerusalem. At the Jordanian border I found out that we can visit Jerusalem which was part of Jordan and return the same way and to to pay for new visa. It was also possible that we will not get the Israel stamped to the passport which will make it impossible to go back through Syria or Libya. There was only one problem that the Jordanian boarder closes at 2 pm. This ment that we will have to stay in Jerusalem over night. Since we wanted to stay at least 2 days in Petra and visit the desert at Wadi Rum we decided to skip the Jerusalem visit and went back to the Dead see. We find out in the gude book a nice canyon called Wadi Musa but nature reserve was closed until April. There was a small river going to the Dead sea and nice beach where we spend the rest of the day floating in the salt. Our next stop was the best Jordanian touristic attraction the accent city Petra. It was less than 100 km, but the kings highway was quite hilly but we made it before midnight to Petra. We parked closed the entrance and the police station.

Baptist site and Dead sea

We got up and 8 and after the breakfast went to the nearby city Makaba to visited Orthodox church and see the famous mosaic map of the promised land. The mosaic map was not so impressive. We went back to Mt. Nebo to see Mohammed and the church. He was happy to see us and gave us a nice tour in the museum and church. I made a picture of Mohammed and the olive tree planted by the Jan Paul II. He told us that he waters the tree every day. I made few more pictures of him and Agnieszka and before we left I printed one for him. He was very happy and surprised how it was possible. We gave him our best regards and drowe down the jordan wally to see the place where the John the Baptist baptized Jesus. It was less than 15 km form the Mt. Nebo and easy to find. We had to pay 5 JD for the bus and the tour guide. Our tour guide told us that this place is military zone and it was open to public after the peace treaty with Israel in 1994. He showed us the remains of 3 small churches and we visited the Jordan river which separates Jordan and Israel. The river was very small less then 10 m wide. Most of the water from the river is taken for irrigation. This is the reason why the water in the Dad see lowers 1 m a year and gets more salty. After the 2 hour visit to this biblical site we went to see and taste the very salty Dad sea. We found the Amman beach with 5 JD admissions. Since we had our owń shower we decided to find some another place. Since the Dead see is 400 m under the sea level the climate is very worm. The water temperature was around 20 and it was very strange feeling floating in the water which has 30 of salt. It was very nice and we kept floating until the sunset. We stayed over night at the parking lot near the Amman beach.

Mt. Nebo and meeting Mohammed

We were woken up at 7:30 and the police men told us that there will be some festival and if we want to go today we should leave the parkinglot before 8. It was good to leave early and our 1st stop was in the Debbeen national park. It was only 10 km from Jarash on the way to the dead sea. We drove through the park up the in the mountains and had our breakfast. It was a bit windy and cold. We had a very nice view of the whole area. It was quite green with many olive trees and small hills. We drove to Ajloun where we visited nice medieval castle and saw the Jordan valley. The road was quite hilly and my car was very slow going up. I though it is due to the poorer quality of the Syrian diesel. I have noticed before that my car runs usually better on vegetable oil than on diesel and I hope I can get hold of some oil soon. After crossing few more hills we started to descended o the Jordan valley. The climate got warmer and we saw many green houses. It look that this place is a vegetable paradise. We stopped and bought 10 kg of oranges - it costed only 3 SL (5 USD). We drove about 60 more km to the Dead sea.
It was getting late so we decided to see first the mount Nebo, the place where the Moses saw the promised land. I had to go from 400m below the sea level ( the lowest point on the Earth) to 800 m. The car was not too happy but we made it just 15 min before the church was closed. We payed 1 JD and a nice young man let us in and told us to hurry up to see it before it gets closed. We saw the nice mosaics and the remains of 3 churches build after the 600 AD. We drove a little bit down and watched the sunset behind the Dead see. There was a beautiful view of the Dead sea, Jordan valley and the Palestinian territories and on the horizon we could see light of Jerusalem. It was very nice place and we were happy to be there. After the sunset it the wind was getting more strong and we decided to go back to the parking lot next to the church. We met there Mohamed - the young guy who sold us the ticket and invited him and his friend for Czech tea to our home. He arranged with the tourist police that we can stay over night at the parking lot. When he find out that Agnieszka is from Poland he started almost to cry and he told us about his Polish girl - friend. He showed us more pictures of girls he met at Mt. Nebo. He spoke very good English and we were interested to find his story. He is 24 years old and he lives at the Mt. Nebo with his whole family - 7 sisters and 3 brothers. His grandfather came to Mt. Nebo in 1936 and was working on the first excavations of the site. He was muslim but the Franciscans offered him to live there and take care of the site. He also told us about the visit of the pope Jan Paul II in the year 2000. He met him and he was very sad when the pope died. He was still almost crying when talking about the popes visit in Mt. Nebo. Since we had only 15 min to see the site he offered us to come in the morning and see it again for free. He sad that he will be there after 10 am. We slept well protected by 3 police man patrolling the street near the parking lot.

Jarash - Roman city and nice Jordanians

Our first site to explore was an old Roman city in Jarash. It took less than 1 hour to get there and it was easy to find. The site was quite big to explore. The city was build by Romans in the second century BC. It has 2 nice theaters, colonnade and several churches. We stayed there until the sunset and went to see the city. We parked in the city center next to the police station. Police man and people were very friendly and the all welcomed us to Jordan. We needed to get some food and our first stop was at he bakery.We took few brads and pastries and when we wanted to pay the bakery men told us that we can take it for free. We were a bit surprised. The next we stopped for some milk and yogurt. Since the men could not speak much English he gave us a bits to taste. We took some good cheese and yogurt drink called airan. When we wanted to pay a young guy who was helping us to translate bought all food for us. We started to feel that Jordanians are even nicer than the very friendly Turks and Syrians. The next we stopped for some vegetables stop vegetables. After the nice welcome and the usual question " where from" we were offered a tea and off course he gave us all vegetables for free. We made few pictures and went back to our car. The police men came and asked where we want to go and told us that we should stay there over night. One police man spoke good English and brought us some sweet pastry. Our toilet was almost full so we visited the toilet in the sweet shop across the street. We tasted few sweets and try to buy some but of course it was all for free. I went to visit the police station. It was a small room with window in the middle of the town. I was asked how old Im and if Im married. They were again very surprised how old Im. The one police men who spoke good English explain why the Jordanians like to have so many kids. The main reason he told me is that they do not want to be alone when they are old. He was 26 and had 2 kids. He was a teacher but he went to police. We seen more police in Jordan than in Syria.There is a special tourist police in all touristic places. The police are very nice and friendly and most of them speak English. I was told that they will take us to some better place to stay over night. Shortly a mercedes came with two tourist police man. They told us that it will be better if we stay at parking lot at the tourist center. We were looked there and very well protected. It was a bit strange but my feeling was that after the bombings in Amman ion 2005 they want to make 100% sure that the tourist are safe and it also probably helps to keep the order.

Damascus market and getting diesel

The saturday was more busy and the shops and the market was open. Is we were greeted by the locals I felt much better than Friday. First we went to see the national museum. The entrance fee was the usual 150 SP ( 3 USD). The museum had a nice exhibition of the history of Syria. It was nice to see the archeological objects and learn about the different periods. I found there similar gases as we were offered to buy in Apilia. We stopped for felafel and I asked if it is possible to get the old oil. They used palm oil and it will be possible to get it in few days. It will be nice to have some more vegetable oil but we could not stay longer in Syria. Our next stop was the famous Damascus Big Suq (market). The market was very big and had different sections. we entered through hardware section. It was nice to see the welding shops and pumping materials. It looked as if time has stopped here 100 years ago. The main street was more touristic and offered cloths. We were approached by a man who spoke good english and he took us to his shop. Agnieszka bought more scarfs and I got a nice carpet for my car. After some negotiations we managed to get 50 % discount. On the way out of the market we visited one more store and met there a nice man. He spoke a very good English and was quite open about the life in Syria. He told us that the life after the war in Iraq is more difficult and everything us more expensive because three million Iraqis moved to Syria. The problem is that the salaries of the people are still the same. An average monthly income is 100 USD. It is not possible to make any critique of the government. After one week in Syria it was hard to understand the political situation. Everywhere we saw pictures of the president who is a sun of the former president. So it looks more as kingdom where the king has a lot of power. We left Damascus around 8 pm and drove to the Jordanian borders. Since my tank was getting empty and the diesel is so cheap in Syria I stopped at the first gas station. They told me that they are out of diesel and that there are more stations. The next station was also out but I managed to get 10 liters to my spare canister, but I had to pay almost double price. They told me that it is normal. I was happy to have enough fuel to get to the borders and I was hopping to get some more before we get to Jordan where the fuel is more expensive. The situation at next 6 stations was the same - no diesel. I started to understand the situation. Since the diesel is so cheap 1 liter cost 7 SP ( 0.15 USD) it is used for heating. When it gets colder there is not enough and it is possible to get only for more money. Few km before the borders there was one more station and it still had some diesel. There were several trucks and busses trying to get some. I managed to get my car up front and got some fuel. The situation was chaotic and the counter looked broken. it was difficult to know how much I got, since I payed for 100 liters I was hoping to have my tank almost full. We had to leave Syria before midnight to avoid paying 100 USD for additional week using diesel car. We managed to get there at 11 pm and there were no problems and know-body checked the car again. Since it was 15 min before midnight we stopped right before the Jordanian borders and waited for Sunday. After 10 minutes 2 friendly police man came and told us that we can not park here and they escorted us to the borders. We had to get the visa and arrange everything with the car. The visa cost 10 JD (5 USD) and I had to pay 15 JD for my car ( it was cheaper than in Syria and there was no 1 week limit). The 1 week insurance was more expensive than in Syria it cost 46 SP and I had to pay 10 SP for customs. All together it was around 100 USD for coming to Jordan with the car. We drove about 20 km and stayed and small paring lot in some city.

Damascus

It is Firiday and it is Musilm holiday. we arrived to damaskus around 10. There was no trafic and the city was quite empty. We found a nice parking palce between two cemetaries and went to explore the city center. I took my "beduin" coat and indian overalls. Streets were quiet and people looked at me as something very strange. The whole atmosphere was very different. Knowbody welcomed us to Jordan a asked us where we are fom. I did not feel as good. We went to see the big market but it was closed. We visited the Great mosque and stayed for the prayer. Men were at front and the woman in the back. We went to see the citadel but it was not open to the public. Next to the citadel was a nice "eco" garden and a cafee. We found out that it is part of an ecological project. On the way back we bought a very good halva and olives. We came back to our car and I went to visit the Russian truck parked on the same street. They told me that they are from Tazchekistan and they are traveling back from Mecca. We cooked dinner and I fall a sleep in the front seat. I was woken up by a smashing noise. After some time it happened again. I looked out and saw some kids running away. It remanded me the palestinians who are throwing rocks at Israeli army. It was the firs time we experience some unfriendly behaviur. Since we run out of washing water so we decided to leave the grave yard and find more friendly place. After some time we found a parking lot with armored guard. I payed him 50 SP (1 USD) and we fall a sleep.

Palmyra

We got up around 7 and continued our journey to Palmyra. We were driving through desert and we could see few beduins with their tents and sheeps. We arrived to Palmyra at 10 and drove up to the castle. There was a very nice view of the city and the ancient site. Soon a man cam and invited us of a tee and few minutes latter brought 2 cups of tea. It was nice start of the day. He was working at the castle and so we dicidd to have a short visit. The caste was build in 12 century and has been reconstructed. There was nit much to see but we had a nice view. Our next stop was at the turist office where we were welcomed Palmyra. We find out that the last tour to the tombs is at 2 pm and that everything closes at 4 pm. It was already 12 and we started to panic what to see. First we went to the temple of ?? It was very nice site and very well preserved. It was not possible to make it for teh two a clock tombs tour so we stayed and enjoyed the sun. As we walked out of the temple we were offered a guide through the old city. Since we missed the tombs and museum we decided it will be good to get some information about this very nice historical place. The name of our guide was Mohammed and he told us that the city was build in oases between 1-3 century AD. It was an important cross road for the caravans and it gained its wealth by collecting taxes for passing caravans. There was also a very big market place and nice roman style theatre. It was ruled by queen Xenofobia ??? We stayed there until the sunset. Since in this period there are onyl few tourists we were attacked few times for buying things and having a camel rides. Finally after 30 mín of selecting and negotiating Agnieszka bought 3 necklaces. After the sunset it got cold and we were frozen by the time we reached our car. Agnieszka made nice dinner and we went for a short walk in the city. There were a lot of local people. We found a nice store were they sell local fiques. It was just after the season so we decided to by some. There was a young guy and he invited us for a tea. He learned English when he worked in the hotel. Hi is 20 years old has ?? His family grows olives and fikes. In half a year he will have to go for 2 years to the army. He told us that life in Palmyra is hard people do not make much money - 5000 SP ( 100 USD) is a good salary. After he finishes army he wants to go to work abroad. We stayed there more than 30 min and bought very good fiques. He invited us for the picnic to their house in the oases. Since we have last 2 days in Syria we decided to go to Damascus. We left Plamyra at 11 pm and drove 100 km and slept at the gas station about 160 km from Damascus.

Apilia

We got up earlier and took a walk in the city. It is called Kafir Nabil and had about 26 thousand people. It was clear that we are strangers and and as we walked we have received a lot of welcomes and few invitations for tea. Before we left we had a very nice breakfast at our host. I took few more pictures of Mafrih family and printed few for them. It was a very nice experience and I wish we could stay longer. Our next stop was Aphilia was onyl 35 km and t was quite easy to find. We stopped our van near to the museum and walked up the hill to the castle. Soon we were approached by few men trying to sell us some antiques they found in the ruins - old coins, stamps, vases. The looked quite nice but I was afraid to by anything antique and travel with it. One guy on motorcycle appeared few times showing more and more antiques. He spoke good English and gave us a short tour of the citadel and took us on his motorcycle the the ancient site which was about 500m away. After some recitation I have bought a small stamp that he found. It is supposed to be almost 2000 years, but since it cost only 5 USD it is probably not, but I like it anyway. After we the ticket for 150 SP we walked the 1.3 km Roman colonnade which was build around 100 BC. It was used as a market for selling goods. It was quite impressive and well preserved. At the end of the colonnade we met again our "guide" and he took us the the old church and invited us again to his home for tea and to see his antique museum. We visited his house and he told us that he is 33 years old and he has been selling antiques for 15 years. He also has a small vegetable store which is run by his brother. He married 5 years ago and has two daughters - 1 year and 4 years old and his wife his now pregnant. His wish is to have a san. He wants to have a big family and wants to build bigger house across the street. He showed us more antiques and told us about his job. I was quite happy with my one stamp and we did not by more things.
We missed the museum it was open only until 3 pm, but we met the guide. He has a small shop across the museum and he also invited us for coffee. He show postcards of the mosaics which are in the museum. He was very happy to find out that Agnieszka is form Poland and told us about Polish archeologists which come every summer and stay at his place and invited us to sty there over night. He has ?? kids ?
Since we were runing out of time we diceded to leave at night and drive to Palmyra. We left around 11 pm and I drove until 12:30 am. The road vas good no traffic. We stayed over night next to a police station 160 km from Palmyra

Sergilla and Syrian family

We left Alepo around 9 am. The traffic was quite bad and it took some time to find the way out of the city. My oil tank was almost empty. I run 3500 km on used oil and it looks like it will be dificult to find used oil here. We stopped at the 1st gas station to take some diesel, but they were out. The second gas station had diesel but we had to wait in line for 45 minutes. The diesel in Syria is very cheap. One liter is only 7 SP. For 1 Euro you can get 10 liters. This is the reason why I had to pay 100 USD to drive my diesel car in Syria. Most of the cars run on benzene and it is more expensive than diesel, it costs 30 SP (40 cents). Since we missed the road to St ? we decided to go directly to Sergilla, but it was not on the map and knowbody knew where it is. We found some other dead cities. We took the freeway which was mostly 2 lines but sometimes cars and motorcycles run in the opposite direction. There was not much traffic and driving was safe. We were happy to find out that the biggest dead city Sergilla is nearby the dead cities we found on our map. We took one Syrian guy and he showed us the way. After few stops we have arrive to Sergilla. It is dead city which was build at around the year 200 AD by early Christians. There were no tourist and the light was very good for making pictures. After some time walking and making pictures of the old houses and churches a young guy appeared and brought us small flower. He did not look very arabic. I gave him some change and he told me that he lives here with his family. He has 2 brothers and 2 sisters and they moved into one of the old houses. They have 6 sheeps and they have been living here for 5 years. I asked if I can make few pictures at his house but his father did not want to. I took one picture with his brother. Outside we met his sister. She went for water. I also made few pictures of her. She had amazing eyes. They liked taking pictures so I took more. They all looked very different from the people we met in Allepo. They walked with us to our car and I have printed few pictures and gave it to them. They were very happy. As we were leaving a young guy came on the motorcycle and we had to pay the standard 150 SP each for visiting the site. It was getting dark and our next stop was the Aphilia a roman city. Since there were not too many signs we asked few people for directions. One guy spoke very good English. He was very happy to find out that Im from Czech Republic and he told us that one of his relatives lives in Prague. He invited us for a tea to his house. We sad down in a big room. In the middle there was a small chimney and it used the diesel (mazut) for heating. Soon it was warm and I have discovered that this is the standard way of heating Syrian houses. This is also why the diesel fuel is so cheap and sometimes harder to get during winter. They brought in the traditional black tea and a lot of food. He told us that he is a farmer. He has 10 acres and grows olives and figs. They brought some and they were very good. The food was very good and his mother show us how to eat it. All girls were sitting by the wall and after we finished the food they took Agnieszka to another room. Since we already had similar experience in Turkey it was not so strange. It was very nice to have a possibility to talk about life in Syria. Mafrih was very nice and a his Engish was very good. He told me that he has learned English at school. He was about my age and had only 2 kids He lives together with his parents, grandparents and brothers and sisters. He has ??? sisters and ??? brothers. We find out that syrian family with 8 kids is quite normal. Mafrih told us If family has more kids than it is problem for the education. He told me that it is normal that family members live together in one big house, but they all have separate rooms, kitchen and bathrooms. It is still very strange for me to see how the social life of man and woman is separated. The man play every night cards and stay up quite late. As it was getting late he invited us t o stay at his place. Agnieszka was sleeping with two girls in their room and I preferred to stay in my van which I park in the garage.

Exploring Allepo and meeting Syrians

We were woken up around five by the call for the 1st prayer, but we did not get up until 7:30. It was a sunny day and I went up to take a few pictures with the nice morning light. As I was taking pictures I saw a lot of young boys across the street and I discovered that there was a religious school. They asked me what is my name and where Im from and were happy to take photographs. Our first place of exploration was the Allepo Citadel. It looked like a big old castle on the top of the hill. There was a 150 SL (3 USD) entrance fee for foreigners and 10 SL for students and locals. The castle was quite ruined and was undergoing restoration work. Since it was at the top of a hill we had a very nice view over the whole city. The city looked very gray. The Lonely planet guide book recommended to visit the big soak (market). Since it was right next to the entrance of the citadel we went inside. The atmosphere was very nice and since we were getting hungry we had our first famous Allepo felafel. It was very good and I pay only 50 SL ( 1 USD) for 2 felafel and 2 yogurt drinks. There were many nice little shops
and we were asked all the time where we are from and offered to by things. My tunisian beduin coat and indian funny trousers made us very visible and easy target. I tried traditional beduin scarf on my head and long coat. It looked very nice but I wanted to see more places to get an idea of prices. Agnieszka liked 3 scarfs and we started to bargain for the price. It started at 600 SL and after some discussion we bought it for 150 SL.Latter we discovered that it was still too much. All salesmen were quite friendly and spoke very good English. It did not take too long and a young man ask us if we would like to spend some money at his shop and when his father find out where we are from he took a knife and a sign in Polish and in Czech saying a nice gift for your mother in law. The young man spoke very good English and he told us that he designs jewelry and ask us if we would like to see it. He was very nice so we when to see his shop which was just a few stores down. He looked quite happy that he can talk with us and were were happy to find out more about Syria. Agnieszka ask him how to say few things in arabic and he gave her a quick language course. He told us that he started to make jewelry when he was 12 and that it was his 21 years birthday the day before. He just came back form the army where he was for 2 years. The necklaces were very nice so I bought one for Agnieszka. He offered us a tea and lunch at his cousin shop and took us too see one very nice mosque. His cousin was also very nice and spoke a very good English. We discovered they spoke several languages and were also interested to learn few new words in Polish. Agniszka gave them a quick course. I went to see with the mental hospital which is being turned into a museum. After a nice lunch they took us to the big mosque and we arrange to meet around seven to have a cup of tea in my van. The Big mosque was different than the one we have seen. It was a very long room and in the middle by the wall there was a gold coffin. There were many women and men approaching the coffin and prying. As I have learned latter many people who have health problems or woman who can not get pregnant come to this place. We have again attracted a lot of attention and the guards wanted to take pictures with Agniszka. There were also 2 families which took photograph with her. All people were very friendly and two guys welcomed me in Syria and asked if I need any help. Our next stop was the christian part of the old city. The Armenian church was very nice, but the atmosphere was not as pleasant as in the mosque. It was empty and I was not allowed to take any pictures. Thew whole time we were observed by a young man and as we were leavig he asked us for donation so I gave 50 SL. In front of the Armenian church we met one Armenian men. He also spoke very good English and told us that many Armenians left Syria for economical reasons. He head a nice shop with carpets and antiques. As we were searching our way to the Lating church we came to another christian church. It was almost empty and I asked one man if it is the Latin church. He spoke good english and when he found out that Agnieszka is from Poland he started to speak a few words in Polish and told us about his trip to Poland 20 years ago. We asked for directions and two guys took us to the Latin church and we attended a catholic mass in Arabic. The women were not covered and the whole atmosphere was quite similar to our catolic churches. On the way back we got a bit lost in the labyrinths of small streets and shops. Several streets were also without electricity. Finaly I found a young guy who took us back to the Citadel. We met our new friends and took them to our mobile home for a tea. They liked our car and told us more about the life in Syria. Their biggest wish was to be able to travel and see more places. We took a walk around the whole Citadele and they were surprised that it was not as long as they expected. We thanked them for their hospitality and wend to our home. My first day impression of Syria are very good. People here are very friendly and open.

Going to Syria

We got up around 8 and prepared for our journey to Syria. Before we left we heard the music from the pub and we went to say goodbye to our new friends. It looked like that the wedding continues and we were pulled back to the pub. The same musician as yesterday was playing and singing and a lot of old women were siting by the chimney and observing. Agnieszka started to dance with girls and kids and I took few more pictures. It was getting late and we had to leave. It was a bit strange to leave and I felt that I knew these people for a long time. The road was again very good. There was only a little bit of snow. Passing through the mountains before Adana was no problem. We had to pay only 2 TL for 120 km of freeway though the mountains. After two and half hour we reached Adana. We saw palm trees and the weather was much warmer. There was a freeway all the way to Iskenderun where we stopped at the Mediterranean sea. Since it was only 50 km to the Syrian boarders we decided to continue and cross the boarders at night. Before the boarders I have filled my gas tank with LPG. They also had a hose for filling the bombs so it was very easy. We took one hitchhiker from the gas station to the boarder. He spoke good German and helped us a bit at the Turkish borders which were little confusing. I was more afraid of the Syrian borders and I was very surprised how nice and helpful were all people. They all greeted us with "Welcolme to Syria" and spoke good English. The only problem going to Syria was that I had to pay 100 USD for driving a diesel car and If we will stay more than one week we will have to pay 100 USD for each week. I was trying to explain them that my car runs on vegetable oil and it is more ecological than diesel so I should not pay extra taxes for driving a diesel car. They liked the idea but since my car has a diesel engine I had to pay 100 USD. I also had to buy a Syrian insurance. It was 36 USD for 1 month and there was a 10 USD fee for the customs. There was a very nice office where I could get all the papers. It was also very good that I had the carnet papers for the car. It took over one hour to get all papers. Know-body checked the car or wanted to see Agnieszka and as we were leaving the boarders an officer greeted us "Welcome to Syria my friend". He was also very friendly and I gave him an orange and 2 more for his friends. The roads in Syria were not as good as in Turkey and also the driving looked a bit more chaotic but still quite safe, I only had to watch for motorcycles and cars with no lights on. We planned to stay outside of Allepo, but it was only 50 km and we did not find any nice place to park. It was quite easy to find the center and we parked just next to the entrance of the Allepo Citadel - the old castle. The main street was a bit noisy but after driving for all day I fall asleep immediately.

Underground city, Turkish family and wedding

Since I went to sleep around 8 pm last night I got up at 8 and made breakfast. There was 10 cm of snow. It was quite nice view on the rocks and cave houses. We left around 10 am and our stop was the biggest underground city in Derinkuyu. It was less than 50 km from Goreme and the roads were covered with snow but driving was good. We parked next to the underground city bought the ticket for 10 TL (7 Euro) and descended 8 foors underground. This time we have joined the Japanese group and had a free guided tour. The guide told us that this city was build by Christians in 7th century, It was used during the wars for hiding the inhabitants of the city. It had 8 floors and could hide 4000 people for 6 months. When we climed up from the underground city the sun was up and we decided to explore the local market. As we started to take some pictures one lady to talk with us in a good German. She told us that she lives in Austria and invited us for a coffee. On the way to her house she told us that she has been living n Linz for 20 years and she came here for the holidays. In front of her house we met her son. We find out that he was born in Austria and he just got married with a Turkish girl 3 days ago. Thy are planning to return to Austria next week. They were very nice and gave us a lot of food. I took some pictures and told them that I can print few in my car. They took us back to my car an I printed for them few pictures. As we were getting ready to leave some guy came to sell us a book about Kappadocia. He ask for 7 Euro and we bought it for 4 Euro. I packed my photo printer and waited for Agnieszka to come back from toilette. It was taking quite a long time and I was wandering where she is. There was a wedding in the nearby pub so I went to look inside and here she was dancing with the local ladies. It was quite an interesting site. Covered women siting on one side, men and few women dancing. I started to take pictures and people were very friendly. I took few pictures of the bride and groom and went back to car to print them. It looked like that the party is over but it was just a small brake. We gave them the pictures and he women took Agnieszka upstairs and I was pulled to the pub with all man. There was a live music - one man show and about 20 men drinking bier. After some time two men started to dance with each other. It look like 2 roosters. I took few pictures and started to move to the rhythm. It did not take too long and I was asked to dance - of course by a man. It was a bit strange to dance with a man but as my body started to move I became quite popular and I had to dance with several guys. I stared to understand the situation. The men were dancing with themselves downstairs and the girls upstairs. I was not allowed to go upstairs to see Agnieszka so I continued dancing and waiting for Agnieszka. Knowbody spoke any English or German so I could not communicate too much. Men were very nice and friendly and they liked being photographed. After some time Agnieszka appeared with her new girl-friend Derya. They asked me to go upstairs and take more pictures of women. I was quite happy to do that. I printed few more pictures and went back to the pub. After some time one guy took me upstairs and here I saw Agnieszka dancing with girls. She looked almost like the other women. Her hair were also covered by scarf and she had big funny pants. I had to take pictures of all women and their kids. After some time all women went downstairs and watch two men dancing with each other. One man was dressed as a woman. After this show all women went back upstairs. It was almost 10 pm so we decided to stay over night. Agnieszka was taken back for coffee and I staid in the car and wrote my blog. This was the 1st time I felt I have experienced a bit of local culture and met the local people. It was very nice and proved the hospitality of local people. We went to sleep around 1 am.

Cappadocia - Cave dwellings

It was more cold and in the morning I discovered that our gas i finished. It lasted 2 weeks which was very good. I have three 12 kg gas bombs so It was not a big problem to switch to full one. Since it is a winter I was a bit worried to have enough gas. The problem is that there are different bombs in Turkey and Syria and probably in Jorndan and Egypt. Before I left I managed to add a standard LPG filling connection to fill my bombs at any LPG station. Since almost every station in Turkey has LPG it was very easy to fill my empty bomb with LPG. I hope it will be also possible in the Arab countries. We left around 10 to Goreme. Before the village we saw the 1st mountain with many cave houses. It was something I have never seen before. The next sight of Goreme village was even more impressive - there were many pointed rocks with cave houses build inside. Our first stop was at the open air museum which is just outside of the village. The entrance fee was 10 TL (7 Euro). The place was filled with many cave churches which were build more than 800 years ago. There were a lot of very nice paintings with christian themes. We were told that the 1st Christians came to this place already in the 2nd century AD. We spend more than 3 hours exploring the different churches and I made many pictures. We came back to Goreme and had a nice walk at night. The night scene of the village was also incredible. There were almost no tourists so spent the night at the parking lot right in the village center.

Exploring life in Ankara

We got up there was 20 cm of snow. After breakfast we had a short walk to experience the "winter" and continued our journey to Ankara. Since it was still national holiday the freeway was for free. There was no traffic and we came to Ankara before noon. We parked in front of the Czech Embassy and went to explore the city. The guidebook sad that the city is not very interesting so we did not expected too much. It was again quite modern city. Agnieszka found out that it will be interesting to visit the old part of the city called citadel. It was 5 km so we took a nice double-decker bus. We missed our stop so we too one more round and had a nice tour through the city. The old part look quite interesting. We found a nice caste with old houses. Local people still lived there and it had a very nice atmosphere. There was a nice view on the whole city. The most interesting were old houses on a big hill. The castle did not look as some big touristic place. On way back toped in from of a local pub and made few pictures of the city. The owner invited us inside for a tea. It had very nice atmosphere with local men playing cards. I made few pictures of the owner, taxi driver and local police. The sun was getting down so we started to look for our way back. We stopped at a big mosque. In the middle there was a large light in the for of globe. It had again a very peaceful atmosphere. I that there are now pictures of goods. Sitting on the carpet with heated floor is also quite comfortable end relaxing. I was approached by two men and they were trying to explained me something about Islam. Since they could only speak Turkish they could not explain me too much. But I felt that they were quite nice I wish I could understand more. After a few days in Turkey my feeling about muslims is that they are quite peaceful. after this relaxing experience we went back to our car. My diesel tank was almost empty and the car stopped going up the hill. I switch to oil and it was ok. Or next stop was Goreme in Kappadocia 250 km from Ankara. It is supposed to be a very special place with cave houses. The road was very good and I was near Goreme in less than 3 hours. We slept again at the gas station.

Visiting Polish village in Asia.

Visiting Polish village in Asia.
It was a time to leave Istanbul. I did not expected that we would stay here for so long, but it was very nice experience. We took last walk aroudn the Blue mosque and I paid 65 Euro for 6 days parking. Our next destination was Polonezkoy. A small Polish village close to Istanbul. Agnieszka find it in her guide book and she wanted to see it. There was still a holiday and driving through Istanbul was good. There was only a little traffic before the Bosphorus bridge which divides Europe and Asia. - no traffic. We arrived to Polonezkoy around 2 pm. It was not any hidden small village but very popular tourist place with many restaurants. Since it was a Turkish holiday it was very crowded and it took some time to find a parking place. Our first stop was a the local cemetary. It was just being reconstructed and when we look at names on the graves they were all Polish. We met there local mayer who spoke very good Polish and he told us a little but about the history of this place which dates back to the late 18 century. It was founded by Polish emigrants. He told us that there are still 90 Polish - origin people living in the village. He arrange a visit to the local catholic church and museum. In the museum we could see more of the history of this interesting place. It was already dark when we left the museum. We were quite hungry and we started to look for restaurant where we could talk to some local Polish. We went to few restaurants but there was nobody y who could speak polish. We saw one old grandma adn asked her about some restaurant which is run by local polish people. She was very old and could not hear very well but she was speaking polish. She told us that her sun runs a restaurant and explained how to get there. Unfortunately he was not there and the restaurant was getting closed. At this point we were getting very hungry and did not car any more where we eat. In one restaurant called ?? it was too early for dinner and in another one did not have any vegetarian food. Finally we found a Koliba a polish stile restaurant with old polish music. The atmosphere was quite funny for us but the food was good. It was already 8 pm when we let this "romantic" Polish village. Our next plan was to go to Ankara. It was 450 km to Ankara. The freeway from Istanbul was very good and before midnight we parked 90 km from Ankara.

Last day in Istanbul

Since we went to sleep around 4 am we got up a bit late. After brunch Diana and Agnieszka went to explore the city with plan to visit another haman. I stayed and t wrote my blog. In the after noon I went for a walk to the castle but it was already closed. I wondered in the small streets
after I end up at the sea - actually it is call the Bosphorus. The beach look not so clean as the touristic places and there we mostly local people. I med few pictures of a sunset and walked back. I found a free internet connection outside of one hotel, the only problem was that it was a bit too cold to sit outside. Agnieszka and Diana saw me siting in front of the restaurant and we decided to go for a tea inside. We sat down next to two Turkish girls. Their had covered hair and were smiling. I asked them if I can take pictures of them and they were quite happy. At 21:30 we took Diana to the train station.The night train to Sofia was leaving form platform 1 where we have seen the Dervish show and there was an another show as Diana was leaving Istanbul. On the way back we visited internet cafe and I update my blog and uploaded new pictures.