Immediately after visiting Saida, Dragana, Vlad, and myself continued on to Tyre – an ancient Phoenician coastal city. Along the highway, it was rather striking to see UN convoys, and…

Going for a day trip with Vlad and Dragana, we visited Saida before going to Tyre. What was most evident was the heavy UN, military, and Hezbollah presence on our…

Leaving early in the morning from Damascus, it took almost 5 hours to finally make it to Beirut. The border crossings were busy and inconvenient, but I was able to…

Hearing about this town from two Polish tourists from my hostel, I decided to visit Ma’lula because it is one of a few towns which still predominantly speaks Aramaic – the…

Now in the historic city of Damascus, its old city is as impressive as UNESCO makes it out to be. The Umayyad Mosque is one of the most beautiful that…

In between Aleppo and Damascus, I stopped by Homs as a hub to get to Krak des Chevaliers. The Lonely Planet guide recommended I stay at An-Nasr al-Jedid Hotel with…

Taking a day trip out of Homs, Syria, I went to the famous Krak de Chevaliers, a prominent Crusader castle which overlooks the Homs Gap.   T. E. Lawrence, popularly known…

After an easy border crossing overland from Turkey into Syria in the far east town of Qamishli, I took a 6 hour bus to Aleppo (Halab). Immediately, I missed the…

The trip from Dohuk, Iraq to the Turkish border was a bit of an adventure. I had to negotiate a taxi to take me to the border, which wasn’t so…

Taking another shared taxi from Erbil and nearly missing going through dangerous Mosul, Dohuk was a pleasant little town in eastern Kurdish Iraq. I enjoyed my stay there before heading…