Turkey, Syria, Lebanon Trip
November 2007

The Taurus Express: Istanbul to Aleppo
Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express opens on a train platform in Aleppo, Syria, where Hercule Poirot boards the Taurus Express to Istanbul. Built as an extension of the Orient Express in 1930 and originally running several times per week, the line was extended for several decades further east, effectively connecting Paris with Baghdad. Today the 36-hour Istanbul-Aleppo sleeper train runs once per week each way.

Aleppo (Halab), Syria
With evidence of a flourishing city going back to about 5,000 BC, Aleppo rivals Damascus as the world's oldest continually inhabited city and its old city's 13th Century citadel, 12th Century Great Mosque, and associated architecture are now under UNESCO protection.

Krak des Chevaliers, Syria
Captured in the 11th Century and substantially rebuilt as the headquarters of the Knights Hospitallers, Krak des Chevaliers is one of the best preserved Crusade-era castles in the Middle East. Described by T. E. Lawrence as “perhaps the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world,” it was never successfully besieged (including an 1188 onslaught by Saladin) until 1271, after Jerusalem had already been lost and financial support for the reclamation of the Holy Land had waned dramatically.

Palmyra, Syria
An Assyrian caravan town for over 1000 years, Palmyra was annexed by Rome in AD 217 and became an incredibly wealthy oasis city, strategically located on the Silk Road between Baghdad and the Mediterranean Sea. The remains of Palmyra comprise some of the most extensive Roman ruins in the world.

Lebanon
Unfortunately our stay in Beirut was cut short due to a more-pressing-than-usual threat of political unrest and the possibility of the border with Syria closing and thus blocking our bus route out. So after one night we moved to eastern Lebanon, to Baalbek (formerly Heliopolis), where the Romans built some of their tallest temples ever. The site's Jupiter Temple, built on a worship site dating back to at least 3000 BC, hosted an oracle visited by Trajan before his war with the Parthians. Also the heart of Hezbollah, Baalbek is chock full of images of martyrs, murals of Nasrallah, and souvenirs galore--baseball caps, flags, t-shirts, scarves, and on--all with the famous yellow background and green lettering of Hezbollah in Arabic, with hand hoisting and clutching an AK-47. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of this part of the town.

Damascus, Syria

Quneitra, Golan Heights, Syria
Captured by Israel in 1967, on the last day of the Six Day War, Quneitra was given back to Syria as a UN demilitarized zone in 1974. As the UN declared Israel had, in breach of Fourth Geneva Convention, deliberately destroyed the town, Syria decided to leave Qunietra untouched and began promoting it as an open-air museum to wanton destruction. The only city in the Golan Heights still under Syrian control, the ghost town of Quneitra is visitable with a free pass from the interior ministry in Damascus.

 

Istanbul, Turkey