Just because you pay more for a hotel doesn't mean you sleep any better. Debs had a fitful night and I was kept awake with a bad sore throat, at least we had breakfast to look forward to. If only it hadn't been a total abomination, tea made with a Lipton's teabag in Syria, the locals would probably throw it at them! As for the omelette, at least that's what we assumed it was, that must have been knocking around for a few days as you couldn't get a knife through it. All in all, we can't say in this case that we got what we paid for.
We left the hotel in beautiful sunshine and set off towards the town of Bosra. Rather than take the main road, we wanted to take a more direct, minor road that I had spotted on the map. The only problem with taking the minor roads in Syria is that the road signs are normally only in Arabic, so we have to rely on being pointed in the right direction at every junction. In this region however, it seems that the signs are in English as well. Taking a bit of a leap of faith while we were cycling out of As-Suwayda, we turned off the main road and found ourselves on the right route.
It was much nicer to be cycling along a quiet road, passing small villages and having people wave and shout hello. In the small village of Ara we were beckoned over by a man to join him for a cup of tea. Samier was an interesting character who spoke excellent English, having lived in San Francisco for 9 years. He was extremely well travelled and was currently working as an English teacher/translator, plus he makes very good tea! We had the luxury of not being in a hurry today, so it was nice to be able to sit and chat for a while. After a quick photo and an exchange of emails, we continued on to Bosra.
With about 10km to go a motorcyclist slowed beside us and started chatting away. He told me he was a policeman who lived in Bosra and for the remainder of the journey to town he rode alongside. He then became an impromptu tour guide as we cycled through the town. We are not certain but we think he wanted us to go and stay with him, the only issue being that it was early and we really wanted to see the town. Showing us the way to the citadel, he introduced us to a friend who said that we could stay the night in a nearby restaurant. Realising that we weren't going to be staying with him, he wished us well and left for his home.
According to the guide book that we have, there is only one hotel in Bosra and it is an expensive five star. Finding cheaper accommodation was a bonus as we had been considering having a look round and then heading out of town. Once again the room wasn't as cheap as it might have been, but it is a lot better than we were expecting.
Having dumped our gear we went to have a look at the citadel. The main reason to visit Bosra is its enormous Roman Amphitheatre, one of the best preserved in the world.
The Theatre was built early in the 2nd century AD and up until the 20th century it was buried under sand. The citadel which surrounds it was a later construction built during the crusades. If like us you ignore the signs to the theatre and wander round the citadel at random, it is quite possible to miss the giant theatre at its heart. The outer walls are a warren of dark passageways and multiple staircases lead off into the gloom. In fact some of the passageways are so dark that we came close to falling down a staircase!
Still having failed to find the theatre we encountered a large group of young people gathered in a circle chanting and clapping, while others danced to some musicians. We have no idea what was going on, perhaps it is a Friday thing. When we started to encounter people dressed as Romans, we began to wonder even more.
Walking into the theatre was an amazing experience, the scale and state of preservation is awesome. Timing our arrival at the same time as a few hundred children (all boys) wasn't perfect, but apart from the noise it didn't diminish the experience.
Having seen the theatre we headed out to have a look at the rest of the town. The place is like a living museum, as people have built there homes into parts of the ancient city. Large basalt columns line the stone streets and Roman arches seemingly sprout out of newer houses. It is a great place to spend a few hours wandering round.
Back at the restaurant/guesthouse we had huge buffet lunch and then went for a rest. All being well, we will be in Jordan tomorrow. Our last full day in Syria has been a good one.
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