Day 156 Syria 21/2/2011, Hama–Krak Deschevaliers–Palmyra–Hama An impressive castle, magnificent ruins and a lot of driving.

We woke early, headed downstairs and met up with our driver Mr Omar who would be taking us to Krak Deschevalier and Palmyra.

The journey to Krak Deschevalier took just over an hour, during which time we climbed quite dramatically into the Syrian hills. Unfortunately we also climbed towards some very ominous looking black clouds. I had looked at the forecast yesterday and it had looked promising, so we had our fingers crossed that we would escape the rain.

Krak Deschevalier was first built by the Emir of Homs in AD1031 who was eventually deposed in AD1110 by the Christian Knights of the first crusade. Around the middle of the 12^th century the Knights Hospitaller replaced the first crusaders and refortified the castle to its present form. Despite repeated attacks and sieges the fortress was never fully breached. What is left is an amazingly complete, massively impressive fortress.

The scale of some of the rooms is incredible and there are lots of staircases heading up to the ramparts and down to the cellars to investigate. The views from the battlements are great and if it hadn't have been so windy, we could have spent longer just walking along the top of them. As it was though, the weather had the final say and with a light rain starting to fall, we returned to the car for the long drive into the desert and the ruins of Palmyra.

The long journey (200km) into the desert was of interest to us mainly because we had considered riding out to Palmyra. Having seen the road, we now have some idea of what we have to look forward to in North Africa. The biggest problems that we could see from our point of view, was very limited supplies and huge areas of military land that we obviously couldn't make camp in. This time we were very glad that we didn't attempt it, especially as we would only be riding out seeing the ruins and then taking the even longer road down to Damascus.

As we got further into the desert, the rain dried up and the temperature got a lot warmer, especially in the car. We are clearly not used to being cooped up any more, with the bikes there is always some air flowing.

Having passed tiny settlements, oil fields, military bases and signs pointing towards Baghdad, we finally arrived in a dry but cloudy Palmyra. Mr Omar dropped us outside the main ruin site and drove off, leaving us instructions on where to find him.

Our first stop was at the magnificent Temple of Bel, Palmyra's most complete monument, where we purchased our S£500 (£6.70) entrance ticket. I could go on for ages describing the scale and beauty of the buildings, monuments and columns that cover the site, but it would be very difficult to do it justice. Hopefully the photos will give a better overview than I ever could. All I will say is that despite being in the middle of nowhere, it is really worth the trip. The desert location adds to the experience and surprisingly for such an incredible site there appear to be few visitors. For once you aren't fighting your way through hordes of tourists. The only similar place I can think of is probably Persepolis in Iran.

Having looked round the site we found our driver and made a stop at Qala'at ibn Maan, a 17^th century castle that offers terrific views of the ruins and surrounding desert. Now quite tired from the heat and walking we began the long journey back to Hama.

Despite having to argue with a restaurateur about some dubious additions to our bill after dinner, we have had a very good but extremely tiring day. Neither of us could face an early start tomorrow, so we have decided to stay in Hama for one more night. Hopefully, Syrian internet willing, I will get some photos uploaded and the blog updated.

Day 155 Syria 20/2/2011, Hama. Norias, Beehive houses and a sandstone palace.

What a lovely night's sleep with no superheated stoves, loud music, mobile phones and bright lights. Unfortunately when we woke there was quite a lot of rain, so much so that it kept me in bed until 10:30am.

Hama is famous for its Norias; huge wooden water wheels up to 20m in diameter. There have been Norias in Hama since the 5^th century AD and although having been constantly rebuilt they still turn during the spring and summer, which sadly is not now. Spotting a break in the rain we left the hotel to have a look at them and to then have a walk through what remains of the old town.

Much of the old town was destroyed during the 1982 bombardment, when government forces moved in to quell an uprising by the 'Muslim Brotherhood'. By the time the bombardment was over, up to 25,000 people had been killed and many mosques, churches and archaeological sites had been destroyed. What remains of the old city is a short but attractive alleyway which contains the beautiful Azem Palace.

The Azem Palace is the former residence of Asaad Pasha al-Azem who was governor of the city from 1742. The Ottoman house has now been turned into a museum where once again the building is the star. It has to be one of the nicest buildings we have walked round for a while.

The break in the weather didn't last, so after a coffee we headed back to the hotel to look at our travel options in Syria.

We have decided not to ride our bikes to the ancient city of Palmyra. The city is a two day ride there and then a three day ride onwards to Damascus, with little in between. Listening to various people we have been told that contrary to what might be written, you don't need more than a few hours to look at the ruins. Add to this the fact that the town is allegedly swimming with touts and the prices are higher than anywhere else in Syria. Therefore, a bus or private car looks like a better option.

Via the hotel, we arranged a trip out to Qasr ibn Wardan (a sandstone palace) and the beehive villages for this afternoon; tomorrow we have a trip to Krak Deschevaliers (a former crusader castle) and then onwards to Palmyra.

The journey to Qasr ibn Wardan took just over an hour, during which time the weather thankfully improved.

The palace, built in the 6^th century AD as part of a defensive line by the Byzantine emperor Justinian, makes for an interesting sight, with its black basalt and yellow stone, banded walls. What makes it look even stranger is that it seems so out of place in the barren landscape, Debs says it reminds her of a liquorice allsort! It was certainly an interesting place to have a look round and well worth the trip.

From the palace we stopped at a beehive village to have a look round some of the strange mud-brick conical buildings. Most of the remaining ones are now used for storage, instead of homes. Given the choice we would choose the beehives, over the ordinary looking square concrete buildings that have sprung up to replace them.

With the sights seen and the skies darkening we returned to Hama in time to buy more chicken for dinner. We have an early start tomorrow, let's hope the weather forecast is correct and we wake to a better day.

Day 154 Syria 19/2/2011, Wayz–Apamea–Hama. 41.72miles/67.11km, 3hr40minutes, Av 11.3mph.

Intead of sleeping in the guy's room with me last night, Debs slept with the girls. As it turned out this was a lucky break. While I was still chatting, drinking coffee, listening to Arabic pop music and being plied with vodka and Redbull, Debs was sleeping. Even when I turned in at midnight, at no point was the music turned off, or even down, the stove superheated everything and a light was on all night. I think I slept in brief periods of about 45 minutes. Sometime around 4am it sounded like somebody had put a 'call to prayer' best of album on and at 5am we had switched to a reporter who liked the sound of his own voice saying something about Egypt, or at least Mubarak was mentioned repeatedly. The world's loudest mobile phone going off, which of course was ignored, was the last straw. At 6am I gave up on sleep and laid there reading. Despite the noise, light, phone and temperature everyone else remained asleep, perhaps they are all used to it.

At about 8am Debs came through feeling refreshed and ready for the day. We took all our bags outside and then had to go in for breakfast. Once again we felt slightly bad about eating while the rest of the family watched on. We felt even worse about the fact that we really needed to be going if we were going to do everything we planned.

With the bikes loaded, it was time for a few more photos, a lot of handshakes and a sad farewell. We know that the family would have liked us to stay for longer, but we really needed to get going. Their hospitality has been amazing and once again we are truly humbled by the generosity of the people we meet. If we were to leave Syria today, we couldn't have asked for any better memories.

Finally we were back on the road and into another beautiful day. We quickly covered the few kilometres to the turn off to Apamea and began a short but steep climb up to the site. While I waited for Debs at the top, I was being called over to a guys house. When she joined me we went over to investigate. Still feeling good from the previous day's experiences, we thought it would be rude not to accept another invitation to have tea. While still friendly, it became rapidly clear that the guy had the intentions of selling us something from his shop. In fact he was quite insistent that we a should go and see the ruins and then come back and stay with his family. Telling us that a Swiss man had stayed with him for two days and bought lots of antiques. After the genuine warmth and hospitality we had felt yesterday, this all bordered on being creepy. We drank our tea, said our goodbyes and left, unfortunately we would have to pass his house on the way back!

Apamea (Afamea in Syria) was founded in the 3^rd century BC and soon became an important trading post. The site that you can visit today dates from around the second century AD and is most notable for its 2km long cardo (main street). Since the 1930s a Belgian team of archaeologists have embarked on a re-constructive program, Locating the main streets columns and returning them to their correct positions. What they have ended up with is extremely impressive. The original road along the street remains complete, in part, and you can walk along the wide avenue surrounded by towering, beautifully carved and preserved columns.

Leaving the site behind we sped down the hill through the village and managed to avoid having to stop at the guy's shop. Back on the main road we began the ride towards the city of Hama (Syria's fourth largest). The friendly waves and shouts of hello continued, people rode along side on their mopeds to say hello and there were constant shouts from children. It was a job to keep both hands on the handlebars for any length of time, as we were continually called upon to wave.

We are aware that most people are just curious and trying to be friendly, but there comes a time with the moped riders that it gets annoying and occasionally dangerous. Neither of us mind when they ride up and acknowledge us, but in one case, two guys on a motorbike rode along beside and just stared. After they were still doing it a few kilometres down the road it gets a little unnerving. They then started slowing down so that we had to overtake and would then ride right close behind us, until they had had enough and would overtake once again. At one point they nearly managed to force us into each other coming through a town. What was the purpose of all of this attention? When I finally shouted at them to go away, I was shown that they were videoing us using there phones. Not once did they speak, smile or wave. They finally took the hint and went away, leaving us annoyed and drained from the whole experience.

The rest of today's journey became a bit of a chore, having left the main roads behind yesterday, being back on them today threw us right back into the constant barrage of traffic. The noise and occasional overattentive moped rider, mixed with the fact that there were people everywhere, became quite overwhelming. When Debs desperately needed the toilet, finding somewhere unpopulated to stop became a struggle. When a shop keeper refused to let her use the toilet, after his friend had told us that he had one, it became all a bit much. The heat, noise, constant attention and male dominated society has been taking its toll. Even when we found a secluded spot with nobody around, a van suddenly pulled up out of nowhere to ask if I had a cigarette lighter. When we stopped for lunch on a track beside a main road, a guy suddenly appeared and pretended to be doing some work, even though he had clearly come to see what we were up to. In fairness he did offer us a seat and some food round the corner, which we declined happy just to have a few minutes to ourselves.

Feeling better from some food we decided just to keep our heads down and press on towards the city. We managed to get about a kilometre before I noticed Debs rear tyre going down. For some reason most of our punctures seem to come after a break. Fortunately we weren't in the middle of a town, so I quickly repaired it and we got under way.

As we rode along a van came alongside, with someone shouting hello from the window. It was the son from the family that we had stayed with last night! They pulled over just ahead and asked if we were ok and if we wanted to see the fish that he was taking to Damascus to sell. The back of the van was filled with a large tank, which when opened contained a huge amount of large slightly agitated fish.

Just seeing a familiar, smiling face had lifted our spirits and after another farewell, we carried on the short distance to Hama.

Arriving in the city we had to ask several people for directions. We knew we wanted to stay at the Cairo hotel, we were just not sure how to get there. The traffic was nothing like we had encountered in Aleppo, but navigating without a map Is always a challenge. Finally after a few wrong turns we arrived at the hotel. Ourselves, bikes and luggage, had to be carried up eight flights of stairs, but we have a lovely comfortable room and the bikes are secure.

Dinner consisted of a whole roast chicken, with dips, chips and flat bread, washed down with a litre each of soft drink for S£385 (about £5). To say we were full afterwards was a bit of an understatement. Sightseeing tomorrow.

Day 153 Syria 18/2/2011, Free camp near Sarjeela–Dead cities–Wayz. 29.92miles/48.09km, 3hr05minutes, Av 9.6mph.

We slept the sleep of the exhausted last night and managed to avoid any further local encounters. It was slightly peculiar in the tent though, as the moon was so bright and the skies so clear that it never got dark.

As we were packing up, we unsurprisingly attracted the attention of another local who was keen to take us for some food. We politely declined, shook hands and went on our way. All being well we had quite a full day ahead of us.

Our first stop of the day was at Serjilla, one of Syria's mysterious 'Dead Cities'. The ancient cities are so called because no one really knows why these Byzantine settlements (4^th century BC) became deserted. The latest theories being that the trade routes changed and the people simply moved with them. Whatever the reason, many of the buildings are remarkably intact giving an interesting overview of what life was like in the Byzantine era.

Heading on from Serjilla, we passed a few more of the smaller sites bound for Al Barra. Needing to stock up on water we stopped at several small shops before we found a very helpful shop keeper, who sent one of his children to his house to get us some. After being able to buy water with ease in Turkey, Syria is certainly a lot more challenging. Drinking the tap water may be the only option, despite being told not to.

Al Barra is the most extensive of the 'Dead Cities' spread over a huge area and partially incorporated within the newer town of the same name. If only we could have found the entrance it would have been even better! A nice man let us park our bicycles round the back of his house and told us that we could wander through to the ruins. Unfortunately we seemed to be a long way away from any of the larger structures and walking to them would have taken more time than we really wanted to spend at the site.

As lunchtime was fast approaching, we headed back into the new town in search of food. Not finding much of interest, probably due to the fact that it was Friday (Muslim holy day), we asked for directions to Apamea and set off once again. From now on we would be relying on local knowledge, as we had decided to take a more rural route to our next destination. Our map's scale is not good enough to show the minor roads and the signs were now all in Arabic. All we really knew was that we had to head south, just as well we have a compass!

Lunch was taken by the side of the road. The Syrian people have been amazingly friendly and curious, but it all gets a bit overwhelming. Trying to eat some food when you are surrounded by children shouting “how are you?” repeatedly and people zooming up on mopeds, makes it difficult to have some time to yourself.

When we reached the next town, we stopped to buy a drink and were immediately surrounded by children, who then tried to follow us into the shop. Our drinks selected, we went to pay and encountered one of the more annoying things that we have learned about visiting Syria. The blatant overcharging of foreigners is something that seems acceptable to a portion of Syrian society. Fortunately we have been here long enough now to just leave the items on the counter and walk out. Perhaps if everybody was to do the same they would finally get the message.

The shopkeeper where we stopped next was of the honest variety, who made a point of showing us how much each item was. Possibly he is used to foreigners coming from the previous shop and doesn't want to be tarred with the same brush.

Thirst quenched, we carried on once again with a few bits of directional assistance from some of the locals. A couple of young lads on a moped even rode ahead to point us in the right direction at the next intersection. Just as we were leaving the town, we were beckoned over to a guy's house to join him in a cup of coffee. Despite speaking very little English, we relaxed on his porch, watched on by his son and several very sweet girls. The coffee arrived, followed by some tea and then a large tray of food. Even though we had not long had lunch, refusing anything to eat would have been rude. Coming from England, it seems so strange to think that anybody would just beckon over a stranger and offer them food.

Needing to press on, we said a very grateful thank you, climbed onto our bikes and pedalled away. The hilly terrain that we had been cycling through, came dramatically to an end with a very steep descent where Debs and I both recorded our fastest speeds (37mph & 61kmph). In fact the road was so steep that we overtook a van, much to the shock of the occupants!

We were now heading down into Al Ghab, the fertile flatland valley of western Syria. Our average speed increased dramatically as we reached the flat terrain. The beautiful weather had brought everybody outside and the shouts of welcome and waves were even more enthusiastic. We were loving every minute of it, until a child threw a stone. He only succeeded in hitting my front wheel and it was from quite a long way away, but it left me a feeling a little shocked. In the end though, the genuine warmth coming from everybody else made me put it behind me. I just hope it was a moment of over enthusiasm and not a growing trend.

As we were leaving another village, a guy walked across the road to stop us and have a chat. Having passed so many people who beckoned us over, we decided to stop.

The guy was lovely and we were soon meeting all of his family. Over a cup of coffee, we out of the blue received an invitation to stay with him and his family. Any chance of us refusing was ended by his happy insistence.

At our host's suggestion we went on a brief tour of his village, starting at the fish farm where he worked. Having met and had tea with his boss and family, we carried on to see a cave and then had to meet several more of his friends. Everybody was so friendly, a few of them even thought we should stay with them instead.

Back at his house our bikes had been moved into a barn and we rejoined the family outside. It is very difficult to describe the evening that we had, the hospitality and warmth shown to us was incredible. The food was great, although eating first while nearly all the rest of the family watched was a new experience. We did feel a little guilty, when after we had finished, the children got to eat whatever was left. Our host did insist that there was plenty more food in the kitchen for them if they wanted it, although he may have just not wanted us to worry.

One of the best things about the evening was that Debs got to spend some time chatting to the women. Syria is a very male dominated society and it is easy for a woman to feel a bit out of place, as you rarely see other women in a social situations.

Spending time with the family was one of the most humbling and memorable experiences we have ever had and one we will never forget. We hope that they manage to stay in touch. We know that we will always have a place that we are welcome in Syria.

Day 152 Syria 17/2/2011, Aleppo–Ebla ruins–Maarat an Numan–free camp near Sarjeelah. 57.78miles/93.02km, 5hr24minutes, Av 10.7mph.

Photos to follow, having problems with Syrian Internet!

Having checked the weather forecast yesterday, telling us that it would be fine, we were a little disappointed to wake up to rain. By the time we had loaded the bikes and said goodbye to the staff fortunately it had stopped. Our already potentially challenging ride out of the city would have been a lot less fun if we had to contend with being soaked by passing traffic.

Despite the heavy traffic we made it out of the city unscathed, we are still not sure how everyone doesn't run into each other but somehow the system works. The drivers are actually quite courteous, slowing down to let us cross the traffic when we were in the wrong lane and generally giving us plenty of room. Perhaps they are terrified of hitting a foreigner!

As we joined the motorway, yes in Syria we are allowed to ride on them, we once again cursed the day we were told not to have mudguards fitted to the bikes. The rain may have stopped, but the wet mud in the hard shoulder covered us.

Pretty soon the sun started to shine and we were making great progress along the road. We quickly covered 20 miles and as we sped along we were beckoned over by a mobile coffee seller on the side of the road. These small espresso stalls are all over the place, despite the fact that we are not that keen on strong coffee we thought it would be rude not to stop and try one. All I can say is that it certainly woke us up, we were going to have no problems staying alert in the traffic. The stall holder wouldn't accept any money from us, so with a thank you and a wave we headed back onto the motorway.

While we had been stopped the weather decided to turn against us, the sun was still shining but it had now been joined by a very strong headwind. Any chance of maintaining our earlier speed was quickly dashed, but fortunately we didn't have too far to go to our first stop, the ancient ruins of Elba.

Our first priority though was lunch. Having discovered that the bakery close to our hotel was sold out of bread this morning, food was going to have to be bought on the road. The chicken kebab wrap we had couldn't be described as a triumph though as it was with a not particularly pleasant tasting pickle. Hopefully we won't regret eating them later.

Had we read the guide book first, we probably wouldn't have visited the ruins at Ebla. To say that you have to use your imagination is something of an understatement. The sight may be of enormous interest to archaeologists, but to us it was just a very windy collection of rubble.

Despite our earlier progress the wind was now starting to take its toll. Riding along a motorway doesn't give much opportunity for finding a free camp site. As our next destination was some of Syria's dead cities (abandoned ancient towns) we decided to press on until we were off the motorway.

Needing to buy some water we stopped at a roadside shop after being beckoned over by the owner. It was all very pleasant as he got us chairs to sit in and then opened some biscuits for us to eat. He then proceeded to charge us a ridiculous price for our water and drink. Perhaps shopkeepers should adopt this technique in the UK, get the customer to sit down, then open packets of food they didn't want and then charge them double for the privilege. Sadly the experience will make us think twice about stopping next time we are called over.

On a cheerier note, like Turkey before, we have received lots of waves, shouts of hello and honks of the horn as we ride along. It is always cheering to have groups of children waving and shouting 'how are you' and 'where are you from'.

Turning off to the town of Maarat an Numan, a guy on a moped rode along beside us to say hello and offer his assistance. Asking if there was a hotel in town he said yes and asked us to follow him. After we had gone a few kilometres we began to wonder where he was taking us, especially as the dead cities that we wanted to visit were in the other direction. When we stopped he came back for us and said that there was only one hotel and it was still about 1km away. I quickly explained that it was too far away and we needed to be going in the other direction and fortunately he didn't take offence. We know he was just trying to help, we just didn't realise we were going to end up in another town.

With the help of several locals we found the right road towards the dead cities and started looking for somewhere to camp. After a few aborted attempts we found a suitable spot and set up camp. We must have been there all of 20 minutes before we were approached by two guys on a motorbike. Fearing the worst I wandered over to say hello, thinking that we may have to pack up and move on. As it turned out they were just curious and couldn't understand why we wanted to camp. Most of this we worked out from sign language as they spoke no English. After trying to get us to go with them to a restaurant in a nearby village, they finally accepted that we wanted to stay. When they then started a fire, we began to wonder if they were going to stay as well! Thoughts of how I was going to make a drink for everyone with only two cups started to run through my mind. It all remained good natured and eventually they got up and said goodbye, after a final attempt at saving us from ourselves. It has been a very eventful and very long day, hopefully we will have no more disturbances tonight!