Left olympos with michael and kylie and we ...
Trip Start
Nov 04, 2000
1
10
60
Trip End
Nov 04, 2001
Olympos to antakya to syria, Turkey
Friday, November 17, 2000
to get a connection to Canada. I caught a 14hr over night bus to Antakya to get into Syria on the 1th.
Got offered somewhere to stay in Sydney for a while when i arrive which was great. Cheers.
Bus trip was a bit hellish, was in a bit of a mild daze all the way and didn't really sleep. The people
on the bus really smell. God it is awful. Or maybe i smell. And they smoke on the bus and watch 70s Turkish thriller
movies where everyone shouts. A lot.
On the way to the border we passed thru Iskenderun (which is ancient Alexandretta, home of Alexander The Great fact fans), but it was a bit
of a dump with lots of half-built houses and dead dogs in the gutter again.
Highpoint of the trip was a jacknifed ayran (milk) tanker in the middle of the road.
Arrived at 9am in Antakya in on piece and got a bus to the Syrian town of Aleppo. In the bus station
got approached by a few money changers who thought it was great selling point to employ an Australian accent
while trying to get business to me. Oh such characters...
Called brother Stuart and my Gran. Phoned mum and dad a bit later and it was good to talk to them all.
passport control. everyone armed and moustachioed. Looked like a Sergio Leone special. No problems.
Syria-a-go-go
On the way to Aleppo passed thru some pretty remote villages in the hills between Turkey and Syria.
The bus had to stop at one point while some old geezer dug a drainage ditch across the tarmacced road
with a pick axe. Nice one.
Ok, will write on Aleppo a bit later as my hands are tired hitting this keyboard. Hope all is well
with all of you.
graeme
