Saturday, September 13, 2008

Syria (Palmyra) Sept/Oct 2008 D-3

This morning , I took a local bus to Harasta garage (bus terminal) and bought a bus ticket (200SP=Rm15.20) to Palmyra. From Damascus to Palmyra, the journey took three hours. We arrived in Palmyra at around 12.30pm. On arrival, we saw the ugly side of a group of local taxi drivers hustling us to use their services - a real nuisance ! One took my luggage into his taxi without my permission and agreement on the price.

Palmyra is featured in the "Civilized Wonders of the World" so this was one of my top priority destination. I paid 150SP=Rm11.40 for entry to Palmyra and another 75SP=Rm5.70 for the castle, located up the hill. During the bus trip, I met a local Syrian guy travelling with his Serbian guest. After some haggling, three of us shared a taxi (100SP each=Rm7.60) which took us to the Palmyra's main site and the castle.

While touring the site, I came to know that both of them had plan to visit the Krac Des Chevaliers castle, located an hour by bus from Homs. My original plan was to head for Hama after the Palmyra's visit. As I too was keen to see the Chevallier castle, I ended up joining them.

So at around 3.00pm, we departed from Palmyra and headed to Homs (bus ticket 150SP=Rm11.40) a university town. We arrived at Homs in the late evening and put up a night at a hotel recommended by the Syrian's cousin. I took a single room and paid US20 for a night's stay.

In the evening, we explored Homs by night. We walked around the town center and visited two old churches along the way.











"Palmyra, a well preserved Roman ruins - leaving behind a legacy for the modern world to admire and appreciate"


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