Syria `Welcome`

In Syrië we start in Damscus, where all the sites are a real treat for our eyes (like the cave of Ali Baba). Parfume, gold, silk and everywhere the smell of spices. Small streets, hidden courtyards with fountains en beautiful restaurants. We feel like we're part of the Arabic faiytales (1000 and 1 night). People are at least as kind as in Libanon and everywhere we come we are greeted with a nice 'welcome!'. Whenever we stop people are gesturing to come insıde to drink tea. Sometimes we feel like a royal couple when people are running to the streets to wave to us en to shout 'welcome!'.The image we had about a man dressed in green and wearing a red and white scarf on top of his head, is completely different than what we see in reality: a friendly farmer waving to come and drink tea in his house... We travel north to Homs. The scenery here looks more like a desert. When we climb for hours and hours on end I (Janneke) sometimes dispare, but Maarten is able to cheer me up everytime (a true Marco Polo). In the direction of Craq de chevalier (a huge crusader castle) the scenery turns green and cycling next to the highway is finally finished. In Apamea we visit the old Roman street and together with some sheep we are the only ones. Due to the many tea offers we get, we visit peoples houses quite often, which we think is very special. In Aleppo we have a day of rest. We visit the old citadel and relax. Temperatures are pretty high for a few days in Syrıë. After 12:00 we cycle ın 40C, that's pretty demanding. We leave Syrië though ın rain, when we depart from Azzes in the morning. Turkey here we come!