Palmyra to Damascus

The guide told us in the morning that there’s a hotel in Tartus that calls itself the hospital for the “Traditional Palmyra Restaurant”. (After last nights meal and it's aftereffects, it was obvious why) It was a rough start for John.

We started at 6:45 to walk the ruins of Palmyra before the heat of the day set in. Your choice is simple- you can either get up very early in the morning and have wind and sand blowing in your eyes or wait until 10:00 am and have sweltering heat and sweat. Palmyra had a traditional Roman city plan with a huge temple to Baal at one end. Quite spectacular- particularly with it’s desert setting

The drive back to Damascus was unending- 230 km of desert. We arrived to find the Orient Palace booked, so it was a scramble to find another hotel, grab a quick lunch and meet our guide by 2:00. The National Museum was well done- they had the first Jewish synagogue from Duro Europos- but after an hour we were pretty beat.
Nap time before dinner at our favorite restaurant, Casablanca.