Days 29 & 30: Ma’loula and Aleppo

            Yesterday and today we have been on the road in the Syrian countryside, visiting some of my favorite places I’ve seen so far this trip. Yesterday we drove through vast deserts to the high hills of Ma’loula, home of the Krak de Chevaliers, a huge medieval fortress with an amazing scenic view of the valleys and hills surrounding the castle. Today we spent the day in Aleppo, a city with a population and market rivaling those of Damascus. We visited another castle within Aleppo, then spent the afternoon in the marketplace where we met and spoke with some of the locals (as well as bought a lot of stuff:)

            The hotels we stayed in last night and tonight are amazing—the one in Ma’loula overlooked the hill with the castle and had huge suites, and the one we’re staying in tonight in Aleppo used to be a house a few hundred years ago. Its really cool because all of the rooms are different and the house is very large but separated into compartments with a few rooms around courtyards hidden up or down small winding stone staircases. One of the rooms looks like the interior of a castle, with high vaulted stone ceilings and red brocade textiles decorating the walls.

            The past few days have been a complete assault on my senses and I have experienced way to much to do a good job relating all of it. I did take lots of pictures though, so I’m excited to share them with my family in a week when I’m home and have had some time to mentally process everything. The next few days will be a blur—tomorrow we travel back to Damascus for the night, then fly to Doha for four days before we travel back to Boston. I can’t believe our trip is almost over, so I’ll try to make the most of it!

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