Ten years ago I visited the beautiful country of Syria. On July 7th 2005, I was staying at the Baron Hotel in Aleppo and visiting the "Dead Cities" to the north. The following are some extracts from the introduction to my travel journal and my reflections on hearing the news of 7/7.
Rory's Syrian Journal
7/7/05 Aleppo Syria
In July 2005, I decided to visit Syria with my friend Peter McKinney. We
had previously visited Iran together in 1999 and travelled with our band to
Ireland (2003) and had tours to Bahrain, Al Ain and several venues in the UAE
together. I think that a true test of friendship comes when you travel with
someone and I am happy to say, we passed that test successfully.
We were fascinated by Syria. It was at that time categorised by George
Bush as being part of the Axis of Evil. Both of us prefer to make our own minds
up and this turned out to be a fascinating, educational and sensational (as in
sensations and sensual) trip.
As I prepared for the trip, I collected the various samples of
information that were sent to me from tour companies; reformatted and refined
them and slowly, the most obvious itinerary emerged. A key source that I found
very useful was that of Carol Miller and I attach her excellent background
descriptions in the appendix section as they gave me the structure around which
the trip was planned.
My friend Peter was about to leave the U.A.E. after almost 20 years. I
had known Peter since my first week in Dubai in August 1997. We had met at the
“Dubliners” Irish Pub in the Airport Le Meridien Hotel. In those days, it had
been possible to bring along your instruments and have sessions. It was not
long before we had a band and over the next 8 years, we had some great times
together playing in Dubai, Al Ain, Bahrain and Ardara in Donegal, Ireland. But
after spending so long in the U.A.E., Peter, his wife and young family decided
it was time to start a new life on the East Coast of Australia.
I had just had the shortest haircut I have ever had (close to a 1) and
photos of the time put me in the aspiring skinhead category as does the video
we had just made with Ricardo. Ricardo recorded an interview with Peter and I
on the history of our band; “Next Flight Out”. It captures our friendship and
many of the good times and memories of the band and can be found on youtube at:
Peter left me to do the planning and then wisely advised me to cut off
around 500 k of road travel once I showed the plan to him. I had prepared two
parallel trips, the long way and the shorter way. The shorter way, favoured by
Peter, prevailed.
Initially, Peter had only wanted to see Aleppo and a few horses of an
acquaintance. My wish had been to see as much of Syria as I could in the time
available. Peter still had work commitments and packing to arrange and had
limited time. In the end, we compromised and I was able to see many of the places
I had planned to see while Peter managed to squeeze a few more days and places
in.
As usual, I began my planning by sending off a standard e-mail to many
travel agents based in Syria. Once a few replied, I began my negotiations and
cranked up my demands each time. That way, I got rid of the greedy or lazy
agents and was left with a few to choose from. The one I felt best about, and
it turns out I was right, was “Al Bichr Travel Agency”, which was run by the lovely Rafa. She really
looked after us well and we are still in touch to this day.
http://www.albichr.com/home_en.php
http://www.albichr.com/home_en.php
And so, in the early summer of 2005, Peter and I set out on a journey to
Syria...........
Extract from the
journal linking 7/7:
We had lunch in the area of the “Dead Cities”*
in a rough-and-ready Kurdish restaurant. Although I didn’t note the content or
flavours of the meal, I did note its effect; it burned every part it made
contact with during and well after the meal.
It had been a busy day, and we had spent a
lot of time in the summer sun, and as we drove past towns and people in the
pictures below, we drifted in and out of drowsiness to the calming songs of Nat
King Cole.
Meanwhile, and it seems strange now as I
think about it, while we were listening to Ahmed’s favourite Nat King Cole
cassette; “Mona Lisa, “Love letters from Your Heart” and “Smile” the bombs were
going off in the buses and underground trains in London.
* (The “Dead Cities” were so named due to
their abandonment as a combined result of the plague, changing power structures
and abandoned trade routes. They were Roman and Byzantine settlements;
numbering up to 700 in various locations and collectively inhabited by large
numbers of people. Although many sites still lie under the accumulation of
nature’s reclamation, some settlements have been excavated or stand tall and they
are impressive examples of Byzantine architecture and their former prosperity).
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