Syria - Aleppo

Aleppo's big attraction is its covered souqs (bazzar) - we read that in a straight line, it would be 10kms long. I bought a pretty scarf there. You are suppose to bargain, but the price quoted for my scarf was 125 Syrian pounds, which is about $2.5. I just paid. No need to be cheap:

We are very happy to be back in budget travel land. Our cab ride from the hotel to the bus station was $1.5. Our nice and clean hotel room, with TV and air conditioning, is $20:

Our room did have the funky old-style toilet - it's the squatting kind, similar to the old-style Korean toilets. You use the hose to clean the bowl and flush:

Entrance to hotel. Pictures of President Assad Jr. is everywhere!:
This is the Great Mosque - The nice entrance attendant at the mosque told us that we should pray for a baby - he must have been talking to my mother:

The Christian quarter (about 10% of Syrian population are Christians):
Rooftop restaurant:

On a very disturbing note, the internet cafe I am sitting right now is playing Michael Bolton.