Category: Visited Places
-
Bikes, trains, and La Spezia
Read more: Bikes, trains, and La SpeziaOur goal for the day was to take a train from Trieste to La Spezia (about 500 km). Since we are traveling with bicycles, we could only take regional trains that have a special car for bicycles. We received several options from the folks at Trenitalia, and opted for the one that involved the fewest…
-
Couch surfin’ in Trieste
Read more: Couch surfin’ in TriesteOur first night in Trieste was spent in a hotel because we arrived too late to find Internet, and had no other way to contact Elena, who had offered to host us. Once we did make contact, we made a new friend and had a place to stay, which was wonderful. Elena is studying natural…
-
Another day another freighter!
Read more: Another day another freighter!One of our new Izmir friends, Mustafa, works for the government and is somehow associated with Ulusoy Freighters. He was able to get us passage on a small (180m) roll-on-roll-off freighter from Cesme Turkey to Trieste Italy. This has been a huge help, and meant that we could spend an extra week in the Middle…
-
A brief visit with our friends
Read more: A brief visit with our friendsAfter a short visit to Aleppo to see Fadi and pick up our bikes (2-nights), a short taxi ride from Aleppo to Antakya (3-hours), and a long bus ride to Izmir (18-hours) we were glad to be greeted at the otogar (bus station) by Metin. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain, so our ride back to…
-
Reflections on Jordan
Read more: Reflections on JordanWe spent 17 days in Jordan: 3 nights in Amman, 8 nights in Aqaba, 3 nights in Wadi Mousa, and 3 nights in Madaba. We left our bikes in Syria, so we cannot comment on riding in Jordan, but we can say that the hills on the Kings Highway are steep and there are significant…
-
Busing in Syria
Read more: Busing in SyriaTaking a long-distance bus in Turkey is a very civilized experience. Buses in Syria are less refined, but much more of a cultural experience. We never know quite what we’re getting into. We have not yet (and likely won’t) perfect the ability to catch the best bus between two places. We did managed to avoid…
-
The desert oasis of Palmyra
Read more: The desert oasis of PalmyraThe bus out to Palmyra proved to be another opportunity for cultural exchange. We arrived at the North bus terminal in Damascus and entered the first place that offered a bus to Palmyra. We were immediately rushed to get on a bus – this is a sign that we should have slowed down and analyzed…
-
Wandering about Damascus
Read more: Wandering about DamascusWe really like Damascus. Becky thinks that our image of a place is certainly nicer when the sun is shining. Like Aleppo, Damascus also suffers from daily power cuts. When the power is out, you can see the pollution in the air – which is a real shame because otherwise, Damascus is a very neat…