Syria 2008

I'm doing all my travel posts today!

I went to Syria for 10 days in May. It was a great trip -- maybe one of the best I've been on! I was surprised when I saw the list of people going -- Beth Kelsey was part of the group. The first picture is a Roman water wheel and aqueduct still in use -- that means about 2000 years old -- and it's still in use. We think the water is used for irrigation.

Syria is very safe for travelers. There were a number of European groups at the Crusaders castles and Christian churches we visited.

The second picture is the ruins of Palmyra. It was a city in the desert near Iraq that was sacked by the Roman army in 270 AD and is in the process of being excavated. It was amazing! This is a picture of main street. We could see the water pipes and the public restrooms, public baths, etc., etc. Very interesting!

Paul Jensen of Wall, SD was part of the group. Paul knew Dakota and her family. He brought his "Wall Drug" sign and had a few pictures taken with it. This one is at the Golan Heights with the one of the officials giving us a tour. Just outside this ruined hospital building was the UN guard station monitoring the only border crossing between Israel and Syria.

Jim Abourezk organizes these tours to Syria. I think this was the 4th group he's taken there. We just got an email from him saying he's going again in November. I would recommend the trip. Anyone can go. Let me know if you're interested.

Jan Froehlich