Apparently some bad stuff has happened in Syria recently. I hope that those I met and who helped me so memorably on my ride through the country are doing O.K. — but then they’re the probably the lucky ones, living in the rural regions rather than the political hot-spots.
Of all of the Arab nations I rode through, Syria was my favourite. The hospitality was so enthusiastic that I was once physically dragged to the family home of a passing motorcyclist, hanging on to my handlebars for dear life — I was lucky to escape the following morning at all as they demanded I stay a second night!
Bicycle travel is often about knocking preconceptions on the head. Rather than a barren desert, Syria in January was rainy and cold. It wasn’t long before I got sick of the weather and headed inland — where I did indeed find a barren desert, as well as a mountain of Roman ruins, though entirely unmolested by the tourist hordes of Rome itself.
…for comparison…
It was a real struggle to head back to the coastal regions, where it was still cold, damp and foggy. If only neighbouring Iraq hadn’t been off-limits…
5 replies on “Look at Syria”
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Cheers guys. This year so far has been a really fascinating darkroom (Lightroom) experiment, and a great excuse to re-evaluate those old stacks of raw pictures. A really powerful part of the creative photographic process that I’d always previously overlooked. More on the way!
Really great photos. Your photos seem to be getting better and better even though they’re a couple of years old!
Great photos Tom!